Software pirates put sizeable dent in UK economy
,----[ Quote ]
| The Business Software Alliance (BSA) claimed today in its annual "Global
| Software Piracy Study" – which was carried out by analyst firm IDC – that a
| reduction in counterfeit software by ten per cent over four years could add
| an extra £4.46bn to Blighty's economy.
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/01/22/bsa_software_piracy/
Both are funded by Bill Gates and/or Microsoft (evidence below). Just more lies
and imaginary figures to pass new laws.
Related:
[On Microsoft 'buying' analysts and shills (own admission)]:
http://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03096.pdf
[Some more at the end of this podcast]:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/07/open_season_seven/
Is Linux really losing market share to Windows?
,----[ Quote ]
| Should we be ready, as Kent Brockman might put it, to "welcome our new
| Microsoft overlords," or are the IDC Quarterly Server Tracker figures not
| really reflecting the reality of how servers are used in businesses? I, for
| one, think that what IDC is measuring and what server operating systems
| people are really using are two entirely different things.
`----
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS8060720094.html
Microsoft's Sponsored OOXML Study
,----[ Quote ]
| Today, Microsoft made available an IDC study about so-called open desktop
| file formats. It's yet another Microsoft propaganda effort, as a crucial
| format standards vote approaches.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/business_applications/microsofts_sponsored_ooxml_study.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
http://tinyurl.com/2tx9eo
Dell Won't Preinstall Ubuntu Linux On Small-Business Computers
,----[ Quote ]
| Dell's refusal to sell Ubuntu machines to small businesses makes sense,
| because those customers typically want PCs that let them get to work right
| away. "It makes sense because the assumption is they want everything to work
| right out of the box," Richard Shim, analyst for IDC, said. "With something
| like Ubuntu, it's going to require some tinkering."
`----
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=200000030
And they ended up with an egg in the face. Dell delivers to SMBs now
IDC pronounces Linux unimportant to European economy [in Microsoft-commissioned
study]
,----[ Quote ]
| A recent IDC white paper on the economic impact of Microsoft's super
| soaraway new Vista operating system seems to be lacking one crucial
| ingredient -- other operating systems.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34542
NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories
,----[ Quote ]
| Part of the problem stems from the reticence of companies such as
| IDC and Gartner to reveal their clients. That should make everyone
| nervous, but it doesn't. So called objective technology publications
| keep publishing material bought by vendors without telling you this.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/15/nytimes_ms_ban/
Has IDC got the wrong number for iPhone?
,----[ Quote ]
| IDC has poured cold water on Apple's iPhone just days after a previous survey
| led M:Metrics to talk up the new entry to the cellphone stakes. But are the
| new numbers sound?
|
| [...]
|
| The most obvious difference is in the sample size. M:Metrics had
| 11,060 respondents, IDC just 456. The sample space was also different,
| with M:Metrics apparently sampling from mobile phone subscribers, while
| IDC looked at online mobile phone shoppers.
`----
http://www.itwire.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13036&Itemid=1054
IDC Study:
,----[ Quotes with annotation ]
| "(Microsoft manager:) I don't like the fact that the report show us losing
| on TCO on webservers. I don't like the fact that the report show us losing
| on availability (windows was down more than linux). And I don't like the
| fact that the reports says nothing new is coming with windows .net server."
|
| [...]
|
| "I don't like it to be public on the doc that we sponsored it because I
| don't think the outcome is as favorable as we had hoped. I just don't like
| competitors using it as ammo against us. It is easier if it doesn't mention
| that we sponsored it."
`----
http://www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/9000/PX09695.pdf
Vista filip for US states, claims IDC
,----[ Quote ]
| While reviewers debate the merits of Windows Vista and analysts puzzle the
| over the pace of adoption, IDC and Microsoft are in little doubt over its
| impact for the economies of America's 50 states.
|
| To date, IDC has estimated Windows Vista will create 37,000 new jobs and
| generate $15.5bn in related products and services across just four US
| states.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/24/microsoft_windows_vista_idc/
IDC report on Open Document Standards
,----[ Quote ]
| This study is a fact-based analysis of the emerging open document
| standards, Open XML and ODF.
`----
http://openxmldeveloper.org/archive/2006/11/27/IDC_Open_Document_Standards.aspx
Vista launch to add 100,000 Europe IT jobs: study
,----[ Quote ]
| The study, conducted by research firm IDC and commissioned by Microsoft,
| said Windows Vista will be installed on over 30 million personal computers
| in Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom within the
| first year of shipment.
