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It's This Time of the Year Again: Time for BSA and IDC to Compare Us to Murderers

Sailor



Summary: It's another round of insults and propaganda ('piracy' sob story) from Microsoft-commissioned sources

MICROSOFT ET AL ARE doing it again. It is just so very typical. The BSA is pairing up with IDC [1, 2], both of whom are funded by Microsoft to spread such propaganda about 'piracy'. TechDirt says the truth about the meaning of this (Microsoft sometimes loves this so-called 'piracy'), whereas other publications just parrot the propaganda, which is likely to be pushed into reporters' mailboxes. Here is an example:



The figures are a result of a survey published by the Business Software Alliance working with the beancounters at IDC. It claims that 61 per cent of the region's software was unlicensed in 2008, which was an increase from 59 percent in the prior year.


Time after time it's always the BSA and IDC. Who benefits from this? Who references this? It's a rhetorical question. There is a tinge of FUD added to such messages at times, usually when they want to introduce new legislation:

OK, let's forget the spin put on the piracy problem by the usual industry suspects. By which I mean the suggestion that the true cost of piracy is that it helps fund terrorists.

That is just silly nonsense, FUD designed to confuse rather than clarify what has become a growing problem.


In other related new, Apple poses as copyright cop, virtually deciding that everything torrent is to be blindly considered illegitimate.

Apple Rejects iPhone BitTorrent App



[...]

Citing copyright infringement concerns, Apple won’t include a BitTorrent client in the App Store.

The Cupertino-based electronics company rejected Maza Digital’s Drivetrain, saying “this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third-party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store.”


Apple should also block all Web browsers. After all, HTTP too can be used to... well, transfer files. It's just a protocol [1, 2, 3]. In the same vein, ISPS that block torrent trackers should also block Google. After all, it's efficient when it come to... well, finding stuff.

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