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Anyone checked the methodology? If not, check out page 14 of the report: http://www.bsa.org/globalstudy/upload/2005-2006 Global Piracy Study.pdf.

No points are given for pointing out the flaws there: it seems that IDC, or the BullShit Association still doesn't know about open source and free software. The way they count is as follows: (# of machines) * (average value of installed software) = (potential sales). Then they subtract the actual sales, and conclude that the rest must be illegal.

<Sarcasm>So, all you linux zealots out there: you are harming the economy, and appear in this figure. Let's hope the legislature isn't convinced by these arguments</Sarcasm>

Maarten

This is pretty irritating - where I used to work, we had 120 machines in student labs set up running Knoppix from their hard drives (no Ubuntu at that time). No for-money software on them at all. I don't think the BSA's methodology adequately accounts for machines that legitimately generate $0 in software sales.

There were also some leaked memos that went into more detail. I don't know if they're still on the Web anywhere, but this story from The Register describes them.

There are no TPM/TNC-based authentication systems available yet, but plenty of companies sell software-only versions. (These can be spoofed, of course.) The most well-known is Cisco's Network Admission Control ("the self-defending network"). They're intended mostly for LANs, but some vendors are already suggesting that they be used by ISPs (especialy in Wi-Fi hotspots).

I'd be extremely interested in seeing the Pentium with an onboard TPM, as this is something Intel has denied. (They sell motherboards with third-party TPM chips, but claim not to be integrating it with the CPU itself.)

Microsoft is part of the BSA.

"BSA members include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Bentley Systems, Borland, Cadence, Cisco Systems, CNC Software/Mastercam, Dell, Entrust, HP, IBM, Intel, Internet Security Systems, Macromedia, McAfee, Inc., Microsoft, PTC, RSA Security, SAP, SolidWorks, Sybase, Symantec, Synopsys, and UGS Corp."-http://www.bsa.org/

Then there's this:

Ernie Ball went to court and paid a fine; but that didn't end the matter:

"The worst thing was when Microsoft printed a four-color reproduction of that newspaper article on an executive's desk, sent it to every registered Microsoft user, and said "Don't get caught like Ernie Ball -- a fine company that found out just how hard it is to stay compliant. Call us. We'll give you a free audit and sell you software at 20% off." Keep in mind that we had already downloaded the BSA self-auditing software and it didn't work. This was fear-based marketing, with government help."-http://www.searls.com/feb04-lfs-diyit.html/

And this:

Here's how Sterling Ball put it when I interviewed him at Linux World last August:

"A disgruntled ex-employee saw a nail-your-butt opportunity, so he called the BSA. I was sued under federal seal. There was no warning. We were raided at ten o'clock on a Friday. We were shut down and ordered not to touch our computers. There were armed marshals. Our employees were sitting there going 'What's the matter? Is our company criminal? Are we crooks?' Then they sent out press releases... It's coincidental that they always send these out after business is closed."-http://www.searls.com/feb04-lfs-diyit.htm l/

Asside from releasing Microsoft of accountability I agree with your statements. Also I have been unable to discover what exactly the license infringements were; if anyone is so inclined.

From TFA:
The BSA [Business Software Association] had a program back then [2000] called "Nail Your Boss," where they encouraged disgruntled employees to report on their company...and that's what happened to us. Anyways, they basically shut us down...We were out of compliance I figure by about 8 percent (out of 72 desktops).
How did that happen?
We pass our old computers down. The guys in engineering need a new PC, so they get one and we pass theirs on to somebody doing clerical work. Well, if you don't wipe the hard drive on that PC, that's a violation.

Since when? Why can't the clerical worker use the software on the hand-me-down machine in a perfectly legal manner if new copies of the software are purchased for the new engineering PC? Aren't both using licensed copies? Why has the license for say, Windows, suddenly expired when the machine is transferred to another user within the company?

I decided to see if the BSA had an explanation for this position. Now I can't say that I read the entire site, but I didn't see any mention of wiping hard drives in the most likely places it would appear, for instance documents linked from the Tools for IT Managers page. Searching for "wipe hard drive" or variants thereof, using both the BSA site's search engine and "site:bsa.org wipe hard drive" at Google turned up nothing.

