I am dumbfounded by the hubris of Microsoft marketing types. I can not imagine a more effective way of isolating and antagonizing your customer base. While the BSA member organizations include more than just MS, I am not sure any of the other outfits are as closely allied or as aggressive.
One week after the "Grace Period" letter from BSA, I had in hand a direct-mail marketing piece from MS which stated in effect: "What would you rather have (A) Stiff Penalties or (B) Great prices on Software upgrades."
For the record, we (the organization which I serve as director of IT) purchased audit software, corrected the problems we identified (very few, and due to oversights not criminal activity), and are done. I have no problem whatsoever with the idea of copyrights and paying for legal copies of software. That is a no-brainer.
And, also for the record, our organization's IT Committee has determined (1) No upgrades to XP at the server/desktop or application level, and (2) Linux is to be installed on all servers within three years, and desktops soon after.
This decision flows from the fact that (1) we no longer wish to be held hostage to Microsoft with respect to when and how often to upgrade our OS's and apps; and (2) we wish to have no further dealings with companies who treat us this way.
Unless one is impressed by talking paper clips, WordPerfect Suite and StarOffice provide all the functionality we need.
Microsoft's clumsy handling of the legitimate concern of piracy has pushed us over the edge. It's their loss.
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I am dumbfounded by the hubris of Microsoft marketing types. I can not imagine a more effective way of isolating and antagonizing your customer base. While the BSA member organizations include more than just MS, I am not sure any of the other outfits are as closely allied or as aggressive. One week after the "Grace Period" letter from BSA, I had in hand a direct-mail marketing piece from MS which stated in effect: "What would you rather have (A) Stiff Penalties or (B) Great prices on Software upgrades." For the record, we (the organization which I serve as director of IT) purchased audit software, corrected the problems we identified (very few, and due to oversights not criminal activity), and are done. I have no problem whatsoever with the idea of copyrights and paying for legal copies of software. That is a no-brainer. And, also for the record, our organization's IT Committee has determined (1) No upgrades to XP at the server/desktop or application level, and (2) Linux is to be installed on all servers within three years, and desktops soon after. This decision flows from the fact that (1) we no longer wish to be held hostage to Microsoft with respect to when and how often to upgrade our OS's and apps; and (2) we wish to have no further dealings with companies who treat us this way. Unless one is impressed by talking paper clips, WordPerfect Suite and StarOffice provide all the functionality we need. Microsoft's clumsy handling of the legitimate concern of piracy has pushed us over the edge. It's their loss.