Gripe Line: “Where copyright law and contract law intersect, it’s not always easy figuring out what the rules are,” Ed Foster explains in Fair use or foul? Case in point: a reader unsure of what he could and could not do with a Windows Vista upgrade. Specifically, the reader has a free upgrade disk that came with a laptop he bought for his wife — but she won’t go near Vista. “It seemed such a waste not to use it, so I chose to install it on my Gateway. Does that make me a crook?” the reader poses. Interesting question, indeed; the answer depends on whether copyright law trumps contract law, or vice versa. “And, of course, Microsoft is likely to have the last laugh anyway when its activation and WGA validation updates eventually make the Vista update unusable on his Gateway.” Podcasts: In this episode of Storage Sprawl, close your back doors to data with a new service-monitoring app that puts IT managers in control of remote datacenter access. “The little-known industry secret is that many systems use the same service-monitoring system and that having so many entrances to your datacenter could pose significant security risk.” Tune in here. The news beat: Microsoft details a pair of enterprise search products that will become available next year. IBM says it will ship AIX 6 on Friday with improved security management and virtualization. HTC reveals that it is working on a Google phone to run the new open development platform, while Symbian CEO says Android is just another Linux platform. And a WabiSabiLabi founder was arrested in Italy in connection with a spying scandal at Telecom Italia. Software Development