Is this some piece of common wisdom among IT managers, that they should routinely wipe the hard drives of hand-me-down computers? Does that imply I need to purchase a brand-new license for the software (like Windows) that was already on the machine before the next person may use it? Why does my common-sense view that I've already paid for these licenses not apply? Don't licenses for things like Windows apply in perpetuity to the CPU on which they are installed?

By the way, this is one of the most persuasive pieces I've ever read on converting a small-to-medium enterprise from Windows to Linux. The best parts concern Ernie's reaction to being mauled by the BSA. His family-run guitar string company was made to look like a bunch of despicable criminals in a horribly public way (armed marshals at the doorstep). After settling for $65,000 in penalties, and paying another $35,000 to cover the BSA's legal costs (as guaranteed by Congress) plus his own attorneys' fees, Ernie turned his back on all commercial software and moved his business to Linux.

Someone who receieved the pirated software could also report them to the BSA.

Hmm, I hope not but I'm (gladly) not a lawyer either--I think IP law is interesting but it's quite the mess, isn't it?

This says NOTHING about right or wrong, merely about the nearly orthogonal concept of lawful or unlawful. Read that carefully. Legal doesn't mean right. Illegal doesn't mean wrong. OTOH, illegal is a bit dangerous, and should generally be avoided for that reason...

Absolutely! I very much agree on that point. Legal does not necessarily equal right in a moral/ethical sense. I have tried to avoid all this as an ethical issue from the beginning but haven't done a very good job it seems (or why else does ethics keep coming up?) Breaking copyright law is simply breaking copyright law, whether or not I think it's right or wrong does not matter a bit. I've been attempting to focus on the fact that companies & government use infringing P2P as an excuse to further their control over the consumer--a legal club they're using to beat us all over the head with...

The bit about Sony's EULA, though, is quite interesting. The EULA is the reason I originally switched from MSWind to Linux, and I would never be willing to agree to such an EULA. It's worse than a rootkit, because I can get rid of a rootkit, but if I agree to an EULA, I can never get rid of having agreed to it.

Some here believe that EULA have no real enforcability. I think the BSA would disagree with that position...

Forgive me if I'm wrong -- but don't you mean the Business Software Alliance (BSA)?

"-rant-"
I don't read much in the TCO studies about the cost/risk/liability of lawsuits from this team. Can I buy insurance for this? :) Notice the $2 million Tuesday software audit. Any disgruntled employee can cause havoc. They can audit my winxp desktop but keep your grubby hands off the servers they are ALL GPL! Now beat it! They can pull out all your computers in an instant and you have to fight to get them back.

BSA
$2 million dollars

The GPL is this organizations worst nightmare. So HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I just got a thought, I am going to make stickers for every monitor and PC that uses only GPL software. NO BSA (circle with slash BSA in middle). It will make the others careful about what they install and give me great satisfaction as I do my Walk About. Then I'll add a line item to the budget for each machine without a sticker. I'll let accounting figure out the rest.

Of course I FULLY agree with and support about MA's responsibility not to store public records in a proprietary format. 3 Cheers MA! You are fighting the right fight.

"-/rant-"
Whew that felt good

"-rant-"
I don't read much in the TCO studies about the cost/risk/liability of lawsuits from this team. Can I buy insurance for this? :) Notice the $2 million Tuesday software audit. Any disgruntled employee can cause havoc. They can audit my winxp desktop but keep your grubby hands off the servers they are ALL GPL! Now beat it! They can pull out all your computers in an instant and you have to fight to get them back.

BSA
$2 million dollars

The GPL is this organizations worst nightmare. So HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I just got a thought, I am going to make stickers for every monitor and PC that uses only GPL software. NO BSA (circle with slash BSA in middle). It will make the others careful about what they install and give me great satisfaction as I do my Walk About. Then I'll add a line item to the budget for each machine without a sticker. I'll let accounting figure out the rest.

Of course I FULLY agree with and support about MA's responsibility not to store public records in a proprietary format. 3 Cheers MA! You are fighting the right fight.

"-/rant-"
Whew that felt good

Well, at least giving that impression has been one of "Jens of Korea's" marketing angles lately. It worked on you! ;)

Jens is probably worried that people will go elsewhere to buy the exact same players he's selling. When sold without the JoS stickers, the players are already much cheaper, "anti-piracy" taxation or not.

Remember that Jens Nylander has a rather adaptive view on copyright and piracy issues. [An article in Swedish daily business magazine Realtid.se on how Jens once ratted out his former employer to the BSA. Jens was angry with the small company (20 employees) because he had been cut off from meeting customers due to his behaviour and some "incidents", he had to return a computer that he had "borrowed" without the company's permission and knowledge, and he knew that the BSA offered rather great rewards for good tips.]

