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Business Software Alliance "Grace Period"
The BSA is running (until January 31) a "Grace Period" for "voluntary compliance" in the cities of San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Houston,Norfolk/Richmond, Nashville, Indianapolis, Bozeman, and Orlando. Small businesses recieve a card in the mail, having been assigned a tracking number, so you know you're in their files. In previous press releases they state that they send out up to 700,000 of these cards simultaneously. Scanning their reported settlement victories, they then seem to pick 2-4 business to destroy. If the businesses don't go along, the BSA hires the Federal Marshals as mercenaries to help ensure compliance with their extortion. Microsoft, unsurprisngly, is a big supporter of this and pushes it to vendors as a chance to strengthen customer relations. (this is a powerpoint document, but thankfully you can also have it: translated via google). CD: Here is a link to the press release on this matter.
So how exactly does this work? If you're a business in that area, do they send you a "card", and demand you reply with a statement saying that you're 100% compliant or they'll sue the pants off of you?
...I just heard one these ads on a local AM talk radio station. The announcer said "you only need one former or disgruntled employee to pick up the phone" and gave Jan. 31 as the date by which you should buy some software. Even after visiting the BSA web site, it is still unclear to me how one obtains this amnesty - surely just buying some software and saving the receipt isn't enough? (i.e., when the marshals storm your office, showing them a receipt from Fry's probably won't cut the mustard.)
Why aren't we told when an Editor moderates our posts?
A while back, for work, I had to download something from Microsoft that required "a Passport account." As it turns out, they accept hotmail accounts for this purpose, too. The particular hotmail account's used here had a "real" name of "Stumpy McGee". However, when I signed up for the account, I did use my real USPS mailing address.
Flash forward six months. I start receiving random mailings from Microsoft, Adobe, etc., warning Stumpy McGee of "Fancy Schmancy Puters" that he's probably got pirated software in his company, and that disgruntled employees are lining up to report him, probably. The letter left little doubt that Stumpy was headed for big trouble. But of course, Stumpy could run the "Self-Audit" software and they would take it easy on him.
My question: Has anybody actually run this self-audit software? (I don't think they have a Linux version, so I was out of luck. Did I say "I was out of luck?" I meant Stumpy was out of luck, not me...) What exactly does the spyware do on your system?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Do these BSA guys realise what they are doing? Scaring off their customers? Being extremely arrogant and intrusive? What about that old adage of your customer being the king?
I guess _this_ is one of the best reasons for switching away from vendors that are members of the BSA: None of those license troubles with free software. None of those expensive audits to do (is that included in those MS TCO calculations?). None of those guilt assumptions. No insecurity.
I think one of the main reasons free software hasn't caught on is that most people get their software (beer-)free anyway, whether it's supposed to be free or not. After all, why install and learn, say, Mandrake+KDE+KOffice when you can just install someone else's copies of NT and MSOffice and not have to learn anything new?
So as a free/open-source supporter, I'm all in favor of the BSA cracking down on copyright violators. If they make sure everyone pays full price for their proprietary software, people will start giving serious consideration to the truly free alternatives.
TheFrood
If you say "I'll probably get modded down for this..." then I will mod you down.
In France, the BSA had no legal presence (though they usually "spammed" people with their piracy-detection floppies and other funny letters.).
That's why an influent French Editor created an alternative organization : the Bidouilleurs Sans Argent which promotes the Free and/or free software.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
I write games. There are ROMs of my old games on the net. I don't care. I've already been paid. Perhaps they will create interest in a sequel. If the sites hosting them have glowing reviews and name the developers it boosts my ego. The company that published the games very likely *does* care, because it will want to release those games again, on new hardware (especially Game Boy Advance). Sheesh, the copyright holders have rereleased Pong and Gridrunner and Super Mario Bros 2 recently! Look at how many cover songs there are out there (and how song-writers are raking it in from back catalog, unlike games developers).
Or in other words making people pay what they agreed to pay when they started using the software
By stop supporting older versions of their software, they are actually adding to the cost of people using their software. There is no expiry tag that says that in the year so and so, we will stop supporting this software. But having proprieties standards, they are not letting people know the real cost of using their software. They never put a tag that says that if a person use their software, that software will make it hard/impossible for the person to use other software or data exchanges or integration. These are real cost. Combining the two together the cost will be prohibitive. Either spends millions to change to a new platform or spends millions of dollars to upgrade to their latest software. I would not say that people pay what they agreed to.
As for the part that emotive words does not help, it does. Missiles and bombs does not help to keep down casuaties. But if a person attacks you with missiles and bombs, a whole lot of good to you if you are using logic and reasons. Emotives words are used to mislead. Emotives words are used to attack and defend. But sometimes it is between survival and extinction. This is not tic for tat. Rather this is about using the right way to defend. I am not defending the software pirates, rather I am arguing about being passive when other people are in an offensive position. In real life, people dun think that you are noble. People would think that you are not able to defend yourself and therefore lousy.
Anyway, think for those companies who are already trying hard enough to make a living at bad times like that and does not need another additional burden because some companies want to increase their obscene profit. If they have evidence that the companies are using unlicensed software, by all means go and raid those companies.
and last words for the day:
Piracy is theft, overpricing is daylight robbery
Sieg Hiel ...... Seig Hiel ...... Sieg Hiel.....
