03.15.10
Posted in Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Servers, Windows at 3:54 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Reactions to Microsoft’s attempt to devour Free/open source software with Windows and software patents; Apache given as example of projects at risk
LAST week we wrote about the latest changes in Microsoft's CodePlex Foundation. What we didn’t mention is that someone from Apache agreed to participate in it, which led to Groklaw responding with: “Apache guys are losing a lot of credibility in the community. Definitely with me. Microsoft doesn’t care how open the code is, so long as it has patents it can use against it. And that’s the point of Codeplex, I think, to create a code base to compete with the GPLv3 that seeks to protects the code and its users from patent assault and royalty demands. Ask Microsoft why no GPLv3 code can be used in Codeplex. Maybe because it wants to do more Novell-style patent deals? You think? Apache guys, in the days of SenderID, you knew that it mattered to stay true to community principles and you stood up to Microsoft successfully. Do you really think a FOSS ecosystem that can include patent license payments fits the vision?”
“Apache guys are losing a lot of credibility in the community. Definitely with me.”
–Pamela Jones, GroklawThis is the cited article and here are some of our posts about Apache’s relationship with Microsoft [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18]; it’s all about Windows, which only makes Apache look bad.
This good new cartoon explains how Microsoft views “open source” (found in Groklaw). █
“It’s part of a continuing behavior pattern by Microsoft that I think it’s fair to call “dirty fighting.” GoDaddy was using Apache (I assume on Linux) because it was a great technical solution. They didn’t switch to IIS on Windows Server 2003 for any technical reason. The switch was accompanied by a press release by GoDaddy, containing Microsoft promotional language. Now, I’ve changed many servers from one thing to another, but I’ve never made a press release about it. GoDaddy wouldn’t be doing that unless Microsoft had offered them something valuable in return. There has been talk in the domain business that Microsoft has been offering the large domain registries a wad of cash to switch their parked sites. There is no other reason to do this than to influence the Netcraft figures.”
–Bruce Perens
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Posted in Apple, Bill Gates, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Patents at 3:36 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Why so angry, Steve?!
Original photo by Matthew Yohe, modified by Boycott Novell
Summary: A great number of new articles about the effects of Apple, Microsoft, and Intellectual Ventures (funded by Apple, Microsoft, and Bill Gates) on Free software
Apple’s attack on GNU/Linux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] has led Dana Blankenhorn to suggesting that Apple could be the next SCO.
Apple’s suit against HTC could end one of two ways.
Either Apple becomes the next SCO, which ran itself aground claiming rights to Linux, or it becomes the next Microsoft, which is prospering while claiming to own Linux.
The answer depends on how hard Apple presses its case.
According to this new article from the New York Times, Steve Jobs is being anti-competitive.
“We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business,” Mr. Jobs told Apple employees during an all-hands meeting shortly after the public introduction of the iPad in January, according to two employees who were there and heard the presentation. “Make no mistake: Google wants to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.”
“Why Apple is paranoid about Android,” wonders an IDG blogger, who plays with words of a Radiohead track.
What was surprising was that the theme that Business Insider chose to talk about – RIM holding on to its dominance from the Apple iPhone – was not what caught my eye. What struck me was the Google Android share and the sharp recent increase, suggesting that it’s heading ever upwards. In fact, when I go back to the original figure from ComScore, the market share is 7.1 percent – a whopping increase from the 2.8 percent of the previous quarter – that’s a little over 150 percent increase in three months. And that market share was achieved very quickly, Android only released its first phone in September 2008, a doubly impressive performance.
As a reminder, Apple also sues Nokia, but Nokia is the company that sued first [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. This case could take years, according to:
1. U.S. Judge Suspends Apple-Nokia Case
The judge stayed litigation in the case pending the outcome of the International Trade Commission investigations that each company requested against the other. The investigation into Apple was announced by the ITC in late January, while the responding investigation into Nokia was launched late last month. After Nokia’s first lawsuit, launched in October of last year, Apple filed a counterclaim in the Delaware district court, also accusing Nokia of patent infringement. Nokia subsequently launched a second suit, aiming to block importation of Apple hardware into the U.S.
