AMD NDA Scandal
,----[ Quote ]
| Just two weeks ago, we reported that a Thai journalist walked out of the
| hush-hush (but ultimately pointless) AMD event in Singapore over a
| controversial NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that required him to "send any
| stories to the vendor before his newspaper can publish it".
|
| [...]
|
| Curiously, Don stated that "AMD issued an apology a week later saying the
| incident was a misunderstanding among certain local staff and that it is not,
| and has never been, AMD policy to vet the stories of tier-1 publications
| prior to publication." What exactly did AMD mean by that?
|
| Does that mean it is AMD policy to vet tier-2 and tier-3 publications? I will
| let you decide for yourselves.
`----
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=441
Related:
Vista license limits benchmarks
,----[ Quote ]
| According to the Vista user agreement (EULA), because the OS contains
| "one or more components" of the .Net Framework 3.0, users can conduct
| internal benchmarking of those components, but can't disclose the
| results of those benchmarks--or measurements to compare rival
| products--unless they comply with conditions found at a Microsoft Web
| site
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127719-c,vistalonghorn/article.html
PC World Editor Resigns When Ordered Not to Criticize Advertisers
,----[ Quote ]
| Apparently he also told the staff that product reviews had to be
| nicer to vendors who advertise in the magazine. The sad thing is
| that given the economics of publishing in this day and age, I
| doubt anything even comes of this even tho it essentially
| confirms that PC World reviews should be thought of as no
| more than press releases. I know that's how I will consider
| links from them in the future. But congratulations to anyone
| willing to stick to their guns on such matters.
`----
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/03/1810239&from=rss
,----[ Quote ]
| "It also was strange to see just how many resources are aligned
| against me when I write a story about Microsoft."
|
| "there were close to a dozen other people involved...Some transcribed
| the interviews I conducted; others kept notes on my every utterance
| for clues about what questions I might ask next and ultimately what my
| story would say; others briefed executives with questions I had asked
| and suggested good answers."
`----
http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/03/enough_about_me.html
What happened to the guts?
,----[ Quote ]
| Of one thing I am fairly certain. Microsoft all but eliminated
| mainstream software competition. As a result, Microsoft became
| the primary source of advertising revenue for mainstream publications.
| You don't bite the hand that feeds you. So instead of publishing
| issues calling for a worldwide boycott of Vista because it focuses
| more on what you can't do than what you can do, you see special
| editions praising Vista as the greatest advancement in computing
| since Windows 95. Granted we all know that Windows 95 was a dog
| from day one, but by the 90s, the mainstream press had already
| become rampant with Microsoft sycophants and they pushed Windows
| 95 like it was the second coming.
|
| [...]
|
| In short, I'd love to see a mainstream publication become an
| advocate for the consumer once again.
|
| As noted above, there are exceptions, including Linux Journal,
| most other FOSS-centered publications and even The Register.
| But we're the little guys.
`----
http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000173
|
|