Yes they do. The Business Software Alliance does "raids" on US companies. their website is http://www.bsa.org/

Over here in Europe, we had that heated debate over the software patent directive. The European Parliament has to date not been lobbied nearly as aggressively on any legislation as on that one. The FFII and a campaign that I founded (and later gave to the FFII) succeeded in mobilizing citizens as well as small and medium-sized companies in all 25 member states of the European Union. Some MEPs claimed to have received about 75,000 E-mails on this issue. More importantly than that, lots of people went to Brussels (basically the EU capital) and Strasbourg (where the parliament has most of its votes) to meet with politicians.

Is there any active opposition to the BSA in the United States? The EU directive that the European Parliament voted down on 6 July was actually drafted by the BSA as the meta information in the European Commission's Word document showed (it contained the name of the BSA's European public policy director as an author).

By "active opposition" I mean a core group of activists who mobilize people throughout the United States. A free software or digital rights organization would be viewed as a bunch of idealists and not be taken nearly as seriously by a Congressman as a number of voters and employers from his constituency.

How much you wanna bet this $5 mil gets donated to help law enforcement agencies curb piracy?

Perhaps "donation" will go straight into the coffers of the Business Software Alliance?

"I've got a licensed, genuine version of Windows, but F them for making me jump through hoops to receive continued support. I paid for this and I shouldn't have to keep wasting my time to soothe their paranoid brows."

Paranoid: Exhibiting or characterized by extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others. (Source)

"In 2002, piracy cost the worldwide software industry $13billion in lost revenue." - (Source)

Dispute the BSA's data if you want (I'm sure it's suspect), but I would hardly call Microsoft paranoid for thinking that a large number of people pirate Windows and that they are likely losing a lot of money to it.

Is a 5 second automated check of your OS really a high price to pay for software updates?

The only people who should be pissed at this are those who stole Windows, and we should all be pissed at them for being thieves.

Apple, IBM, and Oracle are also members of BSA. So BSA is not just a Microsoft proxy like that foundation that put out pro-M$ white papers during the antitrust hearings.

The biggest problem for OSS on the hill is that there is not a lot of money to pay for people to travel to the hill and take folks to lunch. Forget Abramoff and the like. It still costs something to get to DC and meet people. It costs money and takes time to do research and write something useful for a hill staffer. There are plenty of lobbying excesses, but information is still not a cost free good. Why should we expect it to be free just because it relates to stuff we care about?

Finally, It's nice to see a lot of this stuff pulled together, but it would be even nicer if the writer had gotten more facts straight. Just one example: Leahy is now the ranking minority member, not the chairman of the Judiciary committee.

Perhaps the best course of action is to call the BSA yourself and offer information in return for immunity. Get a lawyer to figure out the language, b/c you want to make sure:
a) they will not sue you personally
b) they will not press criminal charges against you
c) they will do everything in their power, including have their legal team represent you at their cost, to protect you if anybody else sues you, fires you, files criminal charges, etc.

I have no idea if it will work, but it's worth a shot asking - the BSA has an 'anonymous' hotline you can call and get at least a preliminary understanding of how they work.

If the BSA isn't willing to help you, they can't very well hold you accountable, I wouldn't think.

Just a thought.

"Many" is not the same as a "substantial percentage",

and "building a business around a patent" is not the issue at al

All I'm saying is that many companies have taken this route and for very legitimate reasons - tax incentives and to aid in achieving funding. Many startup sotware companies need to gain the support of venture capital funds and / or early stage investors if they want to survive, and if patents help attract them, then thats what you do. If they enable you to pocket cash tax free too, all the better.

Of course, if software patents are enforceable, you're generally better off with such patents than without them. And you're right about the tax advantages, but even companies who take advantage of that are not necessarily in favour of software patents.

Software is a business, not a game. There are risks in every business of course, but a good patent search is a small investment to make if you are investing time and money in a project.

And if you're a closed source company, other companies can even patent the stuff you have done after your program is brought to market, since that doesn't count as a publication of the algorithm.

The point is simply that from a small business perspective, in the general case (I'm not claiming there aren't any exceptions) software patents pose much more risks than advantages.

