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MS Settles With FTC Over Passport Privacy Complaints
There will be a number of stories out shortly (here's an early one) noting that Microsoft has settled with the FTC over privacy complaints relating to Microsoft Passport. Short summary: Microsoft made lots of false representations about the security of Passport, and collected more information than it disclosed in its privacy policy, and now must be penalized in the usual Microsoft fashion - they must promise not to do it again. The FTC's settlement page has the complaint and settlement documents. We've covered this extensively - All Your Bits Are Belong to Us, EPIC's complaints about the integration of Windows XP and Passport, Microsoft Defends Passport, EPIC pushing state attorneys general to act against Passport, etc. In fact EPIC has an entire page devoted to Passport. The FTC settlement requires two main things: that Microsoft adopt basic security practices (what were they doing before?), and that Microsoft be audited by a third-party to assure compliance - perhaps it will be TrustE, since Passport's privacy policy remains approved by TrustE.
Trusted computing my ass... There can be no trust if trust has not been developed.
We had to destroy the sig to save the sig.
that makes me want to give up. I mean, over, and over, and over, and over again big companies (esp. Microsoft) do Bad Things(tm), get caught, and essentially get lightly scolded.
Now if I pulled shit like this I'd be up on fraud charges so fast that the whiplash would likely kill me. Assuming the lawyers hadn't eaten me alive first. But as it turns out that's only true because I'm not completely filthy stinking right.
*sigh*
I mean, I know it's nothing new, and I realize that I probably shouldn't be surprised, but c'mon.... it's just bloody depressing. How can things possibly get better if there's effectively no incentive for companies to behave? Clearly relying on a sense of honor or ethics just isn't working.
I'm going to go kick my cube wall for a while... at least then I'll feel like I'm accomplishing something.
Behold the Power of Cheese!
As we've seen lately, 3rd party auditing of *anything* only means that *2* companies are covering information up. Sorry, I still don't trust Passport.
It is a mistake to consider the ignorance of the average consumer equivalent to not caring about security. Some people really don't know.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.
See, the thing is this: knowledgable people who care about security don't use passport, sure. But when the first thing that an XP install asks you for after you boot it for the first time is to get a passport account then plenty of people who care about security but aren't in the know about information security sign up (after all, Passport sounds so... official) and the common consumer gets screwed.
That's the audience. And once enough of them are on board then the rest of us start being faced with choices like: "If I want to use cool service X I'll need to sign up for a passport because there's no other way to get it". That's the plan.
Behold the Power of Cheese!
What are you talking about? Joe user has no idea what any of this is about. It's probably just the big bad gubmint picking on a successful business again. They're just jealous. Don't expect the masses to rise up against Microsoft when they don't even have the foggiest idea what's going on. This stuff doesn't get much mainstream play, and when it does, it's dumbed down to the point where it no longer makes much sense anyway.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
The target audience is everyone. Whether you care about security or not, if Microsoft can create a demand by legislation (such as the Hollings bill) that would mandate DRM and thus some sort of identity verification scheme, or by convincing the majority of hardware/software makers to use their scheme, then you'll be stuck with it whether you like it or not. I think the former option is a lot more likely really. I seriously doubt they could get a majority to agree on anything. Congress, however, is open for business.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
What are you talking about? MS made mistakes all the time. They just never suffered for them because Bill's money bin is very deep and he's got some very good liars working for him.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
... and the life savings of the entire middle class, with hardly a peep of protest from those affected, this sort of anti-consumer protection, or better said, government wink-wink-nudge-nudge "don't get caught doing that again" tactics for allowing this sort of atrocious behavior to slide relatively unaffected and unchanged, again and again, is unlikely itself to change in any measurable way.
At least, not until things become so intolerable that the masses overcome their conditioned apathy and subservience, and actually rise up in anger and demand real accountability and real reform. Unfortunately, by then I suspect things will have gone so far the non-violent reform will be difficult, if not impossible, and I sure don't want to be anywhere near the United States when that time comes.
Every great power in history was brought to its knees, and ultimately destroyed, by its own internal, unchecked, and uncorrected corruption. It is extraordinarilly unlikely that the United States will be any different, or somehow immune to this kind of historical tide, and with every such expose it becomes ever more clear that we in the United States have nearly reached that threshhold already.
I mean, hell, the upper crust just got done pilfering the life savings and retirement of the entire middle class, and yet no signficant reform or change has taken place, and the very people so affected can't be bothered to protest or be caught dead carrying a plackard in a public place demanding change, much less actually get involved in the political process and work for peaceful change. Unless this changes, and soon, this trend will not be corrected until it is far too late.
