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Microsoft Helps Write Oklahoma's Anti-Spyware Law
groovy.ambuj writes "The Inquirer reports that Microsoft has developed Oklahoma's 'Computer Spyware protection Act'. The law will supposedly protect people from unwarranted hackers or virus attacks and can fine individuals up to $1M who are found guilty of breaking into a computer without the owners knowledge. At the same time, it also allows some of the better known capable companies to 'look' into your computer for possible virus/spyware and fix the problem without informing you. And, while these friends are doing their job, they can also take the moment to do other things. "
be very afraid
Stay tuned for new sig...
Stupidity... has a habit of getting its way.
When then pen it into law that companies can look inside of out machine to "fix" problems, does that mean it is illegal to prevent them from doing so?
Electric Pickle Online - gaming news, etc.
In other news, Charles Manson has produced a flawless plan for the public to avoid being murdered by crazed serial killers, relying heavily on letting him murder you before any "really bad people" can.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
I have to call Bullsh!t on this one.... If they let this go through they are dooming themselves... When will this kind of erosion of rights stop?
And this probably includes a lucrative contract to implement Microsoft' new ActiveX based anti-spyware tool...
I'm not fat, just big boned...
Clippy: It looks like you are writing a state law, do you mind if I insert Microsoft-friendly boilerplate?
[User clicks no.]
Clippy: Congratulations, your document has been modified and submitted for sponsorship and ultimately passage by Microsoft-owned employees... err shills... err statesmen... Thank you for using Microsoft Word. (Also, we'll keep that private folder between you and me, ok? It'd be a shame for the attorney general to see that...) Have a nice day! You poor little sheep... HA HA HA HA HA!
My Pavlovian reaction was, "OhhhhhhhhNNNNNNNNNNNNNNooooooooooooooooo!"
Now that the bell has rung, my kibbles are ingested, and I feel better...
If you were a state agency and needed security expertise, where would you go to get the information you need (to write a law/rule/proposition/etc. that is based on highly technical stuff)? Would you go to a security firm? Would you go to the local IT management firm? Would you go to a support shop like Geeks 'r' Us?
A little voice inside my head (yes, I have those sometimes - be afraid) says that something inside the law may be done to tilt things Microsoft's way - but I don't know that Microsoft would be such a bad partner (all feelings of MSHatred(tm) aside - just looking at it as a business).
A Passionate Independent Musician
Heh. Because if they do, I'll bet Apache and CentOS gets listed as spyware.
Perhaps the Act should be expanded to include liability for companies that offer operating systems with poorly designed security that permit (some of) such problems in the first place. Sure, users are responsable when they flip their car off the road, but auto-makers are still liable when they manufacture a vehicle with inherintly weak suspension arms.
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
I'm seriously thinking of using two independent computers for everyday business. One to surf the web and download what I want to, and another for all my working software, etc. I can transfer stuff between them with a thumb drive, after checking any files very carefully. A pain, but I'll be damned if I am going to let Big Brother have access this easily.
That certainly sounds like people should be opposed to this "law".
Clearly, Jolley is not the only legislator who could be described as "R-Edmond".
In theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice, they're not.
Why Oklahoma?
(No offense, just curious, because this undoubtedly costing Microsoft's legal team big monies, yet I can't really see the strategy...)
Sendou Wave Kick!!
What's next, the recording industry passing laws to sterilize children so they can't breed more downloaders?
This Guy must be from Oklahoma...
Why in the HELL would you let Microsoft or any other company PERIOD to write or even assist in the writing of a law like this. All Im saying is that they wrote the law to protect the computer from all illegal activites but give them and every other company free reign on your machine. Thats NEVER good! What kind of dumbass do you need to be to see this is a positive thing?
I wonder what will be the definition of `the better known capable companies', and what will set them apart from `individuals'. I bet the term `Campaign-sponsor' will be involved somewhere...
I take life with a grain of salt...a slice of lemon and a dash of tequila
I for one support the protection of spyware. Without the propagation of spyware, malware and viruses, many companies would go out of business. :P
Maybe they could rename the act?