2. Nokia, Apple seek patent trial in 2 years
Top phone makers Nokia and Apple will seek a U.S. court hearing in a key patent battle in mid-2012, a court filing showed, raising the specter of a prolonged legal struggle.
Here is a note about prior art and LWN with a list of the patents and a discussion. IDG has this list of top smartphone lawsuits.
Over the past decades, the software patent has become a weapon of choice in tech circles.
One writer argues that “Apple’s patent offensive sends message to rivals”. It’s a bully’s technique, like “Shock and Awe” or “crazy dictator” (always be aware of the lawsuit-loving, trigger-happy one).
Apple’s patent infringement case against HTC is part of a larger effort to give rival smart phone manufacturers pause as they pursue iPhone-like features in their devices, according to a research note from Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Brainstorm Tech relates the note, which recounts the way Apple is working behind the scenes to stop what it calls the rip off of its intellectual property. It also suggests that Apple’s IP battle could deal a blow to Google’s Android operating system and manufacturers relying on it.
Apple and Microsoft are actually both in it, having previously bullied companies like Sun over the use and support of Free software [1, 2]. They keep the abusive behaviour secret for the most part.
This also brings us back to Amazon’s patent deal with Microsoft [1, 2, 3]. “Microsoft’s Amazon deal was all about Linux,” says this one article.
However, buried in the small print of the press release about the deal was a set of technologies covered by the agreement including the Kindle, which employs open source software, and Amazon’s use of Linux-based servers.
What this could mean is that Microsoft is popping around to some of the bigger Linux based technology outfits and saying: “Look you have some stuff we want to use, give us the rights to use it and we will not make you the first person we sue over Linux”.
[...]
What surprises us is that the Open Source community has not kicked up more of a stink about it.
Jim Zemlin, of the Linux Foundation, wrote of the deal that most technology companies have invested heavily in patents and that a cross-licensing agreement is a non-news event. The fact that two entities with expensive stockpiles of outdated weapons felt the need to negotiate détente is not surprising.
We have already complained about apathy from Zemlin and a few others [1, 2]. There is a poor approach from the Linux Foundation, which is not opposing software patents (its funding sources don’t). Instead, the foundation plays along with the dirty games of lobbying. “Software freedom has a posse – in Washington DC,” says Phipps from the OSI, who adds that:
You’ll recall I posted a long analysis of the sick position the IIPA took urging the US Trade Representative (USTR) to discriminate against countries around the world if they have a preference for software freedom. That analysis become an input for the excellent position statement, written collaboratively by the OSI Board and posted by OSI President Michael Tiemann, calling for action by national groups.
Here is OSFA’s announcement and some resultant press coverage. OSFA should have spent energy lobbying to abolish software patents once and for all, but then again, some of the companies it represents are fake friends of Free software who actually like software patents (companies like Google and IBM, for example).
One issue that we mentioned before is that Google had gotten sued by some obscure company [1, 2] and Microsoft did too [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] (there are $242,000,000 at stake, a similar amount to that of the i4i case [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]).
One would think that Google and Microsoft can abolishing software patents, but the benefits they receive from these monopolies are greater than the occasional damages. According to this new report from IP Watch, Microsoft is now joined by it patent troll Nathan Myhrvold, who helped the company hack the patent system.
Indian Civil Society Raises Concerns Over US Industry-Sponsored IP Summits
[...]
Public interest groups in India are raising questions over annual summits involving Indian judges and policymakers that are being funded by major western industry groups, in particular pharmaceutical companies. At this year’s summit, held recently, a section of India’s patent law which prevents the extension of monopoly power for incremental innovations came under attack, the groups have said.
[...]
Companies with a “vested interest in software patents” such as Intellectual Ventures, Microsoft, and Qualcomm also have been involved, although such patents are not currently allowed in the country, it added.
