Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Ballmer Youth (Updated)

It's already here

How does Microsoft fight GNU/Linux? Just as it explicitly stated in its most recent SEC filing, it's about education, otherwise known as well-funded brainwashing for 'IP'. The company said it would approach children. Do have a look.

Update: It seems clear now that this post lacks context, so here is something to bring you up to date:

1. Can Microsoft teach tots digital-age virtue?

The basis of Redmond's pitch was a small survey they sponsored where nearly half of the kids polled said they were unfamiliar with the rules and guidelines of using copyrighted media. Microsoft figured tots would be less inclined to steal someone's IP if they knew about the alleged consequences.

A lot of digital ink was used to slam Microsoft's scheme. People need Redmond telling them about IP rules like they need Pavorotti schooling them about a well-balanced diet.


2. Threat Of Jail Time Increases Respect For Copyright, Microsoft Says

It's not clear whether Microsoft's statement to teen respondents -- "When you do not follow these rules you are open to significant fines and possibly jail time" -- is entirely accurate, particularly when teens under the age of 18 are involved. Emily Berger, an intellectual property fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is skeptical. "I think it's being used as a scare tactic," she said. "It's a real stretch of the law to say it's theoretically possible."


3. Microsoft training youth to love intellectual property

Take, for example, its commitment to help teenagers understand the importance of respecting intellectual property (read: giving Microsoft more money). It just put out a survey showing that when kids understand the rules of copyright, they're "less likely to download illegally."

[...]

The one thing it didn't explain to teens is why they should retrofit 20th-century copyright laws onto 21st-century realities. Digitization is a fact. The web is a fact. Intellectual property is not the same as real, tangible property, and should be treated and monetized differently.


For information about patents, specifically, see Microsoft's SEC filing. It's very revealing.

Recent Techrights' Posts

United States Entering the $100 Trillion Debt Trap, We Compare GAFAM Debt
Google's debt is about 6 times less than Amazon's
Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC), Inc. vs. Vizio, Inc. Is Costing the Free Software Foundation Money
FSF subpoena and deposition
They Try to Replace the Creators of GNU/Linux and Hijack Their Word, Work, and Reputation
gnu.org is down at the moment; now I'm told it's back but very slow. DDoS?
Links 05/05/2024: Political Cyberattacks From Russia and Google Getting a Lot Worse
Links for the day
 
On Character Assassination Tactics
The people who leverage these dirty politics typically champion projection tactics
Links 06/05/2024: Scams and Politics
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/05/2024: Reading and Computers
Links for the day
GitLab's Losses Grew From $172,311,000 to $424,174,000 Per Annum
Letting this company have control over your (or your company's) development/code forge may cost you a lot in the future
statCounter's Latest: Android Bouncing to New All-Time Highs, Windows Down to Unprecedented Lows
Android rising
Can't Bear the Thought We're Happy and Productive
If someone is now harassing online friends, attacking the wife, attacking my family (not just attacking and defaming people I know online) there are legal ramifications
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 05, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, May 05, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Erinn Clark & Debian: Justice or another Open Source vendetta?
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Death of Michael Anthony Bordlee, New Orleans, Louisiana
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
The Revolution Continues
Today we've published over 20 pages and tomorrow we expect more or less the same
Death of Dr Alex Blewitt, UK
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Following the Herd (or HURD)
Society advances owing to people who think differently and promote positive change, not corporate shills
Thiemo Seufer & Debian deaths: examining accidents and suicides
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Gemini Links 05/05/2024: Infobesity and Profectus Beta 1.0
Links for the day
Running This Site Mostly a Joyful Activity
The real problem or the thing that we need to cancel is this "Cancel Culture"
Australia Has Finally Joined the "4% Club" (ChromeOS+GNU/Linux)
statCounter stats
Debian as a Hazardous Workplace Where No Accountability Exists (Nor Salaries)
systematic exploitation of skilled developers by free 'riders' (or freeloaders) like Google, IBM, and Microsoft
Clownflare Isn't Free and Its CEO Openly Boasted They'd Start Charging Everyone to Offset the Considerable Losses (It's a Trap, It's Just Bait)
Clownflare has collapsed
Apple Delivered Very Disappointing Results, Said It Would Buy Its Own Shares (Nobody Will Check This), Company's Debt Now Exceeds Its Monetary Assets
US debt is now 99.98 trillion dollars
FSFE Still Boasts About Working Underage People for No Pay
without even paying them
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 04, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, May 04, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
The Persecution of Richard Stallman
WebM version of a new video
Molly de Blanc has been terminated, Magdalen Berns' knockout punch and the Wizard of Oz
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
[Meme] IBM's Idea of Sharing (to IBM)
the so-called founder of IBM worshiped and saluted Adolf Hitler himself
Neil McGovern & Debian: GNOME and Mollygate
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
[Meme] People Who Don't Write Code Demanding the Removal of Those Who Do
She has blue hair and she sleeps with the Debian Project Leader
Jaminy Prabaharan & Debian: the GSoC admin who failed GSoC
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Jonathan Carter, Matthew Miller & Debian, Fedora: Community, Cult, Fraud
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Techrights This May
We strive to keep it lean and fast
Links 04/05/2024: Attacks on Workers and the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/05/2024: Abstractions in Development Considered Harmful
Links for the day
Links 04/05/2024: Tesla a "Tech-Bubble", YouTube Ads When Pausing
Links for the day
Free Software Community/Volunteers Aren't Circus Animals of GAFAM, IBM, Canonical and So On...
Playing with people's lives for capital gain or "entertainment" isn't acceptable
[Meme] The Cancer Culture
Mission accomplished?
Germany Transitioning to GNU/Linux
Why aren't more German federal states following the footsteps of Schleswig-Holstein?
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 03, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, May 03, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Alexander Wirt, Bucha executions & Debian political prisoners
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 03/05/2024: Clownflare Collapses and China Deploys Homegrown Aircraft Carrier
Links for the day
IBM's Decision to Acquire HashiCorp is Bad News for Red Hat
IBM acquired functionality that it had already acquired before
Apparently Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Again (Late Friday), Meaning Mass Layoffs Every Month This Year Including May
not familiar with the source site though