Computing New Brunswick

OKay how many out there think that those of us who are concerned with the use of Digital Rights Management and TPM are blowing smoke out our holes wastefully?
The latest news out of Russia:

Bill Gates III , richest man in the world, is not making enough money in Russia; end-result? It is reported that he has asked the Government of Russia to REQUIRE DRM to help Russia join the WTO. One of Russia’s difficulty in joining is  apparently due to the high amount of Piracy for software and Media.
..” Microsoft’s Russian office did not reveal the details of Gates’ negotiations with Russian officials. A source that deals with the company said unofficially that Gates proposed Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management technology as a national standard to fight piracy at the governmental level. That system allows for complete control over the use of the digital content of Microsoft products. If the state makes Microsoft’s DRM mandatory, life will be much harder for users and sellers of illegal software. Internet content stores will have to be equipped, at a cost of about $1 million a piece, with systems that encode the media files sold according to Microsoft standards and transfer all data on the handling of that data to a central Microsoft identification center. Another component of DRM that will come with the new Vista operating system will block the files in the user’s computer that have not been licensed by Microsoft. As a result, the user will have to pay for all of those media files and for downloaded software.  “
..” By introducing that technology in Russia at the governmental level, Microsoft hopes to make hundreds of millions of dollars a year.  “
…” … Gates has come to meet with officials at various levels and suggest measures to fight piracy. It would be of benefit for both Russia and Microsoft to solve that problem, he thinks. ….  Microsoft says that 84 percent of the software sold and used in Russia is illegal. Gates also wants to make a lot more money in Russia. The Russian office of Microsoft made $258 million last year…..if the level of piracy on the market for Microsoft operation systems and utilities were reduced from its current level of 80 percent even to 50 percent, the proceeds of that corporation’s Russian division would at least double.” 

Think about it !!!! that amounts to a 1.8 Billion dollar market for Microsoft’s Products alone.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He must be really put off that he is only collecting $250 Million.

IBM Makes about $1 Billion Dollars a year from their patents they license. IBM and Amazon have been getting nowhere in their negotiations lately. IBM Contends that most of the Amazon website store infringes upon patents from the 1980′s patent portfolio IBM controls. and Amazon does not pay IBM for a license to the patents in question.

See some information over at arstechnica

IBM asserts that Amazon has violated five patents:

• US 5,796,967 – Presenting Applications in an Interactive Service.
• US 5,442,771 – Storing Data in an Interactive Network.
• US 7,072,849 – Presenting Advertising in an Interactive Service.
• US 5,446,891 – Adjusting Hypertext Links with Weighted User Goals and Activities.
• US 5,319,542 – Ordering Items Using an Electronic Catalogue.

Users are seeking clarification about Windows Licensing

Users are demanding clarification from Microsoft about how scenarios like these will play out under the new licensing.
The new licensing has caused confusion, especially for power users who rebuild their computers with new components several times a year, or who plan to upgrade their computers more than once in the lifetime of the OS. Microsoft’s new licensing for Windows Vista that will allow them to transfer a Vista license to only one machine other than the computer for which it was purchased.

“My question about the one-time transfer is what constitutes a machine?” asked Windows user Roger Halstead. “I have four machines and they are running legal copies of XP Pro. Those four machines are in a constant state of upgrade. I have to reactivate the OS around three or four times a year due to upgrades.”
[hmmmm..... I guess Microsoft isn't making enough money........]
Another Windows user, Mark Smith, who has his own business developing custom data-acquistiion and analysis packages for industrial applications, says the policy shows how “arrogant” Microsoft has become… ” its new attitude is ‘To hell with the customer, we’re going to do whatever we want because the customer has no choice but to buy Vista.’”

I was listening to CBC  a few weeks ago and I remember reading this in August so I dug up some links about how a comma in their contract with Aliant cost Rogers over $2.Million .

Wall Street JournalLawBlog ; RobHyndmanBlog ; CRTCdt2006-45
I know someone who is a lawyer; and know the care she puts in to her legal docs; this really demonstrates a hit to the pocketbook.

