06.17.13
Posted in Site News at 2:54 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Thanks to
Summary: Server maintenance complete, making pageloads faster and the Web site more robust, hence resilient against attacks
RECENTLY we have been having unprecedented problems with availability. After preparations last week we finally migrated and upgraded the Techrights server, doubling the CPU capacity and completing all the associated tasks over the weekend. A few changes remain to be applied shortly. Technical details are in my personal blog (not so relevant to the scope of Techrights).
Copilotco has kindly provided hosting for over 4 years. Without it, Techrights would not have been where it is today. It all started when Techrights came after DDOS attacks lasting several days. There are people (or companies) out there who would like to see the site dead. █
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06.01.13
Posted in Site News at 7:22 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Critical advocacy definitely hurts the perpetrators
Summary: The net impact of this site and a growing level of respect
WE’RE in a position where we can tell that Boycott Novell probably cost Novell many millions of dollars in lost revenue. The action was phenomenally successful. It took a (personal) toll, but it did help society in many ways.
Some site called “Boycott Apple” (Boycott Apple dot com) is syndicating some posts from Techrights (didn’t know until now). Here is a partial list of posts. This reminds us of the old days when Boycott Novell was used to educate people about Novell and channel them towards other companies.
“Back in the days of activism about Novell we received a lot of flak for criticising what was falsely perceived as part of the ‘Linux world’.”It is not unusual for us to find ourselves impacting news sites; books too are occasionally citing us. For instance, Techrights is cited in this book and this book, where criticism of the Gartner Group got noted (I also participated in a film about this). This is all outside the scope of my academic work which got me in dozens of books. In my view, this site has had a far greater contribution than my academic work, which is why it is approaching its seventh year and seventeen-thousandth post. Yes, it has been that long and this much.
Back in the days of activism about Novell we received a lot of flak for criticising what was falsely perceived as part of the ‘Linux world’. That was before Novell gave its patents to Microsoft and Apple, essentially proving us right. Novell was a ticking time bomb and the patent deals revolutionised by Novell continue to harm Linux to this date. Android in particular is impacted now. █
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05.29.13
Posted in Site News at 1:10 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Fog Computing harms your soul
Summary: Inquiry to readers about this site’s focus
TECHRIGHTS has been focused on patents, especially as they relate to Free/Open Source software (FOSS), since its very early days. The Novell/Microsoft deal was a patent deal — a conspiracy against FOSS at large. Would there be interest in Techrights covering other areas of technology such as privacy (surveillance, data sharing, Fog Computing, etc.)? If so, it oughtn’t take away attention from the usual topics we cover, it would just relay some items from daily links into standard blog posts. Any subject worth covering other than that? Thanks in advance for any feedback. █
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05.17.13
Posted in Site News at 3:24 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Sites that deal with patents and with FUD as well as their respective ages
Techrights recently (a few days ago) became 6.5 years old, amassing almost 17,000 blog posts and earning respect from past critics who saw our predictions come true. Groklaw, however, is celebrating a much more special anniversary, having just turned 10. Here is some coverage about it:
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One of the amazing things about free software is how it has managed to succeed against all the odds – and against the combined might of some of the world’s biggest and most wealthy companies. That shows two things, I think: the power of a simple idea like open collaboration, and how individuals, weak on their own, collectively can achieve miracles.
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When I started, I thought I’d do a little fiddling around for a couple of months to learn how to blog. But then all you guys showed up and taught me some important things that I didn’t know, and vice versa I hope, and here we are, on our 10th anniversary, still going strong, together on a very different path than I originally imagined. The important moment for me was when I realized the potential we had as a group and decided to try to surf this incredible wave all of you created by contributing your skills and time. I saw we could work as a group, explain technology to the legal world so lawyers and judges could make better decisions, and explain the legal process to techies, so they could avoid troubles and also could be enabled to work effectively to defend Free and Open Source Software from cynical “Intellectual Property” attacks from the proprietary world.