For that matter any computer which has Itunes installed contains spyware.
A local village idiot could have written it.
...Rob
The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
In Oklahoma, it's a rhetorical question.
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
Kevin Mitnick is to help Oklahoma write anti-hacker laws.
If it allows any company that is given permission by the user to search the computer at will, how does this prevent adware and spyware?
Most spyware comapnies have fought for the ability to exist based on the fact that the user had to click on the link to download the software from a pop-up constitutes agreeing to the terms of the software use. I believe gator uses this argument...
"I have to call Bullsh!t on this one.... If they let this go through they are dooming themselves... When will this kind of erosion of rights stop?"
I got a better one. When will we stop asking the obvious and actually start doing?
They keep trying to heat up the water and hope the frog cooks and doesn't notice.
I think the frog is going to jump out of the pot.
Didn't I read this story last Saturday or so??? While reading about Tuttle, OK. Slow news day huh?
Sig Hansen?
From TFA "it is probably the first written overtly by a major company without bothering with the tedious problem of lobbying"
ar'nt there any laws that prohibit a monopoly from acting like this???
just curious..
everyone downmodding this post will be prosecuted for reading my post without first buying a license!!!
sounds just as ludicrous as Kansas' ID decision
Aside from laws being merely an extension of a socially acceptable psychological deterrent with provisions for those we deem "law enforcers" (which should have a more describing name of their true nature), laws of this type really do nothing.
That and the fact that Microsoft has helped to write it is a step in the right direction, one of being guided by a technologically aware firm, but I don't think MS should be the ones to write it given their history.
just my 2 cents worth of a rant
The articles were light on this information. Does anyone know more about this $1 million penalty for breaking into someone's computer without their permission? I'm all for nailing spyware companies to the wall, but if Jane decides one day to cross a line and read her boyfriend's e-mail without his permission, does that mean she's going to be paying off a $1M debt for the rest of her life? That seems a bit excessive.
Is this law unconstitutional? 1 Million dollars for breaking into just any computer seems pretty steep.
It should be cheaper to fend off some REAL bad people that the authorities can't get around to catch.
1) What does MS know about preventing spyware aside from charging extra for it in an upcoming newly released service?
2) $1mil fine is not sufficient. Its still very profitable to break into a computer and steal over a million dollars worth of information.
From the real FA that does not allow copy and pasting from their website via a DRM like mechanism, documented here:
* Disable select-text script- © Dynamic Drive (www.dynamicdrive.com)
* This notice MUST stay intact for legal use
* Visit http://www.dynamicdrive.com/ for full source code
*/
I can still grab the text via the source, so here's the gem:
If you click that "accept" button on the routine user's agreement, the proposed law would allow any company from whom you bought upgradable software the freedom to come onto your computer for "detection or prevention of the unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal activities in connection with a network, service, or computer software, including scanning for and removing computer software prescribed under this act."
So, all you have to do is ask the user to install spyware. Shouldn't be too tough.
Good law!
Hmmm, foxes guarding hen houses comes to mind. But in all fairness, it is still a good thing that Microsoft is involved and in a way shows a sense of responsibility. I can only hope that the baser aspects of human nature won't raise their ugly heads here later.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Remember...the State of Oklahoma was created by Congress; whereas it can't legislate to Oklahoma because it is a state already created by the people; thereby, Congress can't create a state within a state unless by Admiralty jurisidiction (libel) to say our (the people's) Oklahoma is a Territory under the US Constititution. This brings in many presumptions whereas this Oklahoma (not-confederated several states of the people) are not a part of that OKLAHOMA (a federal State upon the dejure state known as Oklahoma libeled/Admiralty to be respected as a Territory for Congress to charter and "graze" its a corporation upon). The United States (plural) is not the United States (singular; USCODE Title 27 Section 3002, 15 ; '"United States" means a federal corporation') in the Admiralty mode can only see Territory when it has a Treaty to extend its venue.