Actually their survey specifically refers to "packaged software". Although knowing them that probably includes anything in .deb format :P

Clearly, the BSA has presented a strong argument. But the Economist's is also strong. Therefore, we would do well to download and read the BSA's 900 kB report on piracy. Each and every one of us can do our part to help eliminate piracy. ;-)

Oh, of course. The BSA members, Adobe, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Dell, HP, SAP, etc. are merely out there to bilk the Boy Scouts out of their domain, those reprehensible cads.

You know, it used to annoy me that these two shared the same initials. Turns out it was just being a bit prophetic...

1. Note that Microsoft is a member of the Business Software Alliance.
   
2. Note how easy it is for anyone, including disgruntled employees or even students, to contact the BSA to confidentially report piracy.
   
3. Note the high cost of a "voluntary" BSA audit.
   
4. Note that the BSA does not exclude schools in its audits. Indeed, in it the past is has actively targeted shool districts.
   
5. Ask anyone opposing a move to Oo.o "Can they prove 100% compliance with licensing?", if not, "What would the cost (in dollars and manhours) be of finding out?" and "If the BSA audited the school district, what would it cut from the budget to pay for the eventual fine?"
6. Note that with Open Source Software, licensing is not a liability to the user.
7. Ask your school's legal department for their opinion on this issue. Their opinion will be credible, neutral, and powerful, and most likely support your arguement.

1. Note that Microsoft is a member of the Business Software Alliance.
   
2. Note how easy it is for anyone, including disgruntled employees or even students, to contact the BSA to confidentially report piracy.
   
3. Note the high cost of a "voluntary" BSA audit.
   
4. Note that the BSA does not exclude schools in its audits. Indeed, in it the past is has actively targeted shool districts.
   
5. Ask anyone opposing a move to Oo.o "Can they prove 100% compliance with licensing?", if not, "What would the cost (in dollars and manhours) be of finding out?" and "If the BSA audited the school district, what would it cut from the budget to pay for the eventual fine?"
6. Note that with Open Source Software, licensing is not a liability to the user.
7. Ask your school's legal department for their opinion on this issue. Their opinion will be credible, neutral, and powerful, and most likely support your arguement.

1. Note that Microsoft is a member of the Business Software Alliance.
   
2. Note how easy it is for anyone, including disgruntled employees or even students, to contact the BSA to confidentially report piracy.
   
3. Note the high cost of a "voluntary" BSA audit.
   
4. Note that the BSA does not exclude schools in its audits. Indeed, in it the past is has actively targeted shool districts.
   
5. Ask anyone opposing a move to Oo.o "Can they prove 100% compliance with licensing?", if not, "What would the cost (in dollars and manhours) be of finding out?" and "If the BSA audited the school district, what would it cut from the budget to pay for the eventual fine?"
6. Note that with Open Source Software, licensing is not a liability to the user.
7. Ask your school's legal department for their opinion on this issue. Their opinion will be credible, neutral, and powerful, and most likely support your arguement.

1. Note that Microsoft is a member of the Business Software Alliance.
   
2. Note how easy it is for anyone, including disgruntled employees or even students, to contact the BSA to confidentially report piracy.
   
3. Note the high cost of a "voluntary" BSA audit.
   
4. Note that the BSA does not exclude schools in its audits. Indeed, in it the past is has actively targeted shool districts.
   
5. Ask anyone opposing a move to Oo.o "Can they prove 100% compliance with licensing?", if not, "What would the cost (in dollars and manhours) be of finding out?" and "If the BSA audited the school district, what would it cut from the budget to pay for the eventual fine?"
6. Note that with Open Source Software, licensing is not a liability to the user.
7. Ask your school's legal department for their opinion on this issue. Their opinion will be credible, neutral, and powerful, and most likely support your arguement.

1. Note that Microsoft is a member of the Business Software Alliance.
   
2. Note how easy it is for anyone, including disgruntled employees or even students, to contact the BSA to confidentially report piracy.
   
3. Note the high cost of a "voluntary" BSA audit.
   
4. Note that the BSA does not exclude schools in its audits. Indeed, in it the past is has actively targeted shool districts.
   
5. Ask anyone opposing a move to Oo.o "Can they prove 100% compliance with licensing?", if not, "What would the cost (in dollars and manhours) be of finding out?" and "If the BSA audited the school district, what would it cut from the budget to pay for the eventual fine?"
6. Note that with Open Source Software, licensing is not a liability to the user.
7. Ask your school's legal department for their opinion on this issue. Their opinion will be credible, neutral, and powerful, and most likely support your arguement.