I donated to Groklaw a few times because no site has been nearly as valuable to our causes as Groklaw. It inspired us, too.
I am pretty certain that we too can reach the tenth anniversary and still be an active site (thanks to all who donated; we welcome more donations to help cover hosting fees). The fight for software freedom and against software patents is far from over and the outcome of this fight depends on activism. This site is a purely voluntary activity from yours truly and others in the community. The motivation is idealogical, not financial, but there are operating costs. █
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04.24.13
Posted in Site News at 1:39 am by Guest Editorial Team
Silence or support for CISPA plays into Microsoft’s long standing smear campaign against Google.
For weeks, people have been claiming that Google supports CISPA. Ten days ago, a trade group spoke up for Google [2]. Five days later, right before getting the bill passed by Congress, co author Mike Rogers took time to represent Google and most of the Silicon Valley,
They’ve been helpful and supportive of trying to find the right language in the bill … I always said if I could get Palo Alto and New York City on the same bill, I got something. We found that sweet spot in this particular bill.
Even Wikipedia claims Google support for CISPA, “Google has not taken a public position on the bill [27] but has shown previous support for it, and now says they support the idea but believe the bill needs some work”
Voice jacking may be a downside of being the most loved company in tech and the world [2] but the Microsoft press is having a field day with it. Microsoft’s long slog against Google paints the company as, an evil monopoly, really EVIL, screwing partners and violating user privacy for commercial gain at every turn, basically everything Microsoft is or wants to be. Recent examples include much noise about harmless wifi data collection, Android developers and user data, a flap over privacy policies, really, an unending flap, flap, flap. A long list of older smear jobs can be found by searching Groklaw for the proper terms. Google support for CISPA really would be a reversal and betrayal.
Google’s long standing, official silence is baffling. Google was a hero in the fight against SOPA saying all the right things about censorship and privacy. Eric Schmidt has released an excellent excerpt from his soon to be published book about dangers to network freedom but it does not mention CISPA.
Informed opinion is overwhelmingly against CISPA, but they need help. Today, 34 prominent civil rights organizations issued a statement against the bill and most have been fighting it all along [2, 3]. The same groups also opposed SOPA but were unable to effectively reach the public without help from sites like Google and Wikipedia.
Continued silence allows the wrong people to control the narrative and demoralizes opponents. There have been several articles about how no one showed up for the first round of blackouts and how passage is inevitable without Google and Wikipedia support and how that’s not going to happen. They also say not to worry because Senate does not care and Obama will veto it. This is the usual narrative of the rich and powerful: You little people are weak and helpless, don’t struggle because it will only waste your time.
Techrights firmly opposes CISPA and has written against it several times [2] Users, companies, government and the internet itself don’t have a “cybersecurity” problem, they have a problem with second rate, non free software from companies like Microsoft. CISPA makes the problem worse by giving the usual suspects power to censor and harass [2] people trying to fix things.
Readers wanting to know the basics of CISPA are urged to read the EFF FAQ. Then join us in urging lawmakers to reject CISPA. We really can’t depend on Obama’s veto for this, he’s already signed an executive order almost as bad as CISPA and the house vote is sufficient to override a veto.
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03.06.13
Posted in Microsoft, Site News at 4:26 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A word about the focus in Techrights and why it makes sense at this stage and era of patent wars, UEFI, bundling, etc.
A site like Techrights occasionally needs to revisit and explain its goals. A lot of people correctly point out that we’re targeting particular issues more than others. It is a conscious decision.
Microsoft’s history when it comes to antitrust action has been thoroughly documented. It can be researched with the help of many documents or pages including federal Web sites, journals, newspapers, legal filings, blogs, news sites, and hardcover books. No single site or piece of literature can really claim credit for having done a grand exposé of the company’s actions, but the efforts of many help piece together a cohesive story of systematically-abusive people, some of whom have grown beyond Microsoft and are now a threat to health, nutrition, education, etc.
