Why Does Microsoft Treat Vendors and Customers Like 'Thieves'?

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2009-08-13 23:15:20 UTC
Modified: 2009-08-13 23:51:23 UTC

"It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not."

--Bill Gates

Summary: The experience of vending or using Windows is still marginalising and demeaning

SEVERAL days ago we gave an example of a seller who was tricked by Microsoft to offer copies of its software under conditions which were not legal. As we pointed out at the time, this is part of a trend [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] because Microsoft is feeling the pinch. Here in the United Kingdom Microsoft is getting busy as well. From the news:

Microsoft catches 11 UK pirate retailers

[...]

Computer Clinic, Bolton ; Computer Port, Walsall; Eazy PC, Redcar; Goldcast Computers, Stockton-on-Tees; Matrix Computers, Stockton-on-Tees; PC Assist, Oldham; Personal Touch Computers Ltd, Portsmouth; Platinum Computers, Hartlepool; Spacebar Computers, Litherland, Liverpool, and The Little Computer Shop, Griffithstown, Pontypool.

Those retailers will not be huge fans of Microsoft after the crackdown, so GNU/Linux and Free software might be offered as an option on their PCs in the future. There is no revenge sweeter than this and as the quote at the top ought to remind people, for many years Microsoft has permitted shops to distribute Windows and Office against the rules. As long as Microsoft benefited from freely spreading its software and making it a de facto standard, it was all fine.

Another area where Microsoft is criminalising not retailers but actual customers is Vista and Vista 7. For those who remember what a DRM mess Vista was, it is worth reminding that Vista 7 is just the same.

Microsoft, Windows 7, cable television, and the so-called “PlayReady” DRM scam

[...]

What I’m about to show is Windows 7 artificially crippling an otherwise normal, uncrippled cable television channel. PlayReady DRM hooks into Windows Media Center and artificially degrades your standard cable TV service provided that the channel involved has paid Microsoft a lot of money.

Vista 7: limiting one's experience artificially because everyone (including paying customers) is assumed to be a "criminal". Very poor diplomatic skills from Microsoft and yet another reason to find permanent comfort in GNU/Linux. ⬆

Comments

David Gerard

2009-08-13 23:20:41

We need a campaign for computer shops - pointing out the above examples and that Microsoft are not safe to deal with or deal in.

twitter

2009-08-14 03:17:56

Computer shops, like the one I once worked for, already know the score. The owner had been sued by M$ and won. He had been tricked by his supplier with perfect "forgeries." It took him years to prevail and it almost bankrupted him, but he still sells M$ junk. It's all he knows and there used to be a good [parasitic] business in Winblows release sales and Wipe and Reload in between. These days, the business is all Wipe and Reload.

People who know GNU/Linux can do well by catering to specific services and customizations. These people are cropping up around the world and they offer a much nicer service. There's probably a shop or two near you.

twitter

2009-08-14 03:29:53

limiting one’s experience artificially because everyone (including paying customers) is assumed to be a “criminal”.

It's really more of a game to make people pay for things. M$ is paid to reduce quality. Customers are then forced to pay the service provider for what they should just already have. Broadcast is a terrifically inefficient means of delivering entertainment and is subject to games like this because it is centralized. A little known US law and MythTV circumvent Vista damage, but it can not undo the lack of choice and intentional signal degradation cable brings.
twitter

