G
Guest
I am not going to comment on this post from "Old Timer" that is on Beta News.
I just think it is a good balanced point of view, much more so than the views
from some of the fanatics and lunatics who post/reply here.
From Old Timer:
I don't have a problem with MS wanting to protect their intellectual
property rights. It ~is~ a right, you know.
It's a wonder that ppl will bash MS for legitimately wanting to safeguard
the fruits of their labor and knowing full well that those same bashers would
jealously protect their own property from theft.
Some will say that MS goes overboard in safeguarding their property. Face
it, piracy and the users of pirated products goes on all around every one of
us. Is it self-serving for MS to say so? Maybe. But I suspect anyone would do
the same thing if it were your own valuable commercial product that someone
was re-packaging for their own profit.
It's robbery if it happens to you, so what is it if it happens to MS? My own
understanding of the article is that MS concedes that a lot of end-users are
using counterfeit copies of it's OS. Is MS generally filing lawsuits against
end-users? No. Might they at some point? Maybe, but you definitely would
[without delay] if it were your commercial product being ripped off. Are they
going after the counterfeiters? Absolutely!
MS concedes that piracy won't end and that they have no illusions to the
contrary. Why would they allow security updates to go out to even pirated
product? Security of even the pirated product is valuable to everyone, not
the least of which MS who are contributors (whether anyone likes it or not)
to the tech industry as a whole. Whether you like MS or not: "The enemy
(virus creators) of my enemy (MS) is my friend."
Frankly, I do like MS products. (I know: SUCH heresy!) I also like the open
source community, linux, apple and a lot of other contributors to tech. They
all have a very important seat at the table and contribute to different ~and~
like categories. Both competitively and in partnership.
We all like "free", there's no doubt. Is it a crime against humanity to make
whatever living you can (rich OR meager) out of your efforts? MS has a LOT of
free stuff that you can get even without WGA if you'll just go get it.
Possibly a larger number of items than the items they charge for. Or
possibly more accurately, a LOT of bonus content, material, programs and etc
for those who purchase their products. I like that. Other software companies
probably only wish they could be as generous with their customers. (Oops!
There I've gone and invited curses for using the "G" word
You might be surprised after reading the above that I am against any
KGB-like, police-state 'turning-in-your-neighbor' tactics in enforcing
copy-rights or intellectual property rights. I'm okay with MS legitimizing
end-user's pirated product in return for informing on the seller of the
pirated product. But I think that's about as far as MS should go in those
regards (and I hope if MS is reading this that they agree.)
I'm a tech and I go out of my way to make sure that the products I pass on
with the systems I sell are legitimate. However, I see other OEMs and
builders who aren't as contientious. I don't think they are being malicious,
for the most part. But here is where much of the problem of counterfeiting
lies. The carelessness of system builders and OEMs, and I'll admit that
sometimes it's greed, is the fertile market for counterfeiters.
If I believed that the WGA was a method of 'stealing' my information or that
MS routinely gathers the 'marketing information' of it's customers for
general dissemination I would be a pre-dominately linux user. I'm not
blind... I've always carefully watched for spam and other indications that
any merchant that I do biz with might have created. I'm from
'back-in-the-day' when we had MS-DOS and PC-DOS (is anyone still out there
who knows the difference? It wasn't really that long ago) and I rarely have a
problem with most merchants. I admit you do have to do your homework, but
it's worth it.
Personally, I give MS 5-stars out of 5 in the privacy category (if not quite
that in others. BTW, it's been since Win95 and only a couple times in 98 that
I've personally had a BSOD or had to reinstall... I didn't even have a
problem with XP SP2. No offense, but it's really a matter of how you take
care of your system isn't it? Kudos to 'eunichman'.)
Sorry, I couldn't resist. Back to the subject... someone said that MS
"b****'s and moan's". I KNOW you would if it were Your livelihood that was at
stake. Maybe it ~doesn't~ amount to billions or maybe it does; either way if
it were happening to you in the same measure you'd be bankrupt for the next
100 lives (if there were such a thing; but that's a different topic
That's where I stand... I guess I've sat mute reading such c**p over the
years that I finally had to jump in and give my half-cent.