This despicable behavior with regards to Microsoft is appalling and extreme, but it is only a symptom of a much greater, more fundamental, and much more deeply entrenched malaise that affects our entire political culture, and likely spells the beginning of the end of American society as we know it.
It isn't going to be any foreign enemy, or "terrorists" who bring down our country, it is going to be our own inaction in the face of ever wider, ever more flagrant, and ever more destructive corruption. It saddens me greatly to have lived to see such a day.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
It's pathetic when the U.S. Government can take a hard line on terrorism in traditional forms, but is cowed by a multinational corporation that has been demonstrated to be involved in monopolistic forms of terrorism. The FTC is basically giving up because they're tired of trying to fight Microsoft. What sort of precedent does this set for the Standard Oils of the new millenium?
This government has bowed to corporate interests at every turn. I'd be happy to see a list of cases where individual freedom was held in higher esteem than corporate interests. This is yet another side effect of the US's desire to remain an economic superpower. It has changed from a Representative Democracy to a colossal beauracratic corporation. Perhaps we should call it The United States of America Inc.?
Remember folks, a government that tramples the rights of the citizen is a tyrannical government. There is no leeway for arguement in that.
Throuhout this case, I've been most impressed ith the coalition that was formed between the plaintiff organizations. It's reasuring to see such coalitions formed in support of issues where until recently it seemed a losing battle was being valiently fought by a few small groups with no unifying structure arounmd them. Regardless of how meager this victory seems, it's important that the issue was addressed in that it galvanized these organizations and brought them together in a way we have rately seen thus far. I hope we see these organizations continueto work closely in the future.
--CTH
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Oh, that I had mod points. This is probably the most insightful post I've read in a long time (possibly ever) on Slashdot.
It's amazing to me how many people (especially those *in* the US) can't see this coming. How many people think that the US is, and always will be, indestructable. Sure, we can make great speeches and pull together for terrorism, but our government ``for the people'' is being run for the advancement of large corporations instead. I've always wondered what was going to befall this country, and government corruption seems like it will top the list.
Karma: Marginal (mostly due to the border around the website)
Microsoft by itself will continue to do what it has always done best: look out for its own self interest. They are a commercial company with responsibilities mainly to the shareholders. It is the American Government/authorities (and to a lesser extent, the European Union) that have let us (the consumers, users, etc.) down time, and time again with all things related to Microsoft (and other companies which behave like Microsoft). If we don't pressure out governments to take active steps to protect us against monopolistic practices we should not be surprised that these practices continue. Of course, things are never as straight forward as they seem and I realise that governments are also trying to protect jobs and the economy: the computer industry (and Microsoft plays an extremely important part in that industry, if we like it or not) provides jobs for millions. However, the negative aspects of this kind of behaviour, in the long run, will hurt us more. When will they realise this.
Its sometimes very difficult to fathom just how big the United States is, and how many different people live here. And its also hard to fathom that the general population of /. sits in a much higher caste than the average American. Its real easy for us to sit in an ivory tower and deride the rich, attack big companies, belittle the technology have-nots and laugh at the unintelligent. We all have 401(k) accounts, and we feel the sting of losing a couple of thousand dollars in the stock market because of some greedy CEO. And its real easy for us to extend that to the entire country, and assume that becuase the dot-com bubble burst, and the economy isn't doing as well as it used to, and your average HTML writer can't go out and get $100,000 that our country is doomed to failure.
The problem with that thinking is that there are lots more people out there without 401(k) accounts, and that didn't lose a single penny in the stock market, because they don't have any money to invest. They don't care about Microsoft, and they don't care about Enron, because neither of those companies have anything to do with them working two shifts and feeding their kids, or harvesting their crops. They're not calling for reform, because they haven't been wronged. What you call apathy is what they call ignoring things that are not important.
As for the downfall of American society - The downturn of an economy, and the corruption of CEOs and the back scratching of companies - these are not new concepts in US history. There is nothing new under the sun - just new generations, and new scams. Far greater evils have beset corporate America in the past 226 years, and if nothing else, the country has shown a tendancy for survival.
But when you've got your food on the table,and your surround sound stereo with the Simpsons Season 2 DVD playing at full blast, its nice to look out and have something to rally against. Because it is my belief that human beings are always at feeling their best when they are on the defensive - something hard wired into our instincts, I guess.
