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Microsoft Launches Comical Effort to Fight Piracy
theodp writes "A week before the release of Vista, Microsoft is expanding its fight against software piracy with a new educational effort that includes comics. Making its U.S. debut Monday, the Genuine Fact Files campaign aims to make Microsoft's message more accessible to a broader audience. BTW, Vista's Software Protection Platform (SPP) can put unvalidated copies of the software into a reduced-functionality mode. From the article: 'Microsoft plans to draw attention to it through banner ads on its Web sites and promotional material that it will hand out through partners. By using comics, the company aims to make the message more accessible to a broader audience. They are black and white, in a style similar to newspaper comics.'"
Isn't it peculiar that when someone (an individual, gov't or corporation) tries to pander to the hip or "kewl" crowd, it actually comes off as even more contrived and lame. This Microsoft comic reminds me of junior-high school health classes about drugs or sex.
Besides that, Microsoft has to walk a fine line with software piracy. If they could eliminate it entirely, that would be when you would see a more mainstream adoption of FOSS.
There's a big difference between being educated, and being educated by Microsoft. Educated would be "it's against the law to infringe copyright". Microsoft's so-called education would probably be "large corporations have the natural right to the ideas produced by their employees, it's perfectly acceptable to cripple software and mandate constant surveillance to make sure that your copy of Windows BS is completely above the board, trusted computing is only to protect content creators and only denies access to your computer you don't really need anyway..." and so on and so forth.
Microsoft educating children about copyright makes about as much sense as letting wolves teach sheep about nutrition.
How is the average user going to know if they have been placed in `reduced functionality mode`, or are simply experiencing the usual inability to shut down their PC (yes, even on XP), virus attacks, confusing USB installation (do I install the hardware first and then the drivers, or the drivers first, or plug the hardware in and see what happens, or what, exactly?), games juddering and freezing (presumably updating my file indexes or checking for updates is so important that the flippers in my pinball game can take up to half a second to respond) etc?
From the article: "The antipiracy fight is a multimillion-dollar effort, Hartje said. Although it has been going on for some time, Microsoft can't say whether the fight is paying off. 'This is a multi-inning game. We're in the first inning and it is too early to tell what the long-term impact will be,' she said."
This is the first inning? C'mon, pirated software was online (BBSs) in the 1980s, if not earlier, and even then I could buy illegally-copied software from semi-shady PC hobby stores. Forget "don't copy that floppy" -- how about "don't copy that data cassette" or "this software download will take 16 hours on your 1200 baud modem, assuming your housemates don't pick up the phone and disrupt the signal".
Nah, it's more like double-death overtime, and Microsoft is losing.
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
Because downloading a torrent is exactly the same as attacking a ship, killing it's crew and doing random raping and pillaging. Only dirty hippies that hate America can't see that.
</corporate_asshat>
Copyright infringement != piracy
Copyright infringement != theft
Copyright infringement == Copyright infringement
Doesn't make it right, but be accurate when using a damn word.
"The Federal Reserve is a fraudulent system."--Lew Rockwell
End The FED. -
Remember when some soccer moms were up in arms about music lyrics? The result: all CDs with questionable lyrics got slapped with a little label. And that drove the kids to them. Nothing like saying to a child that they can't have something to make them more curious about it and want to try it.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Actually, copyright infringement is a god given right.
There's nothing in the ten commandments about not duplicating work. It does say thou shalt not steal, but stealing refers to depriving someone else of the item you've stolen, which isn't the case when producing a duplicate.
Copyright is an invention of modern law, intended to stifle the competition which would exist in a free market where anyone can produce duplicate copies of a work. It is so some people can make more money in the short term, while reducing the exposure of their media in the long term (no free copying means it will be distributed far less widely).
When an artist paints a work, how many people produce copies of it, and reprints etc, how many millions of copies of the mona lisa exist? If you want to make money from your work, sell the original, copies should be free for others to produce and distribute for the betterment of society as a whole.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Why charge nearly 1000 dollars so they can all "upgrade" for a single house?
A simple site license would be fine. MS office was a couple hundred dollars a copy a few years ago. Novel's Star office was less than a hundred dollars and came with a home site license. Needless to say, I ran Star Office at home for a while until Open Office became better and replaced it.
In keeping the budget balanced and avoiding piracy, many people find alternatives with better terms. We have more than 1 PC. A single PC license is to be avoided if at all possible. This requirement alone has introduced me to Free Open Software as an affordable replacement to the by each PC a copy model.
The latest casualty is Light Factory. They went from a Registeration name model to a single PC locked registration. In the process, it broke the hot spare for a live performance. I upgraded to Freestyler in its place.
Is free software the only ones who get a SOHO network and a cheap site license?
The truth shall set you free!
oh please. I'm not trying to force anything on anyone. 99% of the world know that taking something that doesn't belong to you, thats priced, without paying, is wrong. If you are determined to stay in the 1%, then that's up to you, but don't expect the other 99% of us to consider you anything other than a freeloader.
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
But the little comic book-like video says that by using authentic software "You get: The assurance that your IT infrastructure is clean and stable"
Oh really? Who provides that assurance? Certainly not Microsoft. I don't recall ever seeing any MS product (or any piece of software, for that matter) that isn't sold without a warranty including the implied warranty of merchantability. In other words the EULA plainly states the software is completely worthless and that by clicking through, you agree with the manufacturer that the software is completely worthless and that you are surrendering your right to sue them if the software destroys your computer, blows up you house and kills your family etc. etc.
Like I said, I don't advocate stealing intellectual property but turning in criminals who copy and distribute what a manufacturer publicly declares is worthless crap is waaaaay down on my list of wrongs to right.
Insert witty sig here.
Kids don't smoke because some cartoon named "Mr. Camel Smoking Guy on a Box" tells them to. They smoke for the same reasons adults do; it's a stiumlant and certain brands taste damn good (not saying they SMELL good, saying they TASTE good...to quote Bill Hicks, "It's a shame it's that second hand smoke that smells, the shit we're suckin' down is fantastic!"
Living With a Nerd