@Suiseiseki But microcode is copyrightable software, as established in decades-old case law.
@mjg59 I don't really care about what bizarre conclusion a court arrived at decades ago, as the conclusion is not applicable to operating hardware.
@Suiseiseki Your claims are simply wrong. Microcode doesn't change state simply because it's embodied in ROM - its copyrightability isn't related to the physical layout of gates, it's related to be functionality they embody (ie, if I were to encode the same microcode in a different physical layout, it would still be a copyright violation). It's software, it can (for good or bad) be bound by software licenses. In the US, first sale doctrine likely still applies, but other restrictions may exist.