Is this letter from Verizon Wireless, or from a phisher? Is the phone number real?
I called up Verizon Wirelss (using 611 from my phone -- not at the number on the letter) but they were unwilling to confirm or deny that they are doing this, or that 800-333-9956 is the correct phone number to opt out.
After a few tries, I was able to explain to the customer service representative that anyone can send out letters claiming that they're Verizon, telling people to call and provide their SSNs. She agreed to file a complaint that will be reviewed by their marketing department. She noted in my complaint that I have no intention of doing any further business with Verizon Wireless, as a result of this stunt.
And just how much of that do you think is actually going to go to companies other than Microsoft? 5%? Maybe 10%?
The entire reason it's software vouchers being given out, and not just money, is that Microsoft knows that consumers will choose to buy their software anyway. This results in them not having to really put out money for the vouchers, since it comes right back to them, and it also furthers their position.
If companies have to release the source code, that means that any copy protection code could be removed, and the resulting software could be pirated without any hope of it ever being stopped. Thus, commercial software could no longer exist. At this point, a major sector of the economy would grind to a halt. Some companies would then no longer be willing to spend money on development, so innovation itself would also be in bad shape. And this is supposed to be a good thing?
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Is this letter from Verizon Wireless, or from a phisher? Is the phone number real? I called up Verizon Wirelss (using 611 from my phone -- not at the number on the letter) but they were unwilling to confirm or deny that they are doing this, or that 800-333-9956 is the correct phone number to opt out. After a few tries, I was able to explain to the customer service representative that anyone can send out letters claiming that they're Verizon, telling people to call and provide their SSNs. She agreed to file a complaint that will be reviewed by their marketing department. She noted in my complaint that I have no intention of doing any further business with Verizon Wireless, as a result of this stunt.
And just how much of that do you think is actually going to go to companies other than Microsoft? 5%? Maybe 10%? The entire reason it's software vouchers being given out, and not just money, is that Microsoft knows that consumers will choose to buy their software anyway. This results in them not having to really put out money for the vouchers, since it comes right back to them, and it also furthers their position.
If companies have to release the source code, that means that any copy protection code could be removed, and the resulting software could be pirated without any hope of it ever being stopped. Thus, commercial software could no longer exist. At this point, a major sector of the economy would grind to a halt. Some companies would then no longer be willing to spend money on development, so innovation itself would also be in bad shape. And this is supposed to be a good thing?