`----
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060914/tc_nm/microsoft_study_dc
Shill season
,----[ Quote ]
| It's often difficult to figure out the motivation behind a particular
| study - until one finds out who has commissioned and paid for it.
| The so-called tech consulting companies would love it if the consumer
| believes that they have conducted an "independent" study. The worrying
| thing is that not many people blow their cover.
`----
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8109/1090/
Microsoft Press Releases: Read Between the Lines
,----[ Quote ]
| We have a game we play around the office here with Microsoft press
| releases. The game is called Find the words that make the headline
| true. It's not always easy.
|
| [...]
|
| Our point: Microsoft has a long history of using press releases top
| romote their product momentum in shall we say interesting ways,
| using words like "fastest growing" (meaning, the number we started
| with was really really small) to redefining words such as "sold."
| It's not good marketing practice. Why? Because once consumers and
| press people figure out you are playing lawyer, they stop believing
| you and your brand. And that's more likely to do you harm than good.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/061211/22190_id.html?.v=1
NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories
,----[ Quote ]
| Just days after banning Enderle from discussing Microsoft because
| he has Microsoft as a client, the Times quoted Gartner analyst
| Michael Silver and AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy in a story
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| about Microsoft's Windows and Office software.
|
| If the paper would prefer not to quote an analyst who has
| experience with a client, it did a poor job. Silver is Gartner's
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| vice president in charge of client computing. Microsoft happens to
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| do lots of business with Gartner and also happens to have a
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| client-software monopoly. We're guessing that Silver knows
| Microsoft's products well and has direct involvement with the
| company.
|
| And, sure enough, he appears a number of times on Microsoft's
| own site and thousands of times in stories about Microsoft.
|
| Jim Murphy - wait for it - covers Microsoft too and is even more
| prolific than Silver.
|
| [...]
|
| Part of the problem stems from the reticence of companies such as
| IDC and Gartner to reveal their clients. That should make everyone
| nervous, but it doesn't. So called objective technology publications
| keep publishing material bought by vendors without telling you this.
| They're also too lazy or scared to ignore the likes of Gartner and
| IDC until the firms change their disclosure rules.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/15/nytimes_ms_ban/
Buy Vista or die
,----[ Quote ]
| Gartner research vice president Michael Silver said that outfits have delayed
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| their Vista migrations to the point of stupidity and now some are considering
| late 2008 or even 2009, while others mull skipping the OS completely.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/07/vista-die
Why open source has always deserved a census
,----[ Quote ]
| Ever since we learned that the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft
| doesn’t take into account open source software when it comes up with its
| annual piracy statistics, we stopped reporting their numbers. When you only
| look at proprietary shipments, you miss a great piece of the puzzle. We just
| don’t know how big a piece it is.
`----
http://blogs.itworldcanada.com/shane/2007/12/12/why-open-source-has-always-deserved-a-census/
Get free software and save a fortune
,----[ Quote ]
| Though the most popular open- source package is ubuntu, funded by local
| entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, South African business is generally paying
| dearly for its ignorance of free software, says a study by international
| market research firm Frost and Sullivan.
|
| The report, South African Open Source Market, said allegations by large
| developers, led by Microsoft, and the Business Software Alliance, of piracy
| and copyright violations have cast a shadow over the legitimacy of free
| software.
`----
http://www.thetimes.co.za/Business/Article.aspx?id=602887
Legality of Fedora in production environment
,----[ Quote ]
| Recently the appropriate laws in my country (Russia) have beens
| ignificantly toughened. Now the police can check for illegal software
| usage by their own initiative (without request from the owner). The
| tax inspection demands that software should be registered at
| accounts departments.
|
| During such a checking, the user is obliged now to show all hardcopy
| license documents (with original signatures and stamps).
`----
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-May/msg00697.html
Hypocrisy off the port bow!
,----[ Quote ]
| Admiral Holleyman of the Bull Shit Association dares claim that our craft
| makes his skainsmates lose (that's the opposite o' win, for all ye
| spelling-retarded coppocias) $11 billion US dollars every year. Hoy-day! A
| flight of fancy I've ne'er seen before such bardleture came before me! Such
| presumptuous posy overflows my yellow bile. As if every man of the
| brotherhood would actually buy the programs he pirates! Bah! Next, I wager
| he'll be so bloody daft to presume that blokes should actually read a license
| agreement, the likes o' which have never been, and may yet never be enforced
| in full.
`----
http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/364
U.S.-China joint probe nets fake software
,----[ Quote ]
| The figure represents 10 percent of software piracy losses in China in 2006,
| according to the Business Software Alliance.