Techrights has limited its scope of coverage to more properly address systemic issues which enable Microsoft (among others) to extort, to cheat, and generally to distort the market to the point where honest people simply cannot compete. There are many good people out there who lost income or lost their jobs because of Microsoft’s abuses against the Web (as Web developers), abuses against other companies (diving them out of business by cheating), its shoddy software (e.g. security issues, bugs) and expensive licences that drain companies’ budgets and render people redundant.
“If Microsoft does not obey the law, then it is a special problem.”While it is true that there are many malicious companies out there except Microsoft, this simply does not excuse Microsoft or in any way justifies its bad behaviour. United we need to stand, insisting as ever before that the rule of law is respected also by the super-rich and never subverted to accommodate or legalise their criminal activities.
The many writings about Microsoft are fueled not by hatred but by aspiration to have a civil society that fosters honest developers and thus maximises benefit to technology users. Stallman has pointed out in this site that Apple became a greater threat than Microsoft, which I still doubt is true, depending on what it is a threat to. Therefore, despite the fact that I de-emphasised Microsoft in 2010-11 when I started working two jobs simultaneously and hence lacked time, Microsoft will remain a point of focus. Novell is pretty much gone, but the patent extortion carries on and we must fight against software patents to shield dominance of Linux-based platforms, especially in portable devices.
With the exception of daily links and IRC logs, further posts will focus more on facilitators of software patents and those who exploit them. Brands will change, platforms will rise and fall over the years, but one thing which remains quite persistent in relative terms is the rule of law and those applying it, or not applying it. If Microsoft does not obey the law, then it is a special problem. █
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Posted in Site News at 3:57 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Our experiences dealing with abusive behaviour and how it was most effectively dealt with it
Every once in a while someone who is tied to Microsoft, someone whom Techrights criticized, or just someone who strongly disagrees with some view will choose to provoke in some platform like Twitter, for Techrights requires commenters to subscribe, which already weeds out a lot of unnecessary provocation. Disagreement is fine, but sometimes a person can get carried away and flood the comments sections, or even set up a whole Web site whose sole purpose is to oppose Techrights, usually in an ad hominem type of way. This happened a number of times over the years and we always abstained from giving such sites any attention. If the criticism is polite and well founded, it makes sense to respond. But when it is obsession- and grudge-driven it is better to ignore. No time should be wasted dealing with those for whom this waste of time or distraction is an implicit goal.
“Let it be stressed that since the site started in 2006 we have never deleted any comments.”IRC is a bit different because it is a real-time medium where trolls can deliberately disrupt communication which is legitimate. Vandalism, obscenities and other nasties that violate the most basic rules are not a thing of the past, but now that we have many operators in the channels it has gotten harder to derail them.
The Internet is not void of spam or trolls and it never will be. The question is, how does one position oneself against them? The wiki used to be a productivity sink due to a lot of spam, so anonymous edits and new accounts are barred for now (if allowed, they immediately invite spam every hour or so, which takes hours to undo by reverting, as was the case several times before while editors were away).
Let it be stressed that since the site started in 2006 we have never deleted any comments. Suppression of free speech, even if it is speech by an anonymous corporate agent, is not something we do. We still have in tact comments that were left by Novell and Microsoft agents before their affiliation was unmasked and they fled. Yes, these are a nuisance, but preserving the full picture helps one understand and internalize the real phenomenon which is AstroTurfing. █
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02.12.13
Posted in Intellectual Monopoly, Site News at 3:58 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: CISPA rears its ugly head again, so action from the public is needed
TECHRIGHTS has expanded somewhat in terms of scope and focus, as our daily links help reflect. Swartz, who was involved in Wikileaks, i.e. transparency and accountability, fought against SOPA, which is about censorship, just like CISPA, which can help shut down Wikileaks and also harm privacy. A lot of recent press propaganda will serve as pretext for cracking down on the Web with new laws. CISPA is one of them.
Obama signed an executive order for CISPA, kneeling to his bosses in Hollywood, as usual. What will you do? █
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