Produce an affidvate that such and such person (trust, association, partnership, etc) of a man is a state/Oklahoma Citizen and not existing as a State/OKLAHOMA citizen (sometimes known as a citizen of the United States), then you can reserve the rights of that person all without leaving the de jure county of the people/king's favorite bench/bank. Welcome back to America; maybe with some effort, the misnomer and the psychopathic tendancy of a man to confess he is paper/person can all be burnt at the Door of the courthouse.
with love,
Gregory-Thomas:Mundt
without prejudice
The various governments of the US are in bed with large corporations. So what else is new? I think it's been like this for awhile now. It's funny, the very people who are charged with protecting us from these so called evil companies abusive consumer practices are pandering to them left and right. This is what you get when the government has the power to grow uncontrollably and make practically any new laws they want. Sure they still need a majority, but with how things are going the majority who are in control are only interested in furthering their own wealth and power at the expense of the rest of us.
http://www.altweeklies.com/gyrobase/AltWeeklies/St ory?oid=oid%3A160151
"This legislation is brought to you by Microsoft(TM)". Happy democracy(TM) and freedom(TM)...
Yam, yam, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade
The next thing you know, Microsoft will be writing Evolution into Oklahoma law, too.
This could be the onset of a new great age of enlightenment, OK?
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
In a sick twist, the Oklahoma City bomber can now posthumously claim he was right, that he blew up the Federal Building to protect us. A sicker twist would have Microsoft spyware catching him before he blew up the office in which Microsoft was writing the antispyware law.
--
make install -not war
So you're only allowed to write spyware if you write software?
Section 6 of the act says such a prohibition "shall not apply" to "telecommunications carrier, cable operator, computer hardware or software provider or provider of information service."
So... the law doesn't even apply to spyware, since companies that produce spyware are technically "software providers or providers of information service", no?
Don't just stand there, get that other dog!
read the text of the bill here
*"Cogito Ergo Liberalis"*
I haven't seen this DRM before, though I am sure there are a lot of them around. I really like it though, since it appears to be another fine example of an application developed for IE. Firefox 1.5 doesn't appear to be hindered by it too much. It appears to block selection IFF you are selecting top down, but select text from the bottom and move up and it works like a charm (sometimes you had to click a few times).
// End Rant
Well done Dynamic Drive - another fine example of security through obscurity (no one uses Mozilla do they?)
Proof by very large bribes. QED.
http://www.tuttletimes.com/siteSearch/apstorysecti on/local_story_088201244.html
Clearly, no measures are too extreme to protect the vulnerable citizens of Oklahoma from what evils lie within.
Now because Microsoft knows that it sometimes need to get information from their users for upgrades, it has put in a clause to allow software companies to do this. Basically the Vole law demands that a software company licence agreement tells you the sort of data they are taking.
Welcome to Chucks software Company of DOOM. They type of software we make? Oh well thats just so that we can have access to your computer
With this law, any company that wants to could easily just delete their competitor's software on your computer!! That is unless you read the license agreement really carefully, and who does that?! As someone else mentioned, all Microsoft would have to do would be to classify linux/mac os x as spyware. Also, what if you install some piece of software, and part of the license agreement that you didn't read is that they can come into your computer and steal all your passwords, credit card numbers, etc? That could make what is currently spyware legal, as long as they say what their gonna do in the license agreement. The only solution I see is to read all those license agreements...
I'm just happy I'm not in oklahoma...
This is not a sig. This is a llama-duck. Quack.
Links to both the Inquirer article and the OKGazette article are present, but the latter is far more informative. Why mention the Inquirer article (basically just a summary) at all?
The above link has much more detail.
NMG
For those of you unaware, Oklahomans are allowed to look at "special" pornography. "Special", meaning no penetration or ejaculation in our magazines, skin-a-max, or anything. Its hard as hell to find a total nude strip club in this state. Neighboring states already know this, such as Texas. When you travel south from Oklahoma, into Texas, the first thing you see (even before the "Welcome To Texas" sign) is a little building with a giant XXX sign. We Oklahoman's know when we've left the state, because all the porno shops appear.
