Stephen thanks for the heads-up... IN reality this is nothing new, just the continuation of a sad set of policies that no one seems to be aware of.
At one pre-linux time I was going to run a web site and I had NT 4.0 Workstation and the Netscape Enterprise server. Then in the blink of a Microsoft attorney's eye, I was illegal for more than 10 connections and "had to" purchase NT Server to do the same job which incidentally came "free" with IIS but crashed a lot on the Netscape Enterprise server. "Had to"???? That was my introduction to RH 4.0 and Apache. I did not look back. Yes I read the EULA and by clicking on the "I Agree" I had agreed to ex post facto changes. In windows shipped from 3.0 all through 1999, there was an NSA key in the encryption authorization services. Microsoft and NSA both denied having any agreement, and Microsoft stated that the tag "NSA" on that key was because it met some National Security Standards (which did not exist). The upshot of that key is that the holder of it could download security software/spyware onto a windows computer without the user's being aware of it. The key may still be there. A third key was found which authorized cryptographic services, but no one ever identified what it was. A program to change key2 and to enable strong encryption was produced by cryptonym (www.cryptonym.com) which blew away export restrictions. Microsoft Passport had a means to collect personal data and its use was misrepresented. They signed some sort of consent order with a Federal agency about disclosure and some list member can easily research the particulars through google. So is Microsoft lying to the public? Is Microsoft spying on the public? If you use Windows, is it true that your computer, which you paid for, does not belong to you? Yes. It was true three years ago. It was true six years ago, and it is still true. Moreover, the chicanery does not end there. Do you have a retirement fund? FInd out how heavily they are invested with Microsoft Stock. There are EIGHT BILLION shares out there for a company that takes in $25 billion a year not in profit but in revenue. There is an unreported debt of Microsoft to its own employees which runs to the tune of about $55 billion in the form of stock options. Retirement funds have invested heavily in Microsoft, which has been losing money (if you include the employee stock options) since 1996, and all they have to show for it is heavily watered stock which, if it ever hits true value, will make the Enron implosion look slow and gentle. Check www.billparish.com to see the credibility of the source, then here to see the article.... http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=9726 Microsoft is not a technical corporation. It is a business founded on the prinnciples of greed and predation. What else should one expect other than extralegal and criminal behavior whenever they think they can get away with it? And consider that they may have plundered _your_ retirement fund already. Civileme
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