Why is Intellectual Ventures even involved in this? It has no products and it contributed nothing to society or industry. It’s just a leech that spends over a million dollars per year lobbying while bullying a variety of companies, which lose their income to this leech.
Change is needed and it involves abolishing software patents, not working one’s way around them. OSFA ought to work towards that goal and identify Apple, Microsoft, or even their shells that they fund as foes not worth working with. █
“Intellectual property is the next software.”
–Nathan Myhrvold, funded by Apple, Microsoft, and Bill Gates
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03.14.10
Posted in Microsoft, Vista 7, Windows at 6:57 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft covers up invasion of privacy, claims one of our regular members
Ryan Farmer, a former Microsoft MVP, tells us about a new bug that says: “In certain scenarios, an Emergency Alert System (EAS) message does not automatically tune to the appropriate channel in Windows Media Center.” He adds that: “in the Windows 7 CEIP will be affected by this part of the update. This update limits the diagnostic information that can be collected by the CEIP.”
“They get caught spying,” he remarks, “say it was an accident, and “fix it”. Shouldn’t they be sued for breach of contract?”
“In other words, business as usual,” concludes MinceR.
As a side note, Vista 7 is facing real pressure because it’s not being deployed like Microsoft wants people to believe. From the news:
Not everyone is interested in upgrading to Windows 7 — at least not right away. Computerworld’s survey respondents who said they have no plans to upgrade reported that they just don’t see enough benefit, particularly in these tough economic times, to warrant the cost of migration.
For Carl Weddle, director of IT at Quality Trailer Products, Windows 7 isn’t even on the radar. “We were clawing our way out of a hole until a few months ago,” he says, referring to the recession. Even in better times, he adds, “I tend to stay on the back end of the technology curve because it’s cheaper there.”
An upgrade to GNU/Linux would be even cheaper and provide a very modern platform. █
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Posted in IRC Logs at 6:56 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Read the log
Enter the IRC channel now
To use your own IRC client, join channel #boycottnovell in FreeNode.
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Posted in GNU/Linux, Google at 6:33 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A Microsoft mole gets into Engadget and attacks Linux from over there
LAST WEEK we wrote about Michael Gartenberg’s latest attacks on GNU/Linux [1, 2]. He used to work directly for Microsoft and he is still serving the Microsoft Way as an “independent” person. Just how “independent” he really is one can tell based on his writings, which we sampled in:
Gartenberg has gotten himself a corner in Engadget, where he is slamming Linux (Android in this case), as usual. We point this out just to warn that Microsoft has minions out there in large Web sites.
“We point this out just to warn that Microsoft has minions out there in large Web sites.”In this one particular piece of FUD, diversity is being cast as “fragmentation”. It’s old FUD from the old scriptures. Vendors love choice because customers do too (individuality) and they can customise their platforms for added value to be offered. But under the ‘Entelligence’ keyword at Engadget expect to see a lot more spin like this. Microsoft’s PR campaigns are being merged into sites that used to be trusted and many journalists are now relying on Microsoft’s partner [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10], comScore, for numbers about Android and Windows Mobile. For the time being, Android (Linux) is winning, but Microsoft has a history of using its power over statistics firms to tweak the outcome when it’s possible to identify a favourable criterion/method. █
“Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition’s technology part of the mythology of the computer industry.”
–Microsoft’s internal document for paid evangelists like Gartenberg [PDF]
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Posted in Apple, GNU/Linux, Google at 6:19 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Jealous Jobs
Steve Ballmer’s presentation slide
from 2009 shows GNU/Linux as bigger than Apple on the desktop
Summary: News about Apple’s primitive products (from a technical perspective) trying to catch up with their Linux-powered counterparts
Given Apple’s patent lawsuits against GNU/Linux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], it’s hard to see why any Free software developer would choose to develop for Apple, let alone buy anything from the company. One of the latest products from this company is being mentioned far too much by the technology press. It’s a disappointment even in the eyes of some avid followers of Apple [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] and just like Palm OS, iPad and iPhone have no multitasking. No multitasking! It’s not a joke. Now there are rumours about no camera support, either.