I'm glad about this spyware law, but I think its just more about getting to see what's on user's computers , legally. The Anti-Spyware law is just a front. Oklahoma has been wanting to be able to monitor people for a long time. Which I understand on one hand, but also kind of sucks. I mean, our porn sucks anyway, but now we have to worry about someone watching us visit "non-Oklahoma" approved sites.
This is rather disturbing in that MS is able to completely skip the lobbying phase and goes straight to drafting its own legislation.
From TFA:
In other words if you install Vista, Microsoft can come in, snoop around your computer see if you are doing anything illegal and delete it.
This was an issue since Windows 2000 SP2 actually. This clause was removed with Windows XP due to complaints from companies and such.
Also, unless the Vista EULA includes this clause again, Oklahoma's law doesn't affect me whatsoever since I don't live there. And if more states pass laws with a similar clause, or they make it a federal law (doubtful), then companies and people will again complain and they'll take it out.
Just another conspiracy theory in the making...
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
I think this puts a clear stop to any ideas Microsoft may have on this issue.
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
Microsoft has had just about enough of CentOS blocking access to websites and has taken matters into its own hands.
Only the best comes from the unlicensed pharmacists. What's this "meds" thingk you're talking about? Are those from those licensed drug-dealers in them HMOs?
with love,
Gregory-Thomas:Mundt
without prejudice
The 4th amendmend applies to the government, not to private individuals or corporations. Why do people keep getting that wrong? The constitution DOES NOT place ANY restrictions on the actions of individuals or businesses.
I just have a question. If someone comes into your house to service your furnace, for example, and they 'happen' to see pot growing next to the furnace, can they call the cops? Is that admissable evidence in a court of law? Because, MS is clearly planning on doing just that.
Of course, they don't have permission to rifle through every nook and cranny in my house just because they came in to fix the furnace...
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
Stuff like this makes me embarrassed to live in Oklahoma...
Not everyone in Oklahoma is a retard... Unfortunately the majority rules. :-\
Hell, I'd bet that half of our politicians would pay handily to work with a corporation such as Microsoft just so they can get a nice little blurb in a national paper that they can give their grandkids... Life in rural America is uneventful at best. Something like this is what makes people feel important. Even if they don't see the greater evil in their actions... You can't blame them; they simply don't know any better...
-Duff
P.S. I've lived in Oklahoma my whole life so I can criticize all I want.
Hmmm... the / intro says:
"unwarranted hackers or virus attacks..."
Are there such things as "warranted hackers or virus attacks"?
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Why is a company allowed to design a law in the first place? Why is there a government at all then? Is anyone else getting a strage feeling in the stomach area?
A bunch of people mentioned how you can't copy/paste things off of the site, but there's a simple loophole which doesn't involve scrolling through source code.
Just click and drag with the arrow-cursor, not the text cursor. You can start from any between-paragraphs whitespace, and it works fine. Makes the whole script thing even MORE pointless, though...
A lot like the law being proposed, come to think of it.
If the bank that held your life savings was robbed, do you think you would want a say in a new law punishing bank robbers? Well, Mircosoft should probably have a say in a law that effects people who steal their software.
Did I miss something? Why is a company, who stands to make a lot of money by putting anti-'bad'ware companies out of business, writing the law for this type of thing? There seem to be a lot of loop holes in this law and what it allows. How are businesses to be compensated when this upgradable software deletes some of their code base on a laptop that is plugged in at home, or some other plausible situation. The assignment of rights via a single click during installation is shaky at best, and underhanded on normal days.
If it walks like a duck, smells like a duck, quacks like a duck... its a duck, likewise for monopolies....
This is frightening. MS didn't even have to spend lobby money and bribes...
Is it too late to just give the Inerweb back?
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
For your convenience, Microsoft has bundled (at one time or another) anti-virus, anti-spyware, web browsers, email clients, and now, rootkits.
Once you invite them in they have the right to keep coming back
If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
But I dont give a fuck. Microsoft Windows fucking sucks. The box I am on right now is Windows. If you want to stand for this shit then fine do whatever you please. But until you decide to use FreeBSD or one of the many other alternatives like one of my favorites Gentoo Linux or Debian Lunix or one of the many others... Stop bitching about rights erosion. Excuses about market share and running easily managed homogenous networks are tired. If you cannot use a computer... Don't use one. Nothing is private. Especially now. If it wasn't a computer giant watching us it would be a media company or something else. Everyone has an axe to grind, this is just another example of that. People are paranoid now because of the massive FUD that has been disseminated by hollywood in movies like Swordfish, the many claims of "spying" unbiased liberal and conservative media has been bashing the public with lately and over the years. Not to mention that we all already have a bar code implanted in us... It's called a social security number. If you believe you aren't being watched well. You are mistaken. Nothing is private. The first reason to switch from Windows should be because it fucking sucks. Then you should worry about your (already) non private data.
Personally, I have no problems with writing software that allows somebody into my machine... provided:
:-)
a) It ASKS me, at every instance, if it is OK. For example "User MS-BOB at 192.168.2.1 is requesting access to your machine, do you accept?"
b) It shows me when they are connected, and when not
c) Preferably, I can see what they're doing. VNC-like sessions would work well enough for this.
Really, this would be fine by me, so long as I can see what information they're getting from me, and when. On a windows machine anyhow
What you just said is exactly true, however it's not the complete extent of what's allowed. There's nothing in the bill that limits what Microsoft (or Norton, or whomever) can detect and delete from your computer, provided that it's illegal. The excuse is to allow them to delete spyware, but it just as easily allows them to do you the "service" of removing any unlicensed software you have on your computer.
The intent of a law and what it actually allows are often totally separate things.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
I can hack as much as I want? All I gotta do is write some piece of "updateable software" and have people use it?
Let's ignore for a fact that I'm far away from Oklahoma and most of the black hatters are even further away...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm going to play devil's advocate here (probably get me killed on the karma, but whatever).
Now, from an optimist's point of view, the reason that a third party might wish to look at your computer is for "telemetry" data, so that they can "make their software better". By looking at the data that exposed the security hole (think forensics), they can fix the exploit. Something akin to the 'Send details of your error to Microsoft?'.
The idea was probably conceived of in good faith. Unfortunately, from what I've seen in the past, this doesn't work. It probably was presented to the higher-ups within MS, who said "Great! We can make this a 'feel good' fix, and collect information on our users too! And, fix the piracy problem at teh same time!". Yikes.
just an analog boy living in a digital age.
Think about it for a moment. If I got that right (a lawyer might clarify the details), when I write some software that requires "updates", I am allowed to sniff in your computer when you agreed first to use my software.
This means, though, that if I write a, say, download manager, that installs sniffing software that phones home (hey, it's just updating itself, after all it has to update the ad-pages I pop in your face!), this actually becomes legal. I could harvest whatever information I want from your machine, and it is legal. If you should dare to install an ad-blocker, I'll remove it (legally), because it interferes with the operation of my adware ridden spyware.
Nice to know. Time to open some software company in Oklahoma.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You should NOT be saying things like this in print- EVER.
At this point, I'd be firing a damn City Manager if I were Mayor- that flipping idiot just opened up the the floodgates for potential lawsuits.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
The City Manager has no business making libelous comments (When making comments like he made, you prefix that it's SOLELY your opinion and not anything else- otherwise it'll get you in deep trouble) that opens himself and the City to lawsuits o this nature. Jerry just did that for them- it doesn't matter WHERE the Libel occured, just that it did.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
if you have, say, a pirated copy of Excel Microsoft (or companies with similar software) can erase it, or anything else they want to erase, and not be held liable for it.
