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BSA: Hardware Without Software Not Tax Deductible
,----[ Quote ]
| The Czech Ministry of Finance along with
| the BSA threaten to disallow deducting
| hardware from base tax if purchased
| without software. This idea stems from
| their joint proclamation that for software
| to be used legally, it must be bought â
| thus completely ignoring the existence of
| free and open source software which can be
| obtained legally without any purchase
| whatsoever. The Ministry and the BSA have
| issued a press release which basically
| labels all users of 'free software'
| pirates. Many public organizations and
| companies (including Red Hat and Novell)
| have expressed their dismay at such
| actions of the Ministry.
`----
http://www.abclinuxu.cz/clanky/mfcr-bsa-open-source?page=1
One 'front group' dies:
Goodbye Becta â and Good Riddance
,----[ Quote ]
| Not quite on the scale of cancelling the
| ID cards project, the news that Becta
| would be shut down was nonetheless further
| evidence of the coalition government's new
| broom whooshing into action.
|
| Although there seems to be a wide range of
| views on whether this is a good or bad
| thing â see this post and its comments for
| a representative selection â for me Becta
| was pretty much an unmitigated disaster
| for free software in this country, and I'm
| glad to see it go.
|
| I write not just as someone who has
| followed free software for 15 years, but
| as a parent. Never mind that schools
| almost without exception are stuffed to
| the gunwales with Microsoft's technology â
| including, unbelievably, Internet Explorer
| when it was still totally insecure.
|
| What I find particularly outrageous is the
| fact that even today, some of the
| educational websites used by schools don't
| even work with Firefox, and that there is
| a presumption that parents have a copy of
| Microsoft Office at home (whether it was
| bought or âborrowedâ from work doesn't
| seem to matter to IT departments much.)
| Most of the responsibility for this
| parlous state of affairs can be laid at
| the door of Becta.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=14&entryid=2978
Recent:
School IT quango to be expelled
,----[ Quote ]
| Becta, the education IT procurement
| quango, is to be scrapped as part of the
| new government's Â6.2bn cuts this year,
| announced by George Osborne this morning.
|
| Schools are expected to get more control
| over their technology purchases as a
| result. Becta did not buy computers and
| software for schools, but instead drew up
| framework agreements that bound local
| authorities to particular vendors and
| packages.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/24/becta_cut/
Becta: Does it deserve to die?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/05/becta_does_it_deserve_to_die.html
Becta and school ICT: end of the line for the gravy train? (II)
,----[ Quote ]
| But now, with a new Government BECTA and
| QCDA are no more. They both moved to
| Coventry recently, I knew that was the end
| of them, apparently they did not. NO ONE
| voluntarily moves from London to
| Coventry.do they? But no acronym changeâ
| just abolishment?
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2975
Farewell to Becta
,----[ Quote ]
| I have mixed feelings about this, though
| in a period when severe cutbacks are
| required a body like Becta is hard to
| justify. I first came across Becta in the
| context of the debate about Office Open
| XML, Microsoft Office and Open Office.
| Becta, which claims to provide ârigorous
| research and evaluationâ, came up with a
| full report on Microsoft Vista and Office
| 2007. These are products which I know a
| lot about, and I thought the report was
| poor. I liked the fact that Becta was
| positive towards open source; but disliked
| the uncritical advocacy which it seemed to
| indulge in at times.
`----
http://www.itwriting.com/blog/2639-farewell-to-becta.html
Becta to be Eliminated
,----[ Quote ]
| BECTA is to be closed this year in a cost-
| cutting expedition of the government of
| the UK. Having mixed results from similar
| organizations in Canada, I have mixed
| feelings about BECTA.
|
| [...]
|
| I do not know what the result of BECTAâs
| demise will be. It would be good if
| schools formed their own umbrella
| organization and used FLOSS and the FLOSS
| community for similar benefits to what
| BECTA does.
`----
http://pogson.6k.ca/2010/05/24/becta-to-be-eliminated/
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