Can Apple catch up with Linux and actually implement multitasking? Some people think so [1, 2]. Those folks at Apple are ‘stealing’ from Linux again (just as they did from BSD when they made OS X)? Does it make them “great artists”?
Multitasking, or the lack thereof, has been one of the most prevalent complaints about the iPhone as a serious business smartphone–although I am not sure it is iPhone users who are doing the complaining. The lack of iPhone multitasking was a prime target of Verizon’s “Droid Does” marketing campaign for the Android-based Motorola Droid.
The iPad has no multitasking ability, either. These devices are toys and they are also built by children, based on this news report.
That iPhone you adore may have been built by a child.
Nearly a dozen underage teens were working for Apple-contracted facilities in 2009, the company has revealed. The news was posted to Apple’s Web site under a section labeled “Supplier Responsibility.”
To make things worse for Apple, they have lost the right to own the small “i”. [via]
Apple has been dealt a severe blow having been told that it no longer has a monopoly on the letter “i2″ as part of the name for its products.
A trademarks tribunal has knocked back Apple’s bid to stop a small company from trademarking the name DOPi for use on its laptop bags and cases for Apple products.
Apple argued that the DOPi name – which is iPod spelt backwards – was too similar to its own popular portable music player, which has sold in excess of 100 million units worldwide.
Apple is a control freak. More on that later, in a much longer post about Apple’s bullying. █
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Posted in Microsoft, Virtualisation, VMware, Windows at 5:46 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: VMware’s latest step sheds clues on the past, including the demotion/sacking of Greene
VMware, which is run by former Microsoft executives [1, 2, 3], is also controlled by EMC, which is Microsoft’s Partner of the Year for 2008. It was in 2008 that EMC did a lot to destroy 'old' VMware (putting former Microsoft executives in charge, in due course). Now we find out that it goes even further as more of Microsoft’s friends from EMC [1, 2, 3, 4] will descend to VMware.
Virtualization software company VMware will be taking over a line of data-center management software from parent company EMC, the companies announced Thursday.
And then comes this new explanation regarding change in leadership:
EMC still allows VMware to partner with competing storage vendors, but fired Greene in July 2008 in a move apparently caused by rifts between Greene and the EMC leadership. Greene was replaced by former Microsoft executive Paul Maritz.
An EMC executive indicated that Thursday’s transaction would have been less likely to happen if Greene were still VMware’s CEO. When asked if negotiations between the companies were difficult, Jay Mastaj, general manager of EMC’s Ionix division, said “Let’s put it this way: It was a hell of a lot easier than when Diane was here.”
Two years ago we wrote about Maritz and Tucci's Microsoft slog against VMware's management. It’s ugly stuff and former VMware staff mailed us about these issues. █
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Posted in Microsoft, Security, Windows at 5:19 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: News reports about security, mostly from IDG and almost exclusively about Microsoft and Windows
• ZeuS Botnet Still Mutating, Still on the Move
New capabilities are strengthening the ZeuS botnet, which criminals use to steal financial credentials and execute unauthorized transactions in online banking, automated clearing house (ACH) networks and payroll systems. The latest version of this cybercrime toolkit, which starts at about $3,000, offers a $10,000 module that can let attackers completely take control of a compromised PC.
• ZeuS botnet code keeps getting better for criminals
New capabilities are strengthening the ZeuS botnet, which criminals use to steal financial credentials and execute unauthorized transactions in online banking, automated clearing house (ACH) networks and payroll systems. The latest version of this cybercrime toolkit, which starts at about $3,000, offers a $10,000 module that can let attackers completely take control of a compromised PC.
[...]
The Windows-based ZeuS Trojan software, which takes up about 50,000 bytes on a compromised Windows-based computer, is designed to plunder accounts in North American and United Kingdom banking systems via the victim’s computer. The criminal might be located a continent away, directing unauthorized transfers of funds to accounts through elaborate command-and-control systems.
