Aardvark Daily aardvark (ard'-vark) a controversial animal with a long probing nose used for sniffing out the facts and stimulating thought and discussion.

NZ's leading source of Net-Industry news and commentary since 1995
Headlines | XML feed | Contact | New Sites | Archives | Job Centre | MARKETPLACE | For Sale
Note: This column represents the opinions of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
Who "owns" Your PC? 2 July 2002 Edition
Previous Edition | Archives

Please support the sponsor
Sponsor's Message
Chances are that the PC you're using right now cost between $1,500 and $3,000 of your (or your boss's) hard-earned cash.

You might think that you (or your boss) owns this PC -- and in the traditional sense of the word, that's true.

These days however, the word "own" has a new meaning when applied to computers:

own - verb - to have control of

If you think that you own that PC in front of you then you are probably very wrong -- or soon will be.

No, I'm not talking about hackers breaking into your PC and planting some frighteningly powerful trojan -- I'm talking about what Microsoft have planned.

Feature: Promoting Your Website
Dont' forget to check out the series of hints on how to promote your website which will be regularly added to throughout the next few weeks.

New this week: The Importance Of Branding

It must be conceded that for all their faults, Microsoft know exactly where the money is in this new hi-tech world -- and they've spied an opportunity that's too good to ignore.

They know that the recording industry is having a hell of a job trying to get to grips with new technology and protecting its products against piracy. It makes sense therefore, that if Microsoft can offer them a solution to their woes, lots of money will change hands.

Readers Say
(updated hourly)
  • MS backdoor via EULA... - Peter
  • MS EULA... - Gavin
  • Advantage GROUP... - PeterB
  • Advantage Name... - Scott
  • Have Your Say

    This is where Billy-G's "ownership" of your PC comes in.

    Billy wants you to give him permission to install whatever bit of code he wants onto your computer -- and also delete or disable whatever else he wants to that might already be on your disk.

    Using Microsoft's own words, here's what they want you to let them do:

    "...agree that in order to protect the integrity of content and software protected by digital rights management ('Secure Content'), Microsoft may provide security related updates to the OS Components that will be automatically downloaded onto your computer. These security related updates may disable your ability to copy and/or play Secure Content and use other software on your computer. If we provide such a security update, we will use reasonable efforts to post notices on a web site explaining the update."

    Yes, Billy-G wants to own your PC so that he can make sure it has the latest version of "Digital Rights Management" (aka anti-piracy) software installed at all times. He also wants to be able to disable any 3rd-party software you might have installed that allows you to play potentially pirated content.

    The quoted paragraph is from the Microsoft End User License Agreement (EULA) -- that thing you glimpse at briefly before clicking "I ACCEPT" when installing new versions of Microsoft's Media Player and other software.

    And don't count on Microsoft's definition of "reasonable efforts" when it comes to letting you know what it's done to your PC being anything like your own definition. After all, remember "trustworthy computing" when the company said it was going turn the company on its head in effort to rid its products of security holes?

    Stop and think for a moment or two about what this new clause in the EULA really means...

    Even if you're thinking "Why should I care? I don't plan to play any pirated music or video on my PC" -- don't get too smug.

    Reflect on Microsoft's absolutely appalling track record in the area of security for a minute or two.

    Chances are that you've spent a lot of time configuring and checking your PC so that all the (many) known security holes are patched. You've invested a lot of effort in creating the most secure system you can -- right?

    Now how are you going to feel when, without your knowledge, Microsoft comes along and potentially wrecks all that hard work by installing a brand new piece of possibly bug-ridden code as part of its DRM updates?

    Suddenly you can no longer be sure that your machine doesn't have the "hack me" sign hanging out can you?

    Then there's the issue of whether Microsoft even has a legal right to disable other pieces of software that you might have paid good money for -- just because Billy-G might think that they pose too much of a threat to Microsoft's own dominance in the DRM arena.

    No -- I think Microsoft has overstepped the mark this time.

    Although the legality of these click-through ELUAs have not been fully tested, I think the risk of having to wage an expensive legal battle just to win back control of your PC and run perfectly good software you've paid good money for is just a little too onerous to be acceptable.

    If you haven't considered the Open Source alternatives to Microsoft yet, then now might be a very good time to do so, before Microsoft forbids that too.

    The Gooey
    Lots (and lots) of Aardvark readers have emailed me to say that they couldn't check out The Gooey because they were using Netscape, Mozilla, IE4.x or some other unsupported browser. This has been duly noted.