2009-08-14 03:43:38

test

GNU/Linux Distributions as "Appliances" and DRM Platforms (the Case of ChromeOS and SteamOS): Is this what we envisioned in the 1980s and 90s?
Fulfilling the Site's Full Potential: We remain devoted to the aforementioned goal of posting more original material
Over at Tux Machines...: 2 days' worth
Microsoft's Demise in the Global News Cycle is Rather Telling: It should be noted that Microsoft is, in general, no longer prominent or dominant in news headlines
Sometimes It's Time to Reboot: No, not Android. KDE.
Upcoming Talk by Dr. Richard Stallman: Large Language Models Are Not Artificial Intelligence: LLMs aren't truly intelligent and cannot quite grasp what they spew out
GulagTube is a Burning Platform (Exit YouTube, Invidious Won't Save Us From Google/Alphabet in the Long Run): Alphabet Agency (Google) sees the future of video as a "skinnerbox" (running Android) that indoctrinates you like TikTok does
Gemini Migration and Backup Capsule (Archive): At the end we'll end up with something a lot better than before and latency should be massively reduced
Links 01/10/2023: Science, Education, and pro-Russia Slovakia Leadership: Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 01, 2023: IRC logs for Sunday, October 01, 2023
Links 01/10/2023: Climate, Patents, Programming, and More: Links for the day
Apple and Microsoft Problems: half a dozen links
Malware in the Ubuntu Snap Store, Thanks to Canonical Bloatware Mindset: Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Gemini Rising: There are 3523 capsules
Richard Stallman Gave a Talk Yesterday, Will Give Another Talk Today, and Will Give Two More Talks in Germany Later This Week: Those cover at least 2 different topics
Beware the Microsoft Sharks: We won't forgive and forget
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 30, 2023: IRC logs for Saturday, September 30, 2023
Don't be Afraid of the Command Line, It Might Even be a Friend: There's a tendency to think that only graphical interfaces were made to simplify usage, and any declarative interface is by design raw, inherently unfit for usage
One Positive Note About GNU/Linux Coverage in 2023 (Less Microsoft): GNU/Linux users do not want this, with very rare exceptions
Snaps Were Never Good at Security, But the Media Coverage is Just Appalling: The media should focus on culling Windows, not making a huge fuss over minor things wrongly attributed to "Linux"
Better Footage of Richard Stallman's Talk Last Week: “Freedom in computing, forty years after starting to really protect it”: Richard Stallman speaks about the cancer situation early in his speech
Links 30/09/2023: A Government Shutdown and More Blizzard Layoffs: Links for the day
Links 30/09/2023: Bing Almost Offloaded Due to Failure/Losses, Nvidia Raided: Links for the day
A Lot of Technological 'Progress' Has Been Nothing But Buzzwords: Free software does not try to excite people people over nothing
Community is the Lifeblood of Freedom in the GNU/Linux World: Removing or undoing the "cancerd" (systemd) is feasible but increasingly difficult
Proprietary Software: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Proprietary software has an entirely different mindset, revolving around business models rather than science
Web Hostnames Down to Lowest Number in More Than 7 Years!: the number of hostnames is falling rapidly (they hide this by choosing logarithmic scale)
Over at Tux Machines...: 2 days' worth
Richard Stallman Says He Will Probably Live Many More Years: "Richard Stallman has cancer. Fortunately it is slow-growing and manageable follicular lymphona, so he will probably live many more years nonetheless. But he now has to be even more careful not to catch Covid-19."
Quitting 'Clown Computing' and GAFAM is Only the Start: The Web and the Net at large became far too centralised
Stop Begging Companies That Don't Value Your Freedom to Stop Pushing You Around: That's not freedom
They Say Free Software is Like Communism When They, the Proprietary Software Giants, Constantly Pursue Government Bailouts (Subsidies From Taxpayers): At the moment Ukraine is at most risk due to its dependence on Microsoft (inside its infrastructure)
Social Control Media Has No Future, It Was Always Doomed to Fail (Also Promoted Based on Lies): Recent events, including developments at Twitter, meant that they lost a lot of their audience and then, in turn, sponsors/advertisers
The forbidden topics: There are forbidden topics in the hacker community
They're Been Trying to 'Kill' Richard Stallman for Years (by Mentally Tormenting Him): Malicious tongue wanted to do him what had been done to Julian Assange
We Temporarily Have Two Gemini Capsules: They're both authentic and secure, but they're not the same
Consumerism is Lying and Revisionism: We need to reject these liars and charlatans
Links 30/09/2023: Open VFS Framework, CrossOver 23.5, Dianne Feinstein Dies: Links for the day
Security Leftovers: GNU/Linux, Microsoft, and more
Microsoft Down on the World Wide Web, Shows Survey: down by a lot in this category
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 29, 2023: IRC logs for Friday, September 29, 2023
A Society That Fails Journalists Does Not Deserve Journalism: It's probably too later to save Julian Assange as a working publisher (he might never recover from the mental torture), but as a person and a father we can wish and work towards his release
Almost Nothing To Go With Your Morning's Cup Of Coffee: Newspaper? What newspaper?

Why Does Microsoft Treat Vendors and Customers Like 'Thieves'?

Microsoft catches 11 UK pirate retailers

Microsoft, Windows 7, cable television, and the so-called “PlayReady” DRM scam

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts