Fear not dying, but never having lived - Mexican adage
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Trading Standards works FAST to stamp out software crime
CRIME BUSTERS from Trading Standards and The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) have teamed up in Cardiff to try and stop the illegal use of computer software using the Trademarks Act of 1994.
The partnership claims that the aim of this relationship is to educate businesses in how to use the software legally, and only take action if a company is later found to be guilty.
That huge sigh of relief is the sound of those businesses who were paid surprise visits by TS last year – with no warning or warrant – the offenders were consequently carted off for prosecution.
Critics are saying that this is a waste of time and a misuse of public money as Gordon Brown has given a tidy sum of £5 million towards enforcing copyright, meaning Trading Standards now has the power and duty to enforce against any criminal copyright offences – be afraid, be very afraid.
The Director General of The Federation, John Lovelock, states: “Technology is constantly giving criminals new ways of committing crimes and theft is a major issue that has to be addressed. As a result we intend to fully co-operate with Trading Standards so that together we can clamp down on those responsible for piracy and protect owners of Intellectual Property.”
Dave Holland, Cardiff Trading Standards, added: “Trading standards may now work in cooperation with representative bodies to enforce the law surrounding copyright infringement.”
FAST was asked by the INQ to comment further on this – they are yet to respond. µ
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What a gr8 article 

Thanks Michael

Google Windows Live Mail you tard.
also Vista doesn't even ship with an Email application that will connect to Hotmail.

So I've been busy spreading the word Thunderbird by Mozilla. A free 6MB download email application that does work with Hotmail, IMAP, POP etc.

Microsoft, please include an email client that works with Hotmail. Or don't be such dickheads and leave Hotmail working with Vista Lame Email/Rebadged outlook express.

Gmail here I come, plus everyone I know. I suggest you do the same.
FAST is out there protecting "...owners of Intellectual Property"

How much government money goes to protecting purchasers of said property?
This will just make the adoption of open-source software by businesses *FAST*er. The thought of the software Nazis kicking open your doors and shutting down your business and suing for even Win32 programs loaded by employees (without employer knowledge) has made many businesses adopt Linux and open source alternatives.
..
Open source software does not have to be *free* (although much of it is free); it can need activation or registration to enable functionality or the ability to update. And open-source companies (like Zimbra, IntelliCAD, RedHat, Novell) do well without having to alienate customers by treating them like criminals. So, it looks like it's *FAST* time to switch to open source.