1. Note that Microsoft is a member of the Business Software Alliance.
   
2. Note how easy it is for anyone, including disgruntled employees or even students, to contact the BSA to confidentially report piracy.
   
3. Note the high cost of a "voluntary" BSA audit.
   
4. Note that the BSA does not exclude schools in its audits. Indeed, in it the past is has actively targeted shool districts.
   
5. Ask anyone opposing a move to Oo.o "Can they prove 100% compliance with licensing?", if not, "What would the cost (in dollars and manhours) be of finding out?" and "If the BSA audited the school district, what would it cut from the budget to pay for the eventual fine?"
6. Note that with Open Source Software, licensing is not a liability to the user.
7. Ask your school's legal department for their opinion on this issue. Their opinion will be credible, neutral, and powerful, and most likely support your arguement.

1. Note that Microsoft is a member of the Business Software Alliance.
   
2. Note how easy it is for anyone, including disgruntled employees or even students, to contact the BSA to confidentially report piracy.
   
3. Note the high cost of a "voluntary" BSA audit.
   
4. Note that the BSA does not exclude schools in its audits. Indeed, in it the past is has actively targeted shool districts.
   
5. Ask anyone opposing a move to Oo.o "Can they prove 100% compliance with licensing?", if not, "What would the cost (in dollars and manhours) be of finding out?" and "If the BSA audited the school district, what would it cut from the budget to pay for the eventual fine?"
6. Note that with Open Source Software, licensing is not a liability to the user.
7. Ask your school's legal department for their opinion on this issue. Their opinion will be credible, neutral, and powerful, and most likely support your arguement.

Or you can take it straight from the horses mouth [search for apple]. Sure looks like they do a lot of work for Apple. If we compared Apples 622 documents to Microsofts 670 documents, they are pretty equal. And thats not a fair since Apple only has 3% market share.

If you look at the power wielded by the BSA, of which Microsoft seems the biggest beneficiary, it's clear that for all practical purposes, Microsoft is the government.

Ok, I'll tell you what. How about you read this speech by the President's Cyber Security Advisor at the Washigton D.C. Global Tech Summit, and if he didn't state that TCPA was a good beginning abut not enough, and if he didn't state that we need a way to *force* down patches to people (which can only be enforced with Trusted Computing), and if didn't state that ISP's need to start insisting that people run mandated software (which again can only be enforced with Trusted Computing), then you have every right to label be a tinfoil hat kook.

I also suggest you look into Intel's LaGrande which puts Trust circuitry inside the CPU itself. And AMD's Presidio which also puts Trust circuitry itself. And Microsoft's Longhorn documentation which says compatible PC hardware must contain a Trusted Platform Module as the Security Support Component. And I have links to back up every single one of those statements if you need them. All of which barely scratches the surface. There are something like 200+ companies on board with Trusted Computing in one way or another. At least one manufacturer is already making nothing except systems with Trust modules on board. Once Longhorn rolls out all new PCs will be Trusted Compliant because no PC hardware maker can realistically survive selling hardware that is *not* compatible with Windows.

And if you think it can't happen because Trusted Computing is too evil and no one would buy it, then you've picked up misinformation. Yes it is evil, but it is *not* evil in the ways that most peopel say. It is *not* evil in any way that would stop anyone from buying it. A Trusted Computer is just as good as a normal computer, a Trusted Computer can do absolutely anything a normal computer can do. There is absolutely no reason *not* to buy a Trusted Computer. That is why it is so insideous. That is exactly how they plan to simply hand Trusted Computers to every single person who buys a new PC.

-

Akk! I goofed on Spafford, ignore that sentence. The TCPA papers were by Safford [no P], different person. My bad, ignore that part.

But I think that is more than made up for by this item, David Patterson is on Microsoft's Trusted Computing Academic Advisory Board. Chuckle.

They list Carl E. Landwehr (one of their invited experts) as "Program Director" at the National Science Foundation, but more specifically he is the Trusted Computing Program director. Which also happens to be where they say we need $90 million a year in government grants.

