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BSA Under Fire for Misleading the Public, Raids Show Harms of Proprietary Software

BSA



Summary: Bad publicity for the BSA following some of its latest propaganda; International Talk Like a Pirate Day is reached

THE BSA LIES IN YET ANOTHER new 'study' which has already been debunked. IDC should be ashamed of itself for its role in it. We have already explained the subject of counterfeiting and how it is being misportrayed, too (see wiki page). Most recently we gave one rebuttal from Michael Geist in our daily links (surely there are more rebuttals) and also from Glyn Moody, who in turn got cited by some other Web sites. Examples of new coverage also include:





In another new article a whistleblower is glorified. The article quotes someone as saying: "I was aware that the BSA offers a financial payment but I never expected this much money [...] This is definitely an extra motivation for other people like me, already frustrated by a management that thinks that they can get more with less."

It is stories like this one which ought to motivate migration to GNU/Linux. Here is a nice new cartoon which serves as a reminder of the pitfalls of proprietary software:

"There were some large gentlemen looking for Stef."

"I expected them. I showed Stef how to change the wallpaper in Windows 7 Starter."

"You didn't tell him it was against the EULA?"


Talk Like a Pirate Day was just a few days ago.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day everyone!


There is no "piracy" in Free software. This is why Linux Journal is all humourous about this notion. The BSA depends on the existence of such villains for perpetuation of its business, which is why it lobbies so much against software freedom. That's why it's important to discredit the BSA when it resorts to propaganda. The hope is that the mainstream press will learn to ignore or at least critically assess BSA claims before publishing.

In summary, IDC (IDG) has helped the BSA prepare some big lies, but thanks to the Internet and a growing body or 'ammunition' against these claims, all parties involved lose their credibility as they very much deserve.

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