[Wolves] MS tightens the screw

[Shane M. Coughlan]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Kevanf1 wrote:
> As always, it's the way that Microsoft say it...  in an intimidatory manner.

I don't really think they did.  Some news agencies are trying to spin it
that way, but what Michala Alexander, Microsoft's head of anti-piracy,
actually said was: "We want to urge all system builders ? indeed, all
Partners ? not to supply naked PCs. It is a risk to your customers and a
risk to your business ? with specifically 5 percent fewer opportunities
to market software and services."

That does not mean we (FSFE etc.) are happy.

To quote from http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39261437,00.htm:

	The FSF Europe is alarmed by the prospect that customers who 			request
a base systems would risk a visit from Microsoft's 			investigators.

	"It looks like a private sniffing service which is supposed to 			spy
on these who do not want to pay the Microsoft tax anymore. 			It is an
incredible piece of impudence which any politician, 			customer and
journalist should recognise carefully," said 			Jakobs.

Joachim Jakobs is a highly active member of the FSF Europe.  Nice guy too.

The most important point is something else JJ said: "We would be happy
to see any kind of hardware being shipped without an operating system,
or pre-installed with free software. Furthermore, we would be happy to
get in contact with any hardware vendor who wants to free his customers
this way."

Shane

PS: Slashdot messed up their story.  They said FSF commented on the
matter, but it was FSFE.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/05/1425216

- --
Shane Martin Coughlan
e: shane at shaneland.co.uk
m: +447773180107
w: www.shaneland.co.uk
- ---
Projects:
http://mobility.opendawn.com	http://gem.opendawn.com
http://enigmail.mozdev.org	http://www.winpt.org
- ---
Organisations:
http://www.fsfeurope.org	http://www.fsf.org
http://www.labour.org.uk	http://www.opensourceacademy.gov.uk
- ---
OpenPGP: http://www.shaneland.co.uk/personalpages/shane/files/publickey.asc
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.4-cvs: (MingW32)

iQCVAwUBRDQ8vdwG3M95JPpzAQhHGAP/e2X00LfG3EyLj1R5GzmA8taQ4iV4vxEx
GFJP5b7fF3cLX7Il/g2MZujHhBWbVbFNa6K3vFlFN68iShcDvBGOhEj/f0NNXQkk
/IqecN+ImzyycxmY1B6IUbjCUM298ELtOmVTsxq2SAaEew29PwScU8EuGt1D3xfm
bBRvdsMmJbw=
=5YMy
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----