And here's a link to the former presidential Cyber Security advisor Richard Clark's Global Tech Summit speech that I mentioned. Quote: "TCPA is not enough. It is a a good beginning, but it is not enough". He goes on to say that we need "a way of forcing down patches" (which can only be enforced through Trusted Computing) and that ISPs and carriers insist that firewalls be installed (again only enforceable through Trusted Computing). To Secure the National Information Infrastructure against bin Laden. Oh, and by the way the Trusted Computing Group has announced they are working on routers that enforce exactly those things, forcing down patches and verifying that firewalls are installed and compliant. If you're not compliant then the router would deny you a net connection except strictly to receive the patches to come into compliance.

Amit Yoran (another invited expert) is the more recent president's Cyber Security Advisor who just resigned becuase he was frustrated that the government wasn't making *mandatory* action for those changes to Secure the National Information Infrastructure. He didn't want to just make recommendations and wait for businesses and the market to change, he wanted the government to regulate and force things along.

I'm too tired to try and research everyone. Neeeeed sleeeeeep. But I'd wager there's more Trusted Computing ties and support among them.

-

I doubt it, M$ and other closed software already use this tatic over here http://www.bsa.org/

If you look at the BSA web page, you will see that the members of this alliance are primarily US businesses: they list Microsoft, IBM, Intel etc etc as their members.

So in this case the original poster is correct: this law seems to have been "bought" by US businesses.

The only thing I can find is the Statement on Technology Standards of 15 Feb. They don't mention DHCP but rack up the FUD by mentioning 'government mandated standards' stifling interoperability. The EU is expecting Open Orgs to create the (free from royalty) standards and the EU would then use such standards (which doesn't sound to me like they're stifling the process).

Clarke said he would want to see government regulation of ISPs to ensure that they offer adequate levels of security to their customers.

He gave a speech at a Global Tech Summit back when he was the President's Cyber Security Advisor. Here's a link to it.

And let me give you a few select comments from that speech:

I think we need to decide that from now on IT security functionality will be built in to what we do, to the products that we bring to market.

TCPA, the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, is an example of bringing hardware and software manufacturers together. But TCPA is not enough.

It is not beyond the wit of this industry to figure out a way of forcing down patches

ISPs and carriers can insist that when cable modems and DSL hookups are made, firewalls are installed. It is not enough for an ISP or carrier to say, oh, and by the way, you might want to think about a firewall.

A law to require ISP's to impose security on their customers. The security he means is TCPA, also known as Trusted Computing, TCG, Palladium, NEXUS, Longhorn and about 42 other names. And using this system they can "force down" operating system patches, whether you want them or not. Of course you can't get onling in the first place without an approved operating system (Trusted Linux is in the works, but you'd be screwed trying to use it). It can also scan what software you are running, in order to insist that you are running an approved firewall and/or virus scanner. And any other software they feel like making mandatory.

Of course it will be a few years before ISP's could do this, almost no one has a Trusted Computer yet. But as Clarke said, the system is to be built into all the products brought to market. Samsung announced a few months ago that they are now manufacturing nothing but Trusted systems. IBM, Dell, and pretty much any PC maker is already selling Trusted system and that will only increase. Microsoft has announced that only Trusted hardware will be properly compatible with the next Windows release, Longhorn. If Longhorn runs on non-Trusted hardware at all, it will only run in a crippled reduced graphics mode. So once Longhorn comes you you can be sure all new PCs will be sold Trusted compliant only. Give it a couple of years after than for the normal PC replacement cycle and *poof*, the majority of PC's out there will be Trusted compliant. And at that point ISPs could very well impose such a security system. And anyone with a non-Trusted computer would be unable to get on the internet. Anyone who did have a Trusted computer but who wanted to control his own computer and software would also be unable to get on an internet.

Clarke is no longer the President's Cyber Security Advisor, but there are still draft poposals in the government for forcing this through. There's really not much point in them doing anything publicly until more Trusted PCs ship. They'll probably wait for Longhorn to come out and start getting established.

-

Even if NAC does not currently use Trusted Computing:
Cisco Systems and Broadcom are already developing switches that will use the TPM for authentication and more

recent move by members of the Trusted Computing Group to create an open standards NAC alternative

and While Cisco presents NAC as an industry-standard approach, at this point, it's a Cisco approach, which apparently Cisco is hoping will become a de facto standard. Elsewhere, there's the Trusted Network Connect standard that's being put together under the auspices of the TCG (Trusted Computing Group), which is intended to accomplish the same thing.