In this case, Microsoft was unethical and sneaky. And its good to cast a watchful eye toward the corporations lest they wrong us. But to rant and rave and call this the end of American society - well... if you were wronged then please do all you can to reform the system. But don't play the victim and blame all of society's ills on the lack of interest of the American public - its quite possible that they have more important things to worry about.
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Nothing, and I mean nothing short of a tacnuke going off in Redmond, is going to force Joe User away from MS except if Joe User is hurt in way that Joe User understands.
Things that Joe User understands:
Financial Damage is pretty obvious. Financially damaging anyone will make them pissed off.
Lifestyle Damage might not be obvious. Possible example: Joe User likes nude photos of adult women and visits websites that show them. Lifestyle damage would be if somehow the information that Joe User visits porn sites is used against him.
Noticeable censorship would be along the lines of going to a news site, seeing an article on MS, and then not being able to read it because MS deemed something in the article to be bad for MS.
Computer Damage would be along the lines of preventing Joe User from installing Email Client A because it's not OutLook or OLE.
If MS avoids doing all of those things to Joe User, then Joe User isn't going to budge from the status quo.
On a corporate level, MS has to watch out more. If corporations switch away from MS, then that will end up slowly dragging Joe User away also, since there is a correlation between what's used in a corporate environment and what Joe User uses at home. Joe User tends to use at home the same types of things he uses at work...because that way he can work at home easier. If a corporation ends up taking a no Microsoft approach, their employees who don't leave, will find ways to work from home. In otherwords, those people will be much more likely to move away from MS so that they don't have to go into the office to do work.
I mean, hell, the upper crust just got done pilfering the life savings and retirement of the entire middle class, and yet no signficant reform or change has taken place, and the very people so affected can't be bothered to protest or be caught dead carrying a plackard in a public place demanding change, much less actually get involved in the political process and work for peaceful change.
1) As you said, this JUST HAPPENED, and then you go on to lament that no reform or change has taken place. Unless you hadn't noticed, several other companies are being audited and investigated for similar actions. What do you want to happen? These things didn't just happen overnight, and they can't be fixed overnight. We are talking about things that happened 2, 3 years ago.
2) These events affected more than the middle class, they affected pretty much everyone because it shot our economy further to hell. Maybe those people aren't out protesting, or trying to get into politics (?) because they are out working to feed their families. I have heard of people who had to come out of retirement and go back to work because their retirement money was wiped out.
3) Unless you haven't noticed, we have this minor little thing called A WAR going on. And maybe another one waiting in the wings. That is probably taking up more than a few resources.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Arbogast's integrity, or even that of Microsoft as a whole, is irrelevant. Despite the high feelings of a lot of the posters in this topic, the problem with Passport isn't that we can't trust Microsoft: the problem with Passport is the scheme itself. Nobody should be trusted with that kind of personal data in a central repository, and nobody should ever be able to suck that kind of data out of a repository (central or not) without the active participation of the user. Automatic authentication and personal data mining is in and of itself a bad thing: one breach, one moment of carelessness by any party to any of the transactions and you're hosed. The very idea is the antithesis of security and privacy, and the only thing that having a person of integrity in that position can do is make it worse by lulling some people into trusting it.
...should be limited to $1000 per individual per year, per candidate. Donations of $2000 per individual per year will be the limit for registered political parties. Limit donations to registered votes who voted in their last local elections if you want (yes, this may be a bit extreme). Corporations or groups may not donate to political parties/candidates. Ever.
Now let's see how much that stops the corporate favoritism. Probably not entirely, but my guess is it would have a very pleasant effect... because the more overt forms of favoritism would be much more likely to land the respective parties in jail.
Just an idea.
Unfortunately, though, I agree with your statements, and sadly I see the US very slowly spiraling down towards its own destruction (perhaps not in the sense that it will completely disappear, but rather that it becomes something which its founding fathers had tried to protect against).
We will see a change when politicians actually make unpopular decisions. That is their job. And it can start with extensive changes to how they are elected. When money drives their campaigns, who do you think will have the greatest influence on their decisions?
I'm not convinced that splitting up Microsoft is a good solution. Look how well it worked for Ma Bell--we ended up with the Baby Bells, and then devolved from that into the current morass of ethically (and financially) bankrupt telecommunications companies.
No, I can handle Microsoft's monopoly status. But let's start regulating them like one.
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
Am I the only person who see a conflict of interest? How can Federal courts make impartial judgements, in the best interest of the common person, while being a client of Microsoft?