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Other Lawyer issues

Don’t forget a trip to your lawyer before you travel; just in case ….
An Identity theft story 8-); chills you to the bones huh? [from 2003]

Wrong man arrested after identity theft

A British man was arrested in South Africa and held for 2 weeks on an FBI
warrant after his identity was stolen by a fraudster. He was only released
after the real suspect was picked up in the U.S.
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2806827.stm
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British pensioner falsely accused by the FBI of being one of America’s most wanted men has arrived back in the UK.

Charity worker Derek Bond told a news conference at Heathrow he had come “close to the edge” during his ordeal.

All Because a Mr Sykes used his name 14 years previously as an alias.

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IdentityTheftRepersussions

How it began
Byrd’s nightmare began in 1998, he said. A man arrested on drug charges that year identified himself to local officials as Malcolm Byrd.Thanks to an article in the local Janesville Gazette, the real Malcolm Byrd found out about the identity theft, and headed to the police to correct the error. The paper ran a correction, too. But that was hardly the end of the ordeal.

XP did not have a specific limit for the number of times the license was transferable, but that Microsoft wanted to be “specific” about transfer rights with Vista.
A change Microsoft made to Windows client licensing since XP is that only two versions of Vista — Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Business — can be run as a virtual operating system in a virtual machine.
THESE ARE VERY EXPENSIVE!!!  something like $500!

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/101606-microsoft-allows-one-vista-transfer.html

Consumers will be able to transfer the operating system license they purchase to only one machine other than the one for which they originally buy Vista, said Shanen Boettcher, a Windows general manager at Microsoft. He said Microsoft thought the change made sense because “lifetimes for PCs are getting longer.” Most likely, a user will not need to transfer an operating system license to more than one computer during the time that operating system is the latest one available, Boettcher said.

Microsoft also has tightened up antipiracy features in Vista, and users who do not verify that their version of the operating system is authentic with a software license key within 30 days of its activation will lose the use of certain features of the PC until they do so. The company unveiled this characteristic of Vista, called its Software Protection Platform, about two weeks ago.
………

I know this will cause problems. I have seen quite a few “this version may not be legitimate” notifications.
what a lot of people don’t reaize that reduced functionality means it’ll turn on and tell you it has a licensing problem then will only allow you to resolve that licensing issue and nothing else until licensing is resolved.

Hello; Almost everytime I talk to my customer about their computing infrastructure I menton alternatives to Windows.

I DONOT Like my customers being called Pirates by Microsoft. I sell Acer Computers which come bundled with Windows XP Pro or Home. I hear many reports of Computers failing WGA and forcing users to act. I have encountered systems that WGA called pirated or were updated  with hardware and needed to be re-activated. this caused my customers to spend money they did not need to.

Here is an alternative for the small busniess. the Shavlik update service is available for FREE for the first year on up to 10 computers. The trial version of Shavlik NetChk Protect will scan and remediate 10 machines and is valid for one year. Please note: this version is not for re-sale.

From Microsoft’s support website: How to remove WGA

Now I have never been a fan of Dell for a number of reasons:

The first machine we try, their outsourced validation firm agrees that the Product Key is valid – but won’t issue an Activation Code. There’s a problem that they can’t figure out. That, they say, requires Customer Support. Customer Support agrees that the code is valid, and can’t say why it might not work, and we need to speak with Technical Support. Unfortunately, Technical Support is closed. Could we perhaps call back on Monday?”

As the reader and staff worked their way through re-activating each Optiplex, they found the more typical pattern was to be told the best answer to pay Microsoft more money. “You call the 800 number, read out the endless series of digits into the IVR,” the reader wrote. “Get transferred to India. Read the numbers again. Only to be told that their systems are down for maintenance, and could we try activating Windows XP tomorrow? Or, if we need it activated tonight – we can pay $149 per machine to get the machines back up and running immediately. What kind of a firm does business in this manner? How can Microsoft claim to be a vendor able to handle ‘business critical’ systems when they pull stunts like this?”

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