This is Bill's dream come true. They have already granted themselves this power in their EULAs. This law gives them unambiguous rights to carry out that EULA. So yes, they can "update" your boot loader, load your free software with keyloggers and spyware, wipe partitions and do what ever they want.
More ominously:
Additionally, that phrase fraudulent or other illegal activities means they can ... Let the local district attorney know ... [about whatever they find or think they find on your computer].
About the only thing worse than M$ having run of your computer would be M$ law enforcement. I predict a wave of bogus reports designed to harass people Bill does not like. We can only hope that law enforcement has the good sense to distrust such an obviously interested party.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
They just don't get it. According to the article, ANYBODY who can get you to click an "accept" button can take any personal information they want, and/or do any amount of destruction to your computer without liability. They can do anything they want, all they have to do is bury some innocuous sounding phrase in their 5,000 word EULA.
These laws should be written to require companies to inform you each time they transmit information back to the mother ship, tell you what information they're taking, and require to you specifically approve each transmission, and allow you to opt out of any further transmissions at any time. If you want to protect the consumer, stop creating loopholes which can be used to abust them.
Yes, anyone that gives M$ enough money will have access to the new Vista Total Information Awareness (VITA) system. This is what non-free is all about, sit back and enjoy it or dump the last of your second rate software.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
The UCC was written by banks. And hence, there is no requirement that the lender notify the debtor before accelerating payment.
This is the norm. The industry writes the laws that are relevant to itself.
It isn't like Microsoft was the only business allowed to participate.
This is nothing more than an attempt to scare people through mention of Microsoft, playing off people's dislike for Microsoft, and their lack of knowledge with regard to how laws are made.
Easy solution:
move out of the crappy state you live in and move to Texas.
That's so horribly bad. No company should not be writing laws, nevermind large monopolies which have been repeatedly sued for abusive behaviour. It's bad enough that they can lobby congress and do unethical things indirectly. But this is just awful. So now a 13 year old will be hit with a million dollar fine for snooping around in someone's machine, but a multibillion dollar company can do it legally.
Of all 50 states, Oklahoma is the most faithful lapdog for the federal government. So much federal subsidies and other programs (military bases, FAA headquarters, etc) pour so much money in, that Oklahoma cannot resist to do whatever bidding that Uncle Sam asks them to do.
as someone who's lived in both, believe me, that's not much of an improvement.
Think it through, if EULA dont matter, then the GNU license is well worthless. Now if people can sueing and get money for security holes, what happens to all the opensource devs.....
Life aint that simple
"I'm sorry, you're saying that people (not the gov't) have the right to take my possesions any time they want? "
No, the parent is saying the Fourth Amendment is not about that. There are other laws aside those in the Constitution.
OTOH, the grandparent's may be right. The government cannot create a law that empowers someone to search you or your property without probable cause. That's what the Bill of Rights is there for.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
I didn't even know the page was trying to keep me from copying and pasting until I saw other people remarking about it and went back with NoScript disabled.
Microsoft Helps Write Spyware...
What ? Oh..
Oh, wait, leaving OK isn't a tough decision at all.
I don't know about that. There is a porno shop with plenty of hardcore on Peoria in Tulsa. I'm not sure about the rest of the state, but theres a hardcore presence somewhere.
Is it just me, or does this law do NOTHING to protect individuals computers from attack? What, this law somehow magically fixes the poor design of Microsoft's Windows machines??
It all sounds very backwards and twisted by greedy organizations if you ask me . . .
Excuse me... Can someone point me please to those articles in the Constitution, which give a corporation the right for writing legislation?
A small group of dedicated hackers will create a new set of flash ROMs for all the popular broadband routers, turning them into efficient MS Spy Blockers on the TCP/IP level.
No one should be allowed to snoop around your computer. Period. Not spyware companies, not the Government, and not Microsoft.
This scenario seems to happen at least once a day:
I read Slashdot, see yet another instance of Microsoft thinking they're God, my suspicions are confirmed, my hatred rises, and I resolve with ever-increasing finality that I will never again purchase a Microsoft product.