I just think it is a good balanced point of view, much more so than the views
from some of the fanatics and lunatics who post/reply here.
From Old Timer:
I don't have a problem with MS wanting to protect their intellectual
property rights. It ~is~ a right, you know.
It's a wonder that ppl will bash MS for legitimately wanting to safeguard
the fruits of their labor and knowing full well that those same bashers would
jealously protect their own property from theft.
Some will say that MS goes overboard in safeguarding their property. Face
it, piracy and the users of pirated products goes on all around every one of
us. Is it self-serving for MS to say so? Maybe. But I suspect anyone would do
the same thing if it were your own valuable commercial product that someone
was re-packaging for their own profit.
It's robbery if it happens to you, so what is it if it happens to MS? My own
understanding of the article is that MS concedes that a lot of end-users are
using counterfeit copies of it's OS. Is MS generally filing lawsuits against
end-users? No. Might they at some point? Maybe, but you definitely would
[without delay] if it were your commercial product being ripped off. Are they
going after the counterfeiters? Absolutely!
MS concedes that piracy won't end and that they have no illusions to the
contrary. Why would they allow security updates to go out to even pirated
product? Security of even the pirated product is valuable to everyone, not
the least of which MS who are contributors (whether anyone likes it or not)
to the tech industry as a whole. Whether you like MS or not: "The enemy
(virus creators) of my enemy (MS) is my friend."
Frankly, I do like MS products. (I know: SUCH heresy!) I also like the open
source community, linux, apple and a lot of other contributors to tech. They
all have a very important seat at the table and contribute to different ~and~
like categories. Both competitively and in partnership.
We all like "free", there's no doubt. Is it a crime against humanity to make
whatever living you can (rich OR meager) out of your efforts? MS has a LOT of
free stuff that you can get even without WGA if you'll just go get it.
Possibly a larger number of items than the items they charge for. Or
possibly more accurately, a LOT of bonus content, material, programs and etc
for those who purchase their products. I like that. Other software companies
probably only wish they could be as generous with their customers. (Oops!
There I've gone and invited curses for using the "G" word
You might be surprised after reading the above that I am against any
KGB-like, police-state 'turning-in-your-neighbor' tactics in enforcing
copy-rights or intellectual property rights. I'm okay with MS legitimizing
end-user's pirated product in return for informing on the seller of the
pirated product. But I think that's about as far as MS should go in those
regards (and I hope if MS is reading this that they agree.)
I'm a tech and I go out of my way to make sure that the products I pass on
with the systems I sell are legitimate. However, I see other OEMs and
builders who aren't as contientious. I don't think they are being malicious,
for the most part. But here is where much of the problem of counterfeiting
lies. The carelessness of system builders and OEMs, and I'll admit that
sometimes it's greed, is the fertile market for counterfeiters.
If I believed that the WGA was a method of 'stealing' my information or that
MS routinely gathers the 'marketing information' of it's customers for
general dissemination I would be a pre-dominately linux user. I'm not
blind... I've always carefully watched for spam and other indications that
any merchant that I do biz with might have created. I'm from
'back-in-the-day' when we had MS-DOS and PC-DOS (is anyone still out there
who knows the difference? It wasn't really that long ago) and I rarely have a
problem with most merchants. I admit you do have to do your homework, but
it's worth it.
Personally, I give MS 5-stars out of 5 in the privacy category (if not quite
that in others. BTW, it's been since Win95 and only a couple times in 98 that
I've personally had a BSOD or had to reinstall... I didn't even have a
problem with XP SP2. No offense, but it's really a matter of how you take
care of your system isn't it? Kudos to 'eunichman'.)
Sorry, I couldn't resist. Back to the subject... someone said that MS
"b****'s and moan's". I KNOW you would if it were Your livelihood that was at
stake. Maybe it ~doesn't~ amount to billions or maybe it does; either way if
it were happening to you in the same measure you'd be bankrupt for the next
100 lives (if there were such a thing; but that's a different topic
That's where I stand... I guess I've sat mute reading such c**p over the
years that I finally had to jump in and give my half-cent.