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| | The Evil Empire - October 2002 Archive
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Wednesday, October 30, 2002
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Even as it was fighting its antitrust battle with the feds, Microsoft was already on to Round 2: Winning the streaming-media wars. Second of two parts. [Salon.com]
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Mark Pilgrim: "It has been said many times by many people, but it bears repeating: Microsoft's greatest competitor is old versions of Microsoft products." [dive into mark]
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IEEEmember writes "Microsoft has objected to the sale of bankrupt KMart's Bluelight.com Internet unit to United Online. Microsoft's objection to the sale is based on the non-transferability of software licenses protected by copyright law according to the Reuters story on Yahoo! News. This action by Microsoft should serve as a warning to any corporation that has a significant investment in Microsoft licenses. Dependency on Microsoft licenses may grant Microsoft the ability to veto your business decisions." [Slashdot]
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The next version of the productivity suite will run only on the latest versions of the company's operating systems, Microsoft confirms. Microsoft cites security as reason for removing support for Windows 9x. [CNET News.com]
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Jeremy Hedley: "I barely restrain myself from exploding in rage and frustration at the bug-infested piece of crap that is Internet Explorer on the PC." [Antipixel]
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Tuesday, October 29, 2002
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Bill Gates wants to control the delivery of digital entertainment into your home. And according to a lawsuit brought by a pioneering software company, he's prepared to crush anything that gets in his way. First of two parts. [Salon.com]
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Monday, October 28, 2002
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An anonymous reader writes: "After some months reading TCPA specifications and Palladium information released by Microsoft, I've finished a technical article regarding the two; the scope is technically analyzing what we know on TCPA and Palladium so we can have an objective way to judge how could it really affect us if finally done. You can read it in English or Spanish." [Slashdot via Privacy Digest]
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Sunday, October 27, 2002
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pierreduFwench writes: "With the U.S. national elections just around the corner, you may find this interesting: Opensecrets.org, a website focusing on 'Responsive Politics' recently published lobbying and donations info for the 2002 elections (to date). You can see the breakdown of
Microsoft's individual dossier here. Also, looking at the 'Top Donations by Industry', you may notice that Microsoft is, conspicuously, the only entry under 'Computers/Internet.'" Very interesting graphs. [Slashdot]
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D4C5CE writes: "Microsoft's ceaseless "success" in bringing instability, insecurity and breaches of privacy as well as a deplorable lack of open standards to almost Every Desktop on Earth has now earned them an "Oscar" for Data Leeches, the Lifetime Award for "outstanding mis-achievement" from the BigBrotherAwards 2002 in Germany. Microsoft's Data Protection Officer actually attended the ceremony to collect the prize (probably delighted that unlike the "laureates" of last year's event in Austria, at least he would not receive live cockroaches), and this unlucky winner took the opportunity to make some critical remarks on the company's communications regarding the Windows Media Player and Digital Restrictions (or, euphemistically, in his words: Rights) Management technologies which he deemed crucial for modern business models, rather than acknowledging that it's in fact not just the advertising but the approach itself which is fundamentally flawed." [Privacy Digest]
Microsoft was also nominated three times for the award in Austria, but was beaten by other opponents.
