08.25.12
Posted in Microsoft, Vista, Vista 7, Vista 8, Windows at 11:08 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Antifeatures that are associated with spying have been included in Vista 8, raising concerns for those who need protection in their private lives
THERE are many reasons to believe that Vista 8 will fail just like its predecessors (after XP).
Vista was not just horrible but it also introduced massive violations of privacy, which ought to deter and scare businesses. Having Vista or later installed is like having Stalin on your hard-drive. It ‘phones home’ a lot, gathering information about the users. This information is stored remotely and indefinitely.
“It ‘phones home’ a lot, gathering information about the users.”Now we learn that Vista 8 goes much further than Vista. It uses insecure means to help Microsoft spy on the users’ activity. To quote: “There are a few serious problems here. The big problem is that Windows 8 is configured to immediately tell Microsoft about every app you download and install. This is a very serious privacy problem, specifically because Microsoft is the central point of authority and data collection/retention here and therefore becomes vulnerable to being served judicial subpoenas or National Security Letters intended to monitor targeted users. This situation is exacerbated when Windows 8 is deployed in countries experiencing political turmoil or repressive political situations.”
See what Microsoft did in Russia. Remember the sound bite: Stalin on your hard-drive. █
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
–George Santayana
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Posted in Apple, GNU/Linux, Google at 10:57 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Another legal victory for Android may be only days away because Apple’s claims do not add up
TECHRIGHTS is not a legal-oriented site, but it does try to keep abreast of cases that affect Linux (and by extension Android). Oracle has already lost one high-profile case against Android.
According to coverage of the Apple vs. Samsung trial. so-called “damages” are likely to be none.
There are “Ridiculous Moments” in this trial and it is headed to a jury which in due time could decide that no side gets anything. Google was right to suggest that the patent wars are helpful to nobody (except patent lawyers). To quote one report about it, “Google suggested that fighting patent wars is not innovative or helpful in any manner. It seems like Google is getting fed up with software patents, just after the former got an upper hand in the court with Oracle, which was declared as the patent battle of the decade.”
“We meanwhile learn that nobody is expected to win the case, so at the end of the day Apple will have wasted its time.”Korea hurts customers by removing products: “A SOUTH KOREAN COURT has Imposed bans on a number of mobile devices from rival companies Apple and Samsung’s, having found that both firms infringe each other’s patents.” Mutual destruction.
We meanwhile learn that nobody is expected to win the case, so at the end of the day Apple will have wasted its time. The jury will decide soon despite alleged difficulties, but it is not known when. As CNN put it: “You can probably expect deliberations to continue into next week. If there are still holdouts a week from Friday, however, the prospect of a spending one more weekend with Apple v. Samsung hanging over their heads could bring the jury to a rapid consensus.” █
Update: Minutes ago we found out that a decision had just been made and Apple’s allies from Redmond celebrate. Apple and Microsoft collaborate in attacking Android and collecting patents, as we showed before (e.g. CPTN, Nortel, cross-licensing, other pacts).
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Posted in Bill Gates, Patents at 10:49 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The world’s biggest patent troll, backed by Bill Gates and run by his close friend, gets a PR placement in the corporate press and Slashdot amplifies it
TWO of our readers have brought to our attention (in two of our IRC channels) this Intellectual Ventures whitewash that hit Slashdot on Friday. The original came from the Microsoft booster in CNET and it is merely corporate propaganda for Bill and Nathan, some of the world’s biggest enemies (and personal frieneds of each other, thriving and getting richer with common investments and lobbying). Groklaw found more news from the same area, namely Bellevue, promoting patents.
For those who are new to the above whitewash, our wiki pages ought to provide a good start (e.g. Gates Foundation). Due to the collapse of the Gates Watchers blogs, our future coverage of Gates’ abusive activities remains uncertain. We’ve been in touch with the Gates Watchers author. █
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Posted in IBM, Microsoft, Patents at 10:19 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
IBM still a closeted enemy of public interests
Summary: US corporations are trying to distort NZ policy so that it reflects the very opposite of what people of New Zealand (NZ) want and need
THE multinationals from the US, namely Intel, IBM (as covered before), and of course Microsoft, have been lobbying for software patents in New Zealand. According to news from the site which is dedicated purely to fighting software patents, “[o]n May 7th and June 8th, 2010, Microsoft and IBM met privately with members of New Zealand’s Ministry of Economic Development (MED). They claim to have convinced the Ministry to abandon plans to exclude software from patentability in the proposed Patents Bill.
“IBM should be chastised for doing what it’s doing right now.”“There was also a private exchange of emails between the MED and Microsft, IBM, and the Business Software Alliance in the month before and after the meeting, where those three organisations submitted policy documents.”
IBM should be chastised for doing what it’s doing right now. Only if public pressure mounts will IBM recede from these positions that also the BSA is pushing. We thought that IBM had dumped the BSA last year (or the year before that). █
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