RE: "In the US, the doctrine of first sale states that whether the EULA allows transfer or not, the item may be transferred. " That is not correct. What people don't understand is that the EULA and copyright are independent and provide different sets of rights and restrictions to the buyer (licensee) and seller (copyright holder and licensor). The buyer (of a copy of a program under copyright laws), who is also a licensee (under the EULA) is bound by the most restrictive provisions of BOTH the copyright laws and the EULA. Thus, if the EULA prohibits resale, that prohibition indirectly but very effectively over-rides the first sale doctrine of the copyright law. Essentially, the buyer is subject to two separate sets of terms (those imposed by the copyright laws, and those imposed by the EULA), and cannot violate either of them. Should the buyer resell his copy of the software in such a situation, he indeed would not have directly violated the copyright law (because the first sales doctrine permits resale), and he could not be prosecuted for any violation of the copyright law. However, if resale was prohibited by the EULA, then he has violated the terms of the EULA, to which he [presumably] agreed and therefore became bound by. Consequently, he could still be the subject of legal action because he violated the EULA, even though he did not violate copyright laws. The EULA is a contract between the buyer and seller, and it's violation is a civil case between the buyer and the seller. However, there is an interesting "catch" here that applies to software which does not apply in the case of other copyrighted works like a book. Software cannot be used without making a copy of the software (e.g. duplicating the copy of the software which resides on the disk drive in the memory of the computer). Such duplication is a violation of the copyright laws UNLESS the person doing the copying has permission from the copyright holder. The EULA ***IS*** that permission. Thus, because software cannot be used without also making a copy of it (unlike a book, which can be read without making a copy of it), use of the software in violation of terms of the EULA (or without agreement to the EULA) automatically becomes a violation of the copyright laws. What this means in practical terms is that if software is resold in violation of the EULA, then the seller has violated the EULA. The seller is therefore subject to legal action for violating the EULA, while the buyer will be subject to violation of the copyright laws IF HE ACTUALLY USES THE SOFTWARE (because use will require duplication of the software, and the buyer will have no authorization to perform such duplication). Copyrighted books differ from copyrighted software in not one but two important ways: First, there normally is no EULA. Second, a book can be used without also, in the process, making a copy of it, while use of software, by definition, also requires making a copy of the software.