So one way or another the Trusted network admission system *is* a genuine project and genuine threat. Plus the governent call for ordinary ISPs to impose exactly this sort of system on the public as part of their Terms of service. That government plan used to be documented at this BSA address, unfortunately they have taken the PDF down and I cannot find another copy anywhere. I did save some quotes from the President's Cyber Security Advisor's keynote speech:

I think we need to decide that from now on IT security functionality will be built in to what we do, to the products that we bring to market.
-
TCPA, the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, is an example of bringing hardware and software manufacturers together. But TCPA is not enough.
-
It is not beyond the wit of this industry to figure out a way of forcing down patches.
-
ISPs and carriers can insist that when cable modems and DSL hookups are made, firewalls are installed. It is not enough for an ISP or carrier to say, oh, and by the way, you might want to think about a firewall.

-

Even if NAC does not currently use Trusted Computing:
Cisco Systems and Broadcom are already developing switches that will use the TPM for authentication and more

recent move by members of the Trusted Computing Group to create an open standards NAC alternative

and While Cisco presents NAC as an industry-standard approach, at this point, it's a Cisco approach, which apparently Cisco is hoping will become a de facto standard. Elsewhere, there's the Trusted Network Connect standard that's being put together under the auspices of the TCG (Trusted Computing Group), which is intended to accomplish the same thing.

So one way or another the Trusted network admission system *is* a genuine project and genuine threat. Plus the governent call for ordinary ISPs to impose exactly this sort of system on the public as part of their Terms of service. That government plan used to be documented at this BSA address, unfortunately they have taken the PDF down and I cannot find another copy anywhere.

-

http://www.bsa.org

A pack of hungry auditors might convince them that linux is a good idea.

Brazil
HOTLINE: 0800.11.00.39 Inside
Phone: 5511.3897.8686
Fax: 5511.3897.8687

"You then get what we have now, a monopoly of several very powerful companies."

That's not what a monopoly means. An industry made up of a handful of large companies and dozens or hundreds of smaller ones isn't a monopoly. This is how the auto industry is structured, as are the accounting services and consulting industries, and on a smaller scale, the breakfast cereal and camping goods industries. I'm sure that if you think for a few seconds on your own you can come up with five more examples of products or services which are dominated by a few big brands.

If you think that any of those industries are monopolies and that there isn't the need for competition, just ask anybody who works in them. Or, more to the point, ask somebody who works for one of the BSA members if they think their industry is a monopoly. Also note that each of the industries I've mentioned all have their own trade groups that represent their interests in Washington. This does not make them monopolies, either.

while not going after companies that use pirated software

You're kidding, right? The BSA actively goes after companies that use pirated software. Canada has CAAST who is also actively pursuing companies that use pirates software.

So where did you dig up the fact that the software industry is only going after college students and not companies again?

while not going after companies that use pirated software

You're kidding, right? The BSA actively goes after companies that use pirated software. Canada has CAAST who is also actively pursuing companies that use pirates software.

So where did you dig up the fact that the software industry is only going after college students and not companies again?

"There's a lot of scary things here, but to me what is most scary is that American copyright owners can mobilize foreign police to do their bidding."

That statement is very misleading. The raid was made because of a lawsuit brought up by the BSA. RIAA or MPAA definitely did not mobilize the Finnish police (but they very well may have been involved in getting BSA to initiate the lawsuit).

Let's also note that torrent site was being used for illegally distributing copyrighted software.

Just because they're a non-profit doesn't make them a good cause.

Exactly. The BSA, for example, is a non-profit.

Well, there's always the option of an anonymous report to the Business Software Alliance. The penalties for infringement of copyrighted software are significant, and the EULA you didn't read before you clicked "I Agree" probably gave the software vendor a right of audit.

Which would your boss rather spend: $400 for a licensed copy of Sound Forge (ref. the "translated" article) or up to $400,000 and five years in jail for a prosecuted violation?

It may well have been one impatient user.... if an audit were ever done, a few software keys wouldn't quite match up even though the counts would be roughly correct.

Visit here:
http://www.bsa.org/usa/report/

Say microsoft referred you...

fill it out, and send.

Then tell your friends.

Lets slashdot the BSA about this one? See if we can break a record on the number of reports the BSA ever recieved about something. :-D And see if they actually respond to them.

I think they got the files from the same place this guy got his. Or was it this guy?

I think they all got it from these guys or maybe these guys over here or maybe it was these guys.