No change in global piracy rates
,----[ Quote ]
| According to figures released by the Business Software Alliance 35%
| of the programs used by firms is illegal- a figure unchanged since 2003.
|
| [...]
|
| In only three years, she said, piracy rates in China had declined from 92%
| to 82%.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6654033.stm
Let us hope that this Microsoft proxy cracks down on piracy really, really
hard. One wonders if the figures from China simply indicate the move to Free
software.
Related:
Ballmer hints at tougher Vista antipiracy crackdown
,----[ Quote ]
| According to the Business Software Alliance, an antipiracy watchdog
| group for the software industry, counterfeits accounted for 86
| percent of the software sold in China, 72 percent in India, 64
| percent in Brazil and 83 percent in Russia. The figures are 2005
| estimates, the last year for which data is available.
|
| [...]
|
| It appears that Ballmer doesn't agree, for he hinted that Vista's
| antipiracy features might be tightened even more. "We [will]
| really ferret through how far we can dial it up, and what that
| means for customer experience and customer satisfaction," he said.
`----
http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;7680622;fp;16;fpid;1
Chinese attitude on buying Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| I've mentioned above,the price of Vista is higher than RMB2000 (about
| USD257) may not shake users in developed countries, but do you know it
| is equal to the average monthly salary in China's economic center
| Shanghai!So please take this fact into consideration before
| criticize our behavior of buying pirate softwares.
|
| recent survey of public opinion from China's portal NetEase shows that 81%
| of netizens think Microsoft is forcing them to use pirate Vista...
`----
http://ya.iyee.cn/2007/02/chinese-attitude-on-buying-vista.html
Why Piracy Hurts Open Source
,----[ Quote ]
| "...John looks at this from a different direction. He shows you why
| software piracy hurts Open Source software--the free stuff you are using."
`----
http://www.tuxmagazine.com/node/1000266
Microsoft seals its Windows and opens the door to Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| Now comes the really interesting question. With Vista's activation
| technology, Microsoft has the power to stamp out piracy everywhere. But
| will it choose to do so everywhere? After all, if folks in China or
| Thailand or Ethiopia have to pay for Vista, they won't be able to run
| it because they won't be able to afford the licence fee. In which case
| they may finally wake up to the attractions of free software such as
| Linux - and it's easy to imagine what that will do to Microsoft's
| plans for world domination.
|
| It's a delicious prospect: Microsoft impaling itself on the horns
| of a dilemma it has created for itself. Roll on Thursday.
`----
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1956941,00.html
|
|