Could nVidia sue Linus for using Geforce cards because of the EULA changes?

[MrMatson]

I just read this news about nVidia prohibiting the use of GeForce GPUs in datacenter use.

 

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-eula-prohibits-datacenter-blockchain-allowed/

 

Linus doesn't run a datacenter but is it personal use to have PCs built to earn money for the company using GeForce cards?

 

Just a thought crossing my mind. Could someone clarify?

[kelvinhall05]

Kim Jong Un could nuke us all. Same with Trump. Will they? No. Cause it's a dumb decision.

[Xirhanna]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Kim Jong Un could nuke us all. Same with Trump. Will they? No. Cause it's a dumb decision.

Not so sure about Kim Jong Un or Trump.  They are both loose cannons.   But yes, it would be a dumb decision on Nvidia's part.  Linus probably brings them a lot of business with his reviews.

[Theguywhobea]

2 minutes ago, MrMatson said:

I just read this news about nVidia prohibiting the use of GeForce GPUs in datacenter use.

 

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-eula-prohibits-datacenter-blockchain-allowed/

 

Linus doesn't run a datacenter but is it personal use to have PCs built to earn money for the company using GeForce cards?

 

Just a thought crossing my mind. Could someone clarify?

He was using cards to mine as an experiment briefly, that isn't what Nvidia was trying to stop. Besides, this change doesn't mean Nvidia will sue anyone using a Geforce card in a datacenter, it just means they won't offer them any support or warranty services if they use them that way.

[Djole123]

He builds them for personal use, but him gaining money is a consequence, so he should be fine... I hope

[kelvinhall05]

3 minutes ago, Xirhanna said:

Not so sure about Kim Jong Un or Trump.  They are both loose cannons.   But yes, it would be a dumb decision on Nvidia's part.  Linus probably brings them a lot of business with his reviews.

Well, I was gonna say hopefully not, but that would weaken my arguement  

[GoodBytes]

2 minutes ago, Theguywhobea said:

He was using cards to mine as an experiment briefly, that isn't what Nvidia was trying to stop. Besides, this change doesn't mean Nvidia will sue anyone using a Geforce card in a datacenter, it just means they won't offer them any support or warranty services if they use them that way.

To add:

And it also means that if you call eVGA or Gigabyte or ASUS, or whatever and say  ''Yea, my GeForce from you guys in my data center stop working, it's under warranty", they can go "Sorry sir/mam, you voided your warranty as we can't replace it even if we wanted to, as Nvidia won't give us a replacement GPU"

[milanfon]

It's WCCF tech, so take it with a grain of salt. Article without source or any external links has got no value.

[Sakkura]

1 minute ago, milanfon said:

It's WCCF tech, so take it with a grain of salt. Article without source or any external links has got no value.

It's a widely reported fact, not just WCCF.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/239994/nvidia-forbids-geforce-driver-deployment-in-data-centers

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/27/nvidia-limits-data-center-uses-for-geforce-titan-gpus.html

[FlatBrokeRacing]

It would be impossible to get sued for such a thing. They cannot control what companies purchase nor how they use their products. HOWEVER they can 'stop support' and void warranties to do so, basically meaning Nvidia is saying, IF these cards are used in a data center they have no warranty and no support from Nvidia if any issues either software,hardware or anything else should arise. 

[bob345]

49 minutes ago, MrMatson said:

Linus doesn't run a datacenter but is it personal use to have PCs built to earn money for the company using GeForce cards?

you answered your own question. He doesn't run a data center so there is no issue with his use. Nvidia would be crazy to say that you can only use their products non commercially when commercial clients are literally their largest money maker. Also, it is extremely unlikely that nvidia would file a lawsuit against anyone who actually does deploy geforce drivers in a data-center. More than likely the updated eula is just there to say "we dont support this, so dont expect help if you have problems"

[TetraSky]

If Nvidia is dumb enough to actually sue someone for this, they will just find out that people will be abandoning them and switch to AMD or other alternatives. Nobody will risk getting sued for using something that they bought in a way that the company doesn't want you to.

Beside, it's just a EULA. Actual laws overrule it any day. Consumer protection laws could easily bypass this kind of stupidity.

[Sauron]

15 hours ago, MrMatson said:

I just read this news about nVidia prohibiting the use of GeForce GPUs in datacenter use.

 

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-eula-prohibits-datacenter-blockchain-allowed/

 

Linus doesn't run a datacenter but is it personal use to have PCs built to earn money for the company using GeForce cards?

 

Just a thought crossing my mind. Could someone clarify?

nVidia provided most of those cards knowing full well what would happen to them, so I think they don't mind.

[xentropa]

The article is somewhat sensationalist.

 

Believe it or not gpus screw up a lot due to random noise, heat or jesus for all I know.  

 

While geforce and tesla essentially have the same engine under the hood, "bit errors" are handled differently.  There is a tradeoff between data integrity and speed.  Geforce and Tesla are on opposite ends of that spectrum.  Teslas have slower clocks and more hardware designed to handle errors, whereas geforce may have less and focus more power on raw performance.

 

I think nvidia is implying geforce doesnt have the bit integrity of Tesla and doesnt want responsibility for data corruption or system malfunction as a result of bit errors that would normally not be a big deal with gpus calculating graphics.

[Mira Yurizaki]

@MrMatson I don't think most company would sue over the EULA unless it significantly financially harms them in some way. If you use the product outside of the EULA terms, then all that means is the company won't support you.

 

This quote pretty much sums up what NVIDIA would do.

4 hours ago, xentropa said:

I think nvidia is implying geforce doesnt have the bit integrity of Tesla and doesnt want responsibility for data corruption or system malfunction as a result of bit errors that would normally not be a big deal with gpus calculating graphics.

If you want to run your system critical operations using hardware that was not designed or tested to run in those conditions, that's all on you. I recall an anecdotal experience from a user in ArsTechnica saying how they thought they could save money buy buying a bunch of GeForce GTX 780 Ti's along with some Quadros instead of buying all Quadros. They reported having more downtime on the consumer cards due to errors and whatnot because the 780 isn't built for whatever workload that user was doing.

 

I'm sure NVIDIA doesn't want to deal with calls from people cheaping out and getting angry when they're told "you're using it wrong"