    I will be offering my thoughts on this service in the next day or two but if you have been playing with it (you IE5.5 and IE6 users) then there's still time to let me know what you think.

    Have Your Say
    As always, your comments are welcomed. Please remember to select "For Publication" if you want them included on this site.

    Have your say.

    Linking Policy
    Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

    Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!

    Latest
    Security Alerts
    Microsoft Reveals Still More Security Flaws (NewsFactor - 28/06/2002)

    OpenSSH Hole Uncovered
    (CNet - 28/05/2002)

    Apache Web Servers at Risk - Patching Urged (NewsFactor - 23/06/2002)

    Holes Still Linger in Yahoo! Messenger (iNetNews - 06/06/2002)

    Experts warn of IE Gopher hole (ZDNet - 05/06/2002)

    Latest
    Virus Alerts
    Kowbot worm targets Kazaa network
    (VNuNet - 01/07/2002)

    Worm exploits Apache vulnerability (Computerworld - 01/07/2002)

    Soccer World Cup Virus Detected (iNetNews - 07/06/2002)

    Bookmark This Page Now!

     

    MORE NEWS
    NZL Sites
    IDG.Net.nz
    NZ Netguide
    NZ Herald Tech
    PC World NZ
    Scoop
    NZOOM Technology WordWorx

    AUS Sites
    ZDNet
    Fairfax IT
    Australian IT
    AUS Netguide
    NineMSN Tech
    APC Magazine

    USA Sites
    Wired.com
    CNet
    CNNfn Tech
    TechWeb
    Yahoo Tech
    ZDNet Tech
    USA Today Tech
    7am.com SciTech

    UK Sites
    The Register
    BBC SciTech

     

    My Jet Engines
    Check Out Me And My Jet Engines

    The Day's Top News
    Open in New Window = open in new window
    New Zealand

    Open in New Window Smaller parties conflict over net use
    In the fifth story in our series on political parties using technology in their general election campaigns, IDGNet talks to the smaller parties...
    IDG

    Open in New Window Questions over $145m Landonline database
    Stage one of the $145 million Landonline electronic land registry system is complete now Auckland is fully connected, but debate continues over how much has improved for its users...
    NZ Herald

    Other

    Open in New Window Microsoft's anti-piracy plans spark controversy
    A recent software update for Microsoft's Windows Media Player requires users to permit the automatic installation of undisclosed future anti-piracy measures...
    New Scientist

    Open in New Window Kowbot worm targets Kazaa network
    Virus masquarades as appealing media files Users of the Kazaa file-sharing network were today warned about the second virus in as many months to infect users...
    Vnunet

    Open in New Window Report: Brace for new wave of attacks
    The Web is currently more vulnerable to attack than ever before, as a result of several serious security flaws for different server applications being published within a few days of one another...
    ZDNet

    Open in New Window Computers reach one billion mark
    One billion personal computers have been sold across the world, according to hi-tech consultancy Gartner Dataquest...
    BBC

    Open in New Window Real seeks subscribers for games
    The rest of the game industry is wielding huge development budgets and taking on massive technical challenges in its effort to push consumers to complex, multiplayer online games. But RealNetworks thinks there's a lot to be said for a nice game of mah-jongg...
    CNet

    Australia

    Open in New Window Australian Web sites blasted in usability stakes
    The Web sites of some of Australia’s largest organisations have been given a poor report card from the world’s leading online usability think tank...
    ZDNet

    Open in New Window New era for domain names
    AUSTRALIA’S new domain name regime has gone live after years of negotiation and controversy...
    Australian IT

    Other

    Open in New Window Microsoft casts .Net for Java workers
    Microsoft has released a new programming tool aimed at attracting Java developers to its .Net software strategy...
    CNet

    Open in New Window Dot-com noir
    When Internet marketing goes sour: A sordid tale of spyware, "junk traffic," bodybuilding and a half-baked plan for Hollywood glory...
    Salon

    Open in New Window Klez tops virus charts - again
    Variants of the Klez worm were by far the most common viruses circulating on the Internet this month. Again...
    The Register

    Open in New Window The True Cost of a Wireless Home Network
    Wireless networks have taken off in enterprise and retail settings, and technology and market forces are converging to make the home systems quite affordable...
    NewsFactor

    Open in New Window Security workers feel the pinch
    Despite the ongoing focus on security since the Sept. 11 attacks, computer security administrators are not immune to the current economic malaise, according to a study released Monday...
    CNet


    Looking For More News or Information?

    Google
    Search WWW Search Aardvark

    Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2002, Bruce Simpson, republication rights available on request

    jet engine page