09.02.11
Microsoft’s Vision of Phones is Orwellian, Class Action Invoked
Summary: At Microsoft, spying on the user is a design choice, so a massive lawsuit is launched against the company
THE fight for Linux on mobile platforms is in part motivated by our digital rights and liberties. Nothing shows this better than actions like this new class action against Microsoft: [via]
ass action lawsuit filed in Seattle yesterday charges that Microsoft intentionally designed the software that runs cameras in Windows Phone 7 smartphones to collect and report…
This does not surprise us as Windows for the desktop contains similar antifeatures, to borrow the term the FSF likes to use. The illness of intrusion is one that Apple and Microsoft have in common. Apple versus Microsoft is a false dichotomy; the real argument is (software) freedom versus tyranny. █
Needs Sunlight said,
September 2, 2011 at 8:48 am
I suppose that’s just another reason both Apple and M$ are so worried about Android having taken off.
Michael said,
September 2, 2011 at 8:52 am
Gee, you loath Microsoft and Apple, so you whine about them.
How about Google? Cookies set to last for over 30 years… scanning of personal email for the purpose of targeting ads… driving around taking pictures of people’s houses – including getting pictures *inside* people’s houses through open windows… scanning of WiFi networks and storing the data… adding anyone with a Gmail account as a contact to other services… censoring data in their search results… accepting money for illegal activities for ads… engaging in tax evasion. On and on and on.
To be clear: I am not saying Google is evil. I am noting they are no better than the companies you loath, and yet you give Google a free pass. Your bias is *extreme*, to the point where it comes out in almost all of your articles.
twitter Reply:
September 2nd, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Is that you, Florian?
twitter Reply:
September 2nd, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Techrights champions people and rights, not companies. To be more straightforward, Microsoft and Apple both exploit users through non free software where Google is making free software. Carriers may have twisted Android into unacceptable things and Google could have prevented that by using a stronger copyleft license but we need to give credit where it is due.
Michael Reply:
September 2nd, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Techrights does not “champion people and rights” – it is a tool for attacking people and spread FUD. I have documented this well: http://trw.gallopinginsanity.com/
And look at that bias of saying Apple exploits people with non-free software! Ever use CUPS? Ever use WebKit? Those are both, currently, owned and maintained by Apple. Do you like Apache? Who has spread it to more desktops than Apple? And the idea that Google makes free software as if they made nothing else – hogwash! Where is the source to their tablet software?
And you keep avoiding the question, “twitter”: are you Roy posting with a different name? You sound a lot like him… just curious if you really are him.
twitter Reply:
September 2nd, 2011 at 9:46 pm
I’m not Roy, thanks, but Galloping Insanity sounds about right for you. I’m done being trolled now.
Michael Reply:
September 2nd, 2011 at 9:53 pm
I merely asked if you were Roy… I did not accuse. If welcome reasoned disagreements with me on the points I make.