HP won't unstick keys, voids warranty on Ubuntu-loaded notebook?

Via Slashdot, Linux.com's Joe Barr reports that if you run Linux, you may lose your hardware warranty:

Laura Breeden bought a new Compaq Presario C304NR notebook in January.....The salespeople assured her that the C304NR was "Linux ready." But they didn't tell her that running Linux would void her warranty...Until recently, she's been happy with it, and with Ubuntu Edgy. But a couple of weeks ago she began having keyboard problems. The keyboard is misbehaving when she begins to type quickly: keys are sticking and the space bar does not always respond when pressed....When she called Compaq -- the unit comes with a one-year warranty on the hardware -- they asked what operating system she was running. When she told them Linux, they said, "Sorry, we do not honor our hardware warranty when you run Linux."

HP is clearly within its right to refuse to help. After all, the folks at HP are hip to what everyone else already knows: Linux's reputation for causing sticky keyboards. It's clearly the operating system's fault. Linux has also been known to melt microprocessors and cause hard drives to spin right off their spindles, through computer casing, and into the bellies of their users, killing them instantly. With that sort of liability so easily downloaded from the Web, hardware manufacturers need to limit their risk.