`----
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070724/tc_nm/piracy_china_software_dc
Big businesses boast of patent benefits, for small businesses
,----[ Quote ]
| A report published by an EU task force on intellectual property claims
| that small businesses benefit from a patent system, despite lacking
| almost any participation by the small business community.
|
| Instead, the report, titled IPR (intellectual property rights) for
| competitiveness and innovation, was written up almost entirely by
| large corporations and the patent industry.
|
| [...]
|
| The report does note objections from the likes of patentfrei.de and
| Sun Microsystems, which were recorded at some length in the report.
| But this does not appear to have impacted the conclusion of the
| report in any way
|
| [...]
|
| Jean-Pierre Laisne, of ObjectWeb, an open source software community,
| said that he found the report useless: participants were told that
| all their contributions would be recorded but at the end only
| those of Business Software Alliance and Microsoft were used.
`---- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/99155/big-businesses-boast-of-patent-benefits-for-small-businesses.html
Updates of Sorts and Things to Watch Out For.
,----[ Quote ]
| While there may have been the Enrons, Haliburtons, and other companies that
| members of We Are Change have to deal with, there are two main
| companies/groups that we have to deal with:
|
| * Microsoft
| * The Business Software Alliance
|
| It’s a symbiotic relationship of sorts between the two. One is supposed to
| make sure that users have shelled out an arm and a leg for their copies of
| software, yet it is used by the other to blackmail these same users. For now
| though, let us focus on the Redmond, Washington software company. In Michael
| Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, there was a brief clip that allegedly showed a
| meeting of many companies who were talking about Iraq (second invasion of… at
| least it was implied to me anyway), and one of the names dropped: Microsoft.
`----
http://nixedblog.thenixedreport.com/?p=57
Microsoft Happy with the Evolution of Windows Vista Piracy
,----[ Quote ]
| But the truth is that Microsoft is happy with the way Windows Vista
| piracy is evolving. Is there a catch to this? No. The fact of the
| matter is that Windows Vista has delivered a heavy blow to
| software counterfeiters. The reason for this is the new Windows
| Genuine Advantage security mechanism integrated into the
| operating system.
|
| You may not notice this on the surface. On the surface, the
| Internet is crawling with Windows Vista cracks, hacks and
| workarounds. On the surface, every Windows Vista edition has
| been cracked and is available for download via peer-to-peer
| networks. But this is not the true extent of Windows Vista piracy.
`----
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Happy-with-the-Evolution-of-Windows-Vista-Piracy-50577.shtml
Governments Must Reject Gates' $3 Bid to Addict Next Billion PC Users
,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft's strategy of getting developing nations hooked on its
| software was clearly outlined by Bill Gates almost a decade ago," said
| Con Zymaris, CEO of long-standing open source firm Cybersource.
|
| Specifically, Bill Gates, citing China as an example, said:
|
| "Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but
| people don't pay for the software," he said. "Someday they will, though.
| As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours.
| They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to
| collect sometime in the next decade."[1]
`----
http://www.cybersource.com.au/press/gates_set_to_addict_next_billion.html
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
What about selling free software
,----[ Quote ]
| Gervase Markham, the Mozilla Foundation's licensing officer, in an
| article in the Times Online, talks about being questioned by a
| northern UK Trading License Officer about giving away software.
|
| The trading officer was concerned by a group that was burning the
| free Mozilla Browser on CDs and selling it.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/what_about_selling_free_software
Report: The Business of Free Software
,----[ Quote ]
| In his Nov. 21 column, Conrado Banal said I did not really author the
| bill "Free/Open Source Act of 2006" now pending in Congress. And
| quoting the Business Software Alliance (BSA), he also derided the
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| bill as a "prime model of confusion."
|
| Let me assure him that I authored the bill. My office worked on it for
| four months. It started with a suggestion from FOSS (free/open
| source software) advocates in the Computer Professionals Union
| (CPU). Modeled after the Brazil and Peru FOSS policies, it is the
| result of inputs from various geeks, techies and FOSS
| practitioners--from my two staff who happen to be competent IT
| professionals, IT lawyers in the UP College of Law, members of
| the Philippine Linux Users Group (PLUG), GNU/Linux guru and
| prime advocate Richard Stallman of the MIT-based Free Software
| Foundation, who personally e-mailed his very valuable comments.
| It also contains inputs from the government?s Commission on
| Information and Communications Technology and the International
| Open Source Network of the UNDP.
`----
http://business.inq7.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=36605
|
|
