Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Anti-Spyware to Be Free of Charge
fubar1971 writes "During his keynote speech at the at the RSA Security Conference Bill Gates announced that the MS antispyware will be offered for free. From his speech: 'We've looked hard at the nature of this problem, and made a decision that this anti-spyware capability will become something that's available at no additional charge for Windows users -- both the blocking capability, and the scanning and removal capabilities.' Additional information at Government Computer News." Update: 02/16 16:57 GMT by Z : Microsoft was previously considering charging extra for this service.
thank you for running microsoft anti-spyware.
the following DANGEROUS! COMMUNIST! FASCIST! INFECTIOUS programs were detected and were removed.
future installations of these programs may lead to system slowdowns, resource shortages and critical errors. do you wish to keep your computer safe by adding these programs to autoinstallblock list?
[(green checkmark)OK] [(red international no symbol) Cancel]
---
or even worse:
"all dangerous programs were removed. your system is completely safe and secure with Microsoft product updates automatically installed. all is well. we have always been at war with eurasia."
if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
Spyware has been around for a long time. Microsoft knew about it, they saw it and even were around to watch an entire industry spring up to combat the spyware. Initially they did nothing, simply patched their operatins system occasionally and watched as companies begin to spring up offering combative services to spyware infiltration.
Once an established group of companies, which were both competent and profitable begin showing up, Microsoft started eyeing who to buy. They had discussions with many companies, including Giant and Webroot. They even made Webroot an offer, which was countered and finally rejected by Microsoft. Only then did they decide on Giant (perhaps it was cheaper - not better).
Now, instead of charging they are going to give it away free!! This is awful, and at the very least extremely anti-competitive. It would be one thing if they changed the operating system to be strong enough to eliminate attacks, but buying out an element of an industry they are not involved in (other than having created the need) and then GIVING IT AWAY FOR FREE will cost the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of people!
Why would they do this? I believe it holds the "God" like image that MS seeks to maintain. They wish to provide solutions, without third parties so they can maintain the illusion that they are the be all and end all to the desktop. In fact, MS has admitted in the past that not only do they refuse to be proactive in design, they actually wait until a product is released and simply copy the functionality! Who wants to bet IE7 will contain many FireFox features?