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.
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.
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.”
Comments
Needs Sunlight
2009-05-13 14:23:06
http://lwn.net/Comments/45527/
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1998/01/overseas-invasion
Be sure to keep in mind the distinction that Novell was in practice a different company with the same name prior to Ray Noorda's sudden death.
IIRC there was some documentation in the early days about how BSA defined "piracy" . It wasn't about open source / Free Software or closed source. It was about MS / not MS. Not MS == "piracy" as far as BSA is concerned, be it closed or open.
pcolon
2009-05-13 14:32:23
The term “pirate” is poorly used, interpreted and gives the illegal trafficker of copyrighted content a non-deserved stigma. The trafficker should be labeled for what he/she is; a thief, nothing more, nothing less. It’s not a violent/traumatic crime.
Pirates are associated more with violent crimes (rape, pillage amongst other crimes) at sea.
The english word “pirate” is derived from the Latin term pirata and that from Greek Ãâ¬ÃµÃ¹ÃÂñÃâîÃâ (peirates) “brigand”, ultimately from Ãâ¬Ã栨âÃÂñ (peira) “attempt, experience”, implicitly “to find luck on the sea”. The word is also cognate to peril. In 17th and 19th century sources the word is often rendered “pyrate”.
However, the term does not exclusively relate to robbery committed at sea, as other similar origins have a broader definition. The correct definition would be ‘travelers of the sea.’
Roy Schestowitz
2009-05-13 14:39:21