Many of you are making two very, very dangerous assumptions about the limits of the activities and consequences of them:
1) you are assuming Microsoft's definition of 'illegal' coincides with that of a court of law or most of you. Clearly, if we look at past behavior of Microsoft and SONY for instance, that is not the case. Corporations with profits at risk have a disturbing tendency to tilt such definitions selfishly to the detriment of freedom and consumer's rights. I see no indication they would not abuse this new power based on past behavior
2) Most of you are assuming their invasion will be 'competent' and not inadvertantly produce collateral damage. But that is _exactly_ what SONY's recent DRM invasion did. I can easily forsee invasions crippling rival programs or corrupting data 'accidently' or mistakenly targeting open source program you might have installed. It won't matter if the damage was accidental due to incompetence or deliberate--and it will be very, very hard to prove tha latter and receive damages.
How many of you have the financial muscle to prove a case against SONY or Microsoft? Thought so. This is very scary indeed
Someone at MS has to make sure Windows doesn't get labeled spyware.
Since when does Microsoft (or any corporation) get to help states write laws? They can't write reliable computer code; who thought it would be a good idea to let them write legal code?
I mean, I know this sort of thing goes on with lobbyists and big money; but when did it happen that companies could ghost-write law? Who in the OK state house said "Oh golly, we don't know much about that there infoweb. We had better outsource this bill to the experts! And who is more expert than those people who brought us Solitare?"
This is scary on soooo many levels...
This sig is inappropriate in a post-9/11 world.
Where's Jerry Taylor when you really need him?
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke
Reminds me of some things my "Army vet buddy" told me about reports....
....and then you have to leave even more white space for the authorizing signatures of the office manager, base commander, company commander, et al. After all is said and done, that leaves about *four to five lines* available for the report text. The rest is nothing but header and footer!
In the US Army (at least during the Korea-Nam years; maybe things have changed by now) all reports had to be written as single-page documents, regardless of the scope or nature of the topic. This can pose a challenge to even the most ruthless copy editor, but it gets worse.
The report has to start with the letterhead (Office of So-And-So Base, etc.), include several header blocks of Department This-And-That which must specify who originated the report and who is expected to receive it -- and has to be separated by plenty of white space! Following that is the actual *report information*
Is anyone else thinking about the "Summarizing Proust" sketch from Monty Python? Can anyone imagine a commanding officer being *anywhere close to informed* about the issues if he has to rely on such massively condensed reports?
Combine this with the speed-reading habit of "just skim the leading paragraph and leading sentences afterward" and you have a recipe for disaster -- and this is Standard Operating Procedure! No wonder the Army coined the acronym SNAFU.
I'm wondering if this holds true (and, if so, by how much) in government circles?
"All hands, BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
So MS is going to turn Windows into spyware and go phishing fully legal? With the current corrupt code in Windows they and identity thieves are able to steal anything now. This will just make it fully legal for them to do it. And all the people who continue to use MS code can't do any thing about it! You signed away all rights to all of your own property on your computer when you installed it or first used it. Guess you won't ever be able to keep anything private now! Switch to Linux before it's too late and it costs you thousands to fix your life after identity theft that MS is promoting that any updatable software company can do! Think they are all 100% honest? NO WAY! If politicians can get away with accepting bribes by the millions every year why would the business men who pay the politicians bribes not accept kickbacks from thiefs? Especially now that it will be sooo easy and untraceable!
Perhaps instead of turning to companies for help writing computer-related laws, lawmakers should create online forums where any member of the community can contribute to or revise laws-to-be... :)
> The law will supposedly protect people from unwarranted hackers or virus attacks and can fine individuals up to $1M who are found guilty of breaking into a computer without the owners knowledge. At the same time, it also allows some of the better known capable companies to 'look' into your computer for possible virus/spyware and fix the problem without informing you. And, while these friends are doing their job, they can also take the moment to do other things.
what about unwarranted hackers or virus that look into your computer for possible fix of the better known capable companies and harm you?!