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Saturday, October 26, 2002
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Although Microsoft touts Palladium as a way to keep computers virus free and to give users control over what information they give out, critics were quick to notice that it just so happens to be an ideal platform for the management of digital content. [Tomalak's Realm]
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Friday, October 25, 2002
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The city of New York orders the software giant to remove butterfly decals that were plastered all over midtown Manhattan as part of a promotion for the launch of MSN 8. [CNET News.com]
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Obtrusive marketing campaign causes disarray; NY Times tells Microsoft to get its MSN butterfly decals out of town. [Slashdot]
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UK open source consultancy netproject is clearly on something of a roll. Earlier this month the company announced the first deployments in a pilot scheme intended to equip police forces in England and Wales with secure Linux desktops, and next month it plays host to what sounds like being the trusted computing face-off of the year - John Manferdelli versus Ross Anderson versus Alan Cox. [The Register]
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In this Newsforge article, Richard Stallman analyzes the "Trusted Computing" initiative and Microsoft's Palladium, points out that such initiatives are really means to ensure your computer can be trusted by Microsoft and Hollywood (you can't do things they don't want), and urges computer users to organize, to support the Public Knowledge and the Digital Speech projects and to use their consumer power to block "Trusted Computing" in its tracks. [Slashdot]
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A trade group made up of Microsoft competitors has again sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) claiming that the software maker is not living up to its end of a proposed settlement deal in its long-running antitrust bout. This time, ProComp, or the Project to Promote Competition and Innovation in the Digital Age, claims that Microsoft has fallen short of meeting a requirement to make available core software code that will allow competitors to tune their software to work well with Windows. [InfoWorld: Top News]
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Lester Warby ... the chief information officer at Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, believes that the terms for the end user license agreement (EULA) for Microsoft's Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and XP Service Pack 1 might well put the credit union in violation of new federal privacy laws.
At issue is Microsoft's "automatic update" feature, which allows users to automatically get upgrades and patches to their systems. To get the updates, users must agree to give Microsoft access to information on their systems. That, says Warby, conflicts with federal regulations for financial institutions ... . The new law ... forbids financial service companies from giving third parties access to customer data without express consent from the customer. ...
"We're forced into a position where we're either out of compliance with Microsoft's licensing, which is not acceptable, or we're out of compliance with the law, which is not acceptable either. Under these circumstances, we'll probably change our operating system," says Warby. [Privacy Digest]
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Thursday, October 24, 2002
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Microsoft has responded to criticism from users and issued a software patch for a major security vulnerability in the Windows XP operating system, reversing an earlier decision to require users to upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 1 to remove the vulnerability. The security hole exists in the Windows XP Help and Support Center and affects the Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Professional, and 64-Bit Edition operating systems, according to information posted on Microsoft's product support Web site. [InfoWorld: Top News]
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Wednesday, October 23, 2002
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Flaws in several versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser could allow an attacker to read files or run arbitrary code on a user's system, an Israeli Web application company warned Tuesday. The company, GreyMagic Software, detailed what it says are nine new security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (IE) 5.5 and 6.0.
With all the vulnerabilities combined, an attacker can "easily steal private local documents, forge trusted Web sites, steal clipboard information, and even execute arbitrary programs," GreyMagic said in a statement sent via e-mail. An attacker would have to lure a user to a specially-coded Web site to carry out an attack. [InfoWorld: Top News]
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The software giant will acquire Vicinity, a provider of online maps and directions, in a cash-for-stock transaction worth $96 million. [CNET News.com]
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Saturday, October 19, 2002
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Friday, October 18, 2002
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Cypherpunk Lucky Green files a defensive patent to prevent the software giant from using Palladium to block piracy efforts. Analysts say it just might work. [Wired News]
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Microsoft late on Wednesday warned of three new bugs in its software, including a "critical" flaw in SQL Server 7.0 and 2000 that could allow an unauthorized user to execute particular administrative functions called Web tasks. [ZDNet UK via MyAppleMenu Wintel News]
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Thursday, October 17, 2002
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The software giant issues a trio of alerts for flaws in the SQL Server database, Windows XP operating system, and Word and Excel applications. [CNET News.com]
