interesting story

[Alex Snow]

Sounds just like Microcrap. Hypocritical.
And about that xp activation thing, it's been cracked.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Igor Gueths" <igueths at attbi.com>
To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 7:33 PM
Subject: interesting story


Hi all. Hope this is of interest.

                      Did Microsoft Flirt With Piracy?

                  Complaints about open-source software policy reveal piracy
rap
                  in France.
                  Kim Zetter, special to PCWorld.com
                  Thursday, May 09, 2002
                  While Microsoft cracks down on software pirates the world
                  over, the software giant itself was quietly convicted of
                  piracy charges in France last fall--and the case, while
                  supposedly under appeal, may cost the company some
business.
                  The French division of Microsoft is facing a fine of about
                  $422,000 for illegal use of another company's source code
in
                  an animation program called Softimage 3D. The program has
been
                  used to create such films as The Matrix, Men in Black, and
                  Star Wars. But the dispute itself was cited by a
governmental
                  buyer who contends Microsoft should not complain about
pirates
                  when it is guilty of the same transgression. Microsoft did
not
                  respond to requests for comment.
                  Borrowed Code
                  The issue started in 1995 when Microsoft France purchased
                  Softimage, a Canadian company that developed the 3D CGI
                  animation program Softimage 3D. The acquired company was
                  accused of illegally lifting source code from a
proprietary
                  program called Character, developed by the owners of Syn'x
                  Relief, a company near Paris.
                  In 1994, Softimage had negotiated with Syn'x about
integrating
                  parts of the Character program into Softimage 3D. But the
deal
                  fell through when Softimage demanded all rights to the
code,
                  according to a report in PC World Malta. In 1995, when
Syn'x
                  severed its relationship with Microsoft-Softimage, the
company
                  assured Syn'x that it had removed "some or all" of
Character
                  from its software. But Syn'x charges that
Microsoft-Softimage
                  removed only one part of the code, and retained eight
other
                  functions that Character's developers had registered with
the
                  French National Intellectual Property Institute.
                  After Syn'x sent two letters to Softimage and Microsoft
                  demanding the functions be removed, the company filed
suit. In
                  1998, Microsoft sold Softimage to Avid Technologies but
                  remained responsible for the legal infringements of its
former
                  wholly owned subsidiary.
                  Although Syn'x eventually fell into bankruptcy as a result
of
                  the case, the program's authors continued their fight.
Last
                  September the Commercial Court of Nanterre, France,
awarded
                  Syn'x the judgment for damages and interest. Microsoft has
                  vowed to appeal the decision.
                  Sales Pitch Rebuffed
                  Microsoft's brush with piracy in France came to light only
                  this week. The case was overshadowed at the time by the
focus
                  on the September 11 terrorist attacks. But recently a
Peruvian
                  congressman raised the issue in regard to a Microsoft
                  contract.
                  Dr. Edgar David Villanueva Nuñez corresponded in April
with
                  Microsoft's general manager in Peru over proposed
legislation
                  there that would require any software used by the Peruvian
                  government to be open source (or "free software," as it's
                  referred to in Peru). Microsoft representatives protested
the
                  plan, writing the congressman that producing open-source
                  software makes a software company vulnerable to piracy of
its
                  intellectual property by competitors. If Peru mandates the
use
                  of open-source software by government agencies, it "would
                  establish discriminatory and noncompetitive practices in
the
                  contracting and purchasing" of software by public bodies,
                  Microsoft stated.
                  Nuñez was apparently not persuaded. He replied to
Microsoft:
                  "The inclusion of the intellectual property of others in
works
                  claimed as one's own is not a practice that has been noted
in
                  the [open-source] software community; whereas,
unfortunately,
                  it has been in the area of proprietary software." He cited
                  specifically Microsoft's conviction by the Commercial
Court of
                  France, "for violation of intellectual property (piracy,
to
                  use the unfortunate term that your firm commonly uses in
its
                  publicity)."
                  Meanwhile, Microsoft remains one of the most outspoken
critics
                  of piracy, aggressively pursuing violators and urging
                  authorities to crack down on anyone who illegally copies
its
                  software. The company even went so far as to include an
                  Activation Wizard in Windows XP, which prevents customers
from
                  loading a single copy of XP onto more than one PC. The
company
                  amended the policy after user outcry.


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