>This is Bill's dream come true. They have already granted themselves this
>power in their EULAs. This law gives them unambiguous rights to carry out
>that EULA. So yes, they can "update" your boot loader, load your free
>software with keyloggers and spyware, wipe partitions and do what ever they
>want.
ANd how do you sugest that the program will figure out in which state (or which country for that matter) the computer happens to exist in at any given moment? Otherwsie it would have no idea about what law applies, now would it?
And Windows deletes itself, thus removing that particular threat once and for all.
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Speaker: A motion has been made to call this new legislation the "Taylor Act". All in favor?
The Floor: AYE!!!!!!
Speaker: All opposed?
Mousy little guy in the back: Uh, how about the "Cowboy Neal Act", instead?
Friends don't let friends line-dance.
So if somebody was "found guilty of breaking into [my] computer without [my] knowledge," and fined that million dollars, do I get it? It was *my* computer that was broken into, so where does the money go if not to me?
Bravery is not a function of firepower.
~J.C. Denton (Deus Ex)
I think you're all missing the point of the act - it's called the "Computer Spyware Protection Act." It's for protecting spyware. Hmm does it count as clicking 'accept' if I buy a box with Windows on it? I didn't choose to put it there.
I TOO live in Oklahoma. Yeah, Oklahoma is trying like mad to become a progressive state, but in a sloppy, ill-conceived way. Teaming up with a convicted monopolist like Microsoft proves your point exactly about Oklahoma "being unimportant, stuck in the past, backwoods, you name it." Hell, as you should know, Oklahoma is a state that revers "Larry The Cable Guy" as a cultural ICON and had a higher percentage of voters voting for George Bush as President in 2004 than any OTHER state, INCLUDING his home state of TEXAS! I'm a transplanted Oklahoma, from a truly progressive state; I'm only here because my company moved me here with the carrot of a big fat promotion as CIO, and I will be retiring in a few years with a nice pension and moving back to my truly progressive home state of Oregon (state that is), which, thankfully for my sanity, I kept my old residence to which I visit on frequent working and non-working "vacations." As far as luring high tech in the form of DELL, that was a complete joke. Dell opened a low-tech call center with low-paying, primarily Tier-1 help desk-type jobs, paying little more than minimum wage with poor benefits for most employees. Their turn-over is astronomical according to some of my contacts. This call center was essentially moved from India when US-based customers complained about poor service, etc. Dell's call center was FINANCED in large part by overly generous tax incentives; the tax payer got screwed with higher taxes and jobs paying little more than flipping hamburgers at McDonalds. AOL also has a similar setup here in Oklahoma with another "sweatshop-type" helpdesk paying slightly better than Dell. We get numerous resumes from the poor folks at both these organizations and have come to discover the piss-poor conditions at both the AOL and Dell operations here in Oklahoma. As far as Oklahoma regulating medicines, this is a really SAD situation. Now that Oklahoma has been so progressive as to "regulate medicines that were being use to make methamphetamines", it is VERY DIFFICULT to purchase normal over the-counter medicines, like decogestants, like Claratin-D 24, etc., for allergy use, cold relief, etc, for the average, honest, law-abiding consumer. Case in POINT: my wife and I returned to Oklahoma late one night from a business trip to California. We went to a 24-hour Walmart to buy some over-the-counter allergy relief medicine, but could NOT do so: The pharmacy had closed at 9:00PM and the medicine had to be purchased from them after they checked your ID and their database, etc.!!!! Same case at EVERY OTHER 24-hour store that used to sell these medicines over-the-counter, pharmacy! She just suffered until we went to the store the next morning! Thanks, Oklahoma Legislature!! ALL that Oklahoma accomplished with this drug legislation is that law-abiding citizens like my wife GET SCREWED when they need medicine late at night!!! Metlabs are still rampanent, and there's no sign of them slowing down! I for one will be EXTREMELY happy when I leave this backwater, redneck state for good in a couple of years when I retire. Cappy