A bore is a person who lights up the room by leaving it
|
|
|
Business Software Alliance calls out global thieves
ACCORDING TO SOFTWARE COMPANY WATCHDOG the Business Software Alliance, about half of the people on the planet have stolen from its members.
If you take a look around the office, this means that the man sitting next to you is aiding terrorism, taking jobs away from people and probably clubbing baby fur seals on the weekends.
Fresh from sailing its righteous high seas, the BSA is bandying about accusations of 'piracy', claiming that around a third of people in the UK illegally download software "most or all of the time".
People in developing natinos are particularly unlikely to buy software through the usual channels, according to the BSA, along with the man that just wandered out of a nearby class for students of the bleedin' obvious.
China harbours a host of 'pirates', as do Nigeria, Vietnam, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Mexico. All of which revelations are the opposite of jaw-dropping.
In these countries the BSA found that many users believed that they had bought legitimate products, which says something about the allegedly buggy features we are told can be found in downloaded copies and the performance of the more expensive official ones.
"It took hundreds of millions of thieves to steal $59 billion worth of software last year. Now we have a better understanding of what they were thinking," said BSA president and CEO Robert Holleyman from behind, we like to imagine, a rather large drum.
"The evidence is clear: The way to lower software piracy is by educating businesses and individuals about what is legal - and ramping up enforcement of intellectual property laws to send clearer deterent [sic] signals to the marketplace."
Yeah, maybe it is. It's also not a bad money spinner, on top of what is already a pretty good racket. Just think of what companies such as Microsoft could do with an extra $59bn in their bank accounts. µ
Share this:
Share
If you have been contacted by the BSA and the BSA have paid for the information about your software licensing, the BSA may have committed a crime under the new 'Bribery Act 2010'
The BSA widely advertises the fact it pays informants in it press releases. It's quite proud and open about this.
So there is huge amounts of evidence out there on the web (do a simple Google search 'BSA pays rewards').
If you suspect that a disgruntled employee is the source of this 'paid for' information - then both the BSA and the employee may have committed a criminal act liable to a prison sentence.
You can write to the Director of Public Prosecutions in London, or Belgravia Police (nearest Police Station to the BSA offices) or Scotland Yard - asking them to investigate to see if the law has been broken.
Also I would suggest writing to both your MP and the Business Secretary Mr Vince Cable.
Many years ago - wayyyyy back in the dark ages, I bought my first ever proper PC... and the guy selling it, installed all the software off his own CD - the PC has a problem - no ORIGINAL SOFTWARE etc., I have been scammed.
Raised the issue with the BSA - and they ARE the biggest bunch of lying scheming pricks I have ever come across - and their reinterpretation of their own terms and conditions, of "You help us nail them and we reward you" - is so effortlessly reinterpreted to "No that is not what it really means - what it means is that we lie our way out of it and don't do shit for you".
You reckon a prison filled with crack addicts or a church filled with cathaholics and altar boys is bad - you should see the BSA in action - pure LIES and SLEAZE and bullshit from wall to wall.
As far as getting free stuff - I am now almost totally all open source - because if I billed Microsoft for all the time their shitty software has cost me - over all the years that I used to use it - they would be into me for about $100K....
Will they pay that up? Never.
And then you get the likes of Adobe, Microsoft, and and and and - they rig their pricing in regional markets - so that people in the USA pay one price and people in the UK or Australia etc., pay almost double...
Just look up "Price gouging Adobe microsoft UK Australia" (no quotation marks) and see how the members of the BSA essentially steal money from the consumers - and they try to lock in people to regions by restricting sales to shipping and IP address's.
The BSA and it's member companies are all as crooked as each other.
They are liars and thieves - then toss in their hypocrital double standards.
Naaaaa Linux and Open Source.
Windows would not have the global penetration it has without piracy. For decades it has been technically feasible to link every licence of Windows to a specific MSN Passport so that they know every single person is using it legally.
Why haven't they done this? It isn't the consumer backlash, because WGA is still around in some form or other. It's because they need as many people as possible to use Windows. Each pirated copy is effectively subsidised by the high prices others pay.
I think there is already incentive to pay for software used commercially. Especially if this passes: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/252526,microsoft-on-supply-chain-anti-piracy-push.aspx
59 billion dollars? Some mucky foreign currency. Is there any research indicating that BSA in actuality stands for Bull**** Straight from America?
Let me tell you another story:
Most business software vendors will not give you unlimited access to a working copy of their software before purchase so you can give it a thorough shake down to see how it really performs. Instead they just want to do leaflets, video presentations and sales visits.
Migrating to new business software is a huge undertaking and if you get a package that charges a purchase fee and an annual relicensing fee per seat (as most SME business packages do) it's also hugely expensive up-front and on an ongoing basis.
What then if you find the software you were sold as being able to meet all your requirements turns out to be a complete and utter stinking turd in practice?
I know a number of SME's who are in exactly this position and their options are:
A) continue paying the relicensing fee for the stinky software even though doing so makes you want to puke
B) write off the huge one-off purchase fee as a bad loss and go through the whole tortuous migration process again
Neither option is great is it?
The answer: ALWAYS CHOOSE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE!
Choosing Open Source gives you unlimited time to have a practice run with the software before committing your business to change.
@anon
Open Source alternatives are often only harder to learn only because not so many people know them yet so there are fewer people to ask if you need assistance. In most cases I have found open source software easier to use.
In my experience they do not 'often rely heavily on the internet' either (unless you're just talking about Google documents?). Some may make use of web technologies but you can host them yourself on your own tcp/ip network or using a localhost loop-back if you're on a single pc.
Software is often more expensive and harder to obtain in developing countries pushing more people to pirate.
It doesn't make sense that in countries where people earn less, companies charge more for the same product.
In some developing countries, Windows 7 will set you back an average salary or more.
Open source alternatives are more difficult to learn and use and often rely heavily on the internet which is expensive and rare in the developing world.