• One-third of orphaned Zeus botnets find way home
The takedown of 100 servers used to control Zeus-related botnets may be a short-lived victory, security researchers said after discovering that about a third of the orphaned channels were able to regain connectivity in less than 48 hours.
The resurrection of at least 30 command and control channels came after their internet service provider found a new upstream provider to provide connectivity to the outside world, autonomous system records showed on Thursday. As a result, some of the rogue customers who used the Troyak ISP to herd huge numbers of infected PCs were able to once again connect to the compromised machines and issue commands.
• Zeus Botnet Dealt a Blow as ISP Troyak Knocked out
• After Takedown, Botnet-linked ISP Troyak Resurfaces (Windows not mentioned)
Zeus is a botnet kit used by a large number of cybercriminals. Researchers have counted 249 Zeus command-and-control servers to date. Another Internet service provider named Group 3 was also knocked offline Wednesday. It has not been reconnected, however.
• Estonian DDoS revenge worm crafter jailed
An Estonian virus writer has been jailed for two and a half years for creating a Windows worm family that launched denial of service attacks on the websites of a local insurance firm and ISP.
Artur Boiko, 44, was convicted by a jury of creating the Allaple worm and sentenced to two years and seven months following a trial. Boiko pleaded not guilty but prosecutors persuaded the jury that he became a malware author in late 2006 to seek revenge against insurance firm IF following a dispute over a rejected car accident insurance claim.
• FBI Embeds Cyber-investigators in Ukraine, Estonia
Hoping to catch cybercrooks, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun embedding agents with law enforcement agencies in Estonia, the Ukraine and the Netherlands.
• Homeland Security is recruiting new cyber-warriors (they aim for prevention after the act instead of eternal cure)
Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said during a keynote speech today that her agency has new authority to beef up the department’s team of cyber-warriors and couldn’t help making her pitch before the thousands of security experts in the room.
• Professor Gets Money For Cybersecurity Research
More problems surfacing:
• New Internet Explorer Flaw Revealed
• Microsoft Warns of New Bug Affecting IE Users
• Microsoft warns of new IE bug; attacks under way
• IE Zero-day Exploit Code Goes Public
Exploit code for the unpatched bug in Internet Explorer was published on the Web yesterday, a step security pros said earlier would be the precursor to widespread attacks.
• McAfee inadvertently speeds creation of Metaploit IE exploit pack
• Chinese Hack Attacks Said Likely to Recur (Internet Explorer was the cause [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12])
Recent Internet attacks from China against Google and other U.S. companies will more than double this year if the pace during the first two months continues, a security expert says.
• US expert: Chinese gov’t likely behind massive cyberattacks
The Chinese government is likely behind recent cyberattacks on U.S. government Web sites and on U.S. companies in an apparent effort to quash criticism of the government there, an expert on U.S. and Chinese relations said Wednesday.
• FBI Director: Hackers Have Corrupted Valuable Data
Hackers breaking into businesses and government agencies with targeted attacks have not only stolen intellectual property, in some cases they have corrupted data too, the head of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said Thursday.
• FBI: Cyberfraud Losses Doubled in 2009 (no wonder it costs so much to recover)
Last year was a tough one for most businesses, but for cybercriminals it was one of the best yet.
According to data released Friday by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), victims reported total losses of US$559.7 million in 2009, more than double the tally for 2008.
• Trojan armed with hardware-based anti-piracy control
The latest version of the Zeus do-it-yourself crimeware kit goes to great lengths to thwart would-be pirates by introducing a hardware-based product activation scheme similar to what’s found in Microsoft Windows.
The newest version with bare-bones capabilities starts at $4,000 and additional features can fetch as much as $10,000. The new feature is designed to prevent what Microsoft refers to as “casual copying” by ensuring that only one computer can run a licensed version of the program. After it is installed, users must obtain a key that’s good for just that one machine.
Zombies in another sense (traditional and not harmful):
• Six Essential IPhone Apps for a Zombie Attack
• ZombieSmash Coming to IPhone
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