Couple of notes. According to the Federal Marshals office. They aren't going to coperate unless proper court orders are issued. According to my local police department... call us and we'll boot there Nazi asses outa town. (can't say what dept it is since it's an off the record quote.) Oh and by the way BSA is a trademark of the Boy Scouts of America.... seems that they are violating Trademark and Copyright laws themselves.
I'm sorry, I'm to tired to be witty at the moment so this message will have to do.
>Is it wrong, when someone has stolen
>something from you, to offer them a conditional >amnesty?
in the civilised world, you would complain to law enforcement and let them do the investigation. this is not about a breach of contract (since the infringing company never agreed to it in the first place), but about supposed theft.
Wasn't there somthing in 1984 about the INGSOC youth ratting on their parents?
Wouldn't it be nice if schools got all the money they wanted and the army had to hold jumble sales for guns
I completely agree.
.pdf documents, be interested to see a survey..
We (the developers) have been pushing linux for a year now and use linux for our desktops/servers (java/mobile/web stuff). The rest looked down their noses at us, then along comes mircosoft with audits and gee, all of a sudden the md has redhat on his laptop! He does complain about document formatting, but its not a big deal, people seem to be moving to
If the distributers of linux don't takes advantage of this opertunity RIGHT NOW, it would be business suicide, because, ah, commercial OS manufacturers are going to spread a LOT of FUD to keep the market in check (watch this space).
BSA sends me "the letter"
My response is the shortest English sentance, consisting of a verb (vulgar) and a direct object.
The show up with federal marshals and a warrent.
Question: cannot I counter-subpoena, requesting the name of the individual(s) that asserted I have pirated software, for the purposes of filing a "defamation of character" or "bearing false witness" suit?
If I do so, and they refuse, what then?
If they say "sorry, anonymous tip", can I then hold them accountable?
How can they get a warrent in a situation like that?
Can I bill them for time lost?
This all assumes that I am dead legal in all things - presume I am 100% Free Software.
www.eFax.com are spammers
The usual method for inspecting your stuff goes something like this. They send the letter, and you refuse/ignore the audit. They open a lawsuit charging you with copyright infringement, often based on evidence that's either sketchy or "from an anonymous tip." In the course of the lawsuit, the judge assigned issues a subpoena (or warrant, based on certain legal concerns) for your company's software records. If you don't pony them up, you face contempt and other possible criminal charges. If you do, then their lawyers examine your stuff and your records, and if something doesn't ken, you get fined. Since this whole process can get prohibitively expensive quickly, most companies will perform the audit and buy licenses to get compliant, which is the real reason behind the letters.
BTW, federal marshals are basically the "U.S. police force", as opposed to state police or local police. They're usually attached to the FBI office in the area in which they work.
Virg
OK, let's say you steal $50,000 from the bank, and the police come to your house and say "Give us the $50,000 or we'll throw you in jail." Is that extortion? Hardly.
Actually, if the police bust down my door without a warrent, or with an illegally obtained one, it *is* illegal.
Let's say $50,000 has been stolen by someone in the city of, say, Orlando. The police most certainly cannot knock down doors of every house in Orlando without a warrant. If they do, the evidence is illegally obtained, and inadmissable in a court of law.
If they BSA were to show up at my door, I can first tell them to piss off, as they are a private organization with no law enforcement powers. Next they come back with a warrant, and get in, and find an illegally copy of FooBar 1.0. If our legal system actually worked, I could challenge the legality of the warrant on Probable Cause grounds, arguing that they had no reason to believe that I had illegal copies, thus making the search illegal, and the evidence inadmissable. (Refusing entry to your private space to someone without a warrant is not grounds for Probabale Cause either).
Unfortunately, I believe in some civil cases (which copyright infingment is) illegally obtained evidence can be admitted. So, they'd be able to sue me based on evidence concidered illegal in a criminal court.
Extortion? Maybe not. Flying in the face of at least the spirit of due process and the Constitution? Most definitly.
"Perhaps, if you were to IDENTIFY some Communists for us, we would therefore know that YOU YOURSELF are not a Communist..."
"Of course, Senator McCarthy...."
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Actually... and I have no idea whether this is the same in the US or not...
But technically, if a private citizen (not a cop, I mean) showed up with a warrant, you'd have to let him exercise it, just as if he were a cop.
I know of one person anyway (This was in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) who, years ago when his credit card was being used fraudulently to look at porn, and he tracked it back to a local ISP... he went to the cops. The cops said "We don't really have any idea how to proceed.. sorry, nothing we can do (this was years ago)"
So.. he went to the courthouse, went to a Justice of the Peace, and filed for a search warrant. The Justice said "I don't think I can do that sir (it had never come up before)". The guy cited relevant sections of the law, and the judge politely asked for some time to review it.
The next day, he had a search warrant, to search the logs of the ISP in question to find out who the user was.
Now.. not wanting to piss anyone off, like the cops, he then took the warrant to THEM, and again requested their assistance, as he already had a warrant. They sent a couple guys with him, no problem.
What you say about proof is absolutely what the problem is. It's like the police sending letters to everyone saying "Please prove there is nothing illegal going on in your house", and then getting warrants for everyone who doesn't respond properly.
Suprisingly they dont dare try this with companies like AT&T, IBM, or other Giants. why? because these companies have the power to stomp them out of existance. Try and enter any of the above companies with your "storm troopers" without a court order. and you had better find something as they will be sued for lost time,expenses,lost work and profits and probably sued for huge damages in a very messy public affair.
Please BSA, try to strong arm a really big company.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.