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Microsoft blew away analysts' estimates for its first fiscal quarter, once again buoyed in part by a controversial corporate licensing plan, but MSN losses darken a bright quarter. [CNET News.com]
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The software giant acknowledges that a hacker broke into its Windows beta testing network and had access to yet-unreleased software. [CNET News.com]
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Security researchers have identified a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer that enables an attacker to steal cookies, forge Web content and run code on users' machines. [eWeek]
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Microsoft's plan to impose a new pricing program has been prompting a chorus of complaints from corporate and government customers for several months. But early results, analysts say, indicate that the move was shrewd financially [~] at least in the short run. [New York Times: Technology]
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Microsoft has addressed a security vulnerability found in the Office v. X suite with the release of a new security patch, Office v. X 10.1.1 updater (requires Office v.X SR1). It resolves the certificate validation issue (see MS02-050) and the newly reported vulnerability in Word's field codes that could allow an attacker to maliciously use field codes and external updates to steal information from your computer without your knowledge. [The Macintosh News Network]
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Wednesday, October 16, 2002
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Word from Microsoft's chief technical officer Craig Mundie that the company "may offer security abilities on a paid basis" makes me wonder: How long will it be until MS sells you only as much--or as little--security as you are willing to pay for? Think of it, Microsoft could grade the security of its products the same way the USDA grades beef! Its "choice" server software would be sold only to the finest corporations at premium prices. And its "prime" operating systems would go to people who are willing to pay a little more for a better grade of protection than a "select" version of Windows XP that might come on a new PC. [ZDNet News]
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Microsoft has yanked another of its fraudulent user testimonials, in this case a fictitious twelve-year-old boy raving about a fictional homework assignment and the indespensable insights he received from MS Encarta Reference Library in preparing it. [The Register via MyAppleMenu Wintel News]
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Somebody was directed to my site recently by Google after searching for a history of Microsoft. I don't have one, but David K. Every wrote a pretty good one.
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Tuesday, October 15, 2002
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So Microsoft wanted to start their own Switch campaign and place ads of Mac users who are now using Windows XP. Hacker sleuths at Slashdot became aware of the web page on Microsoft's server and quickly found out that the picture was just a stock photo from the Getty database and that the whole thing was apparently a fake.
Then it turns out that just the picture is a fake, the person actually exists, and she is a Microsoft PR employee who really switched from Mac to Windows. The story created quite a media echo, so Microsoft pulled the ad and kind of apologized.
The question remains, why? What's the point of the whole exercise? It's not that Apple's 5% market share actually hurts Microsoft in any way; on the contrary, it's quite helpful in the monopoly trial. Seems like some bad idea gone awry; it's a matter of being incompetent rather than evil.
Update: John Gruber has posted a detailed roundup and his view of things: "Bad marketing is one thing. Bald-faced lying is another."
[Links found via BBC News, CNET News.com, Privacy Digest, Scripting News and Slashdot]
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Microsoft customers expecting to move to the next version of Windows as part of their new licensing agreements could find that they have paid for upgrades that they do not initially receive. [vnunet.com via MyAppleMenu Wintel News]
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Monday, October 14, 2002
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Did Microsoft suddenly find open-source religion? Hardly. It was dragged there kicking and screaming by its customers, who are increasingly drawn to open-source software like Linux, whose inner workings of code can be seen by anyone and modified. [CNET News.com]
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Microsoft's new licensing scheme has stirred up angry customers who gripe that the pricing rules that went into effect in August are increasing their software bills. According to a September survey of corporate technology buyers by Goldman, Sachs & Co., only 7% are pleased with the changes. Moreover, 37% signed up but aren't happy about it, and 7% are actively seeking alternatives. Technology research firm Gartner Inc. estimates that most customers that didn't already have multiyear licenses for Microsoft software will wind up paying more as a result of the company's policy changes. [BusinessWeek via MyAppleMenu Wintel News]
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Saturday, October 12, 2002
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A new worm that spreads through Microsoft's MSN Messenger instant messaging program is circulating on the Internet. If released on a computer, the worm opens a back door to the infected machine and e-mails product keys for popular PC games such as Half-Life to an anonymous Web-based e-mail account, according to an alert posted on the Web page of antivirus maker Sophos. [InfoWorld: Top News]
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Friday, October 11, 2002
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Charles Miller: "I recently discovered a bug in Internet Explorer version 6 that causes random type in my weblog's sidebar to disappear. In a competetive environment, this would be IE's problem. In the real world, it's mine." [jenett.radio]
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A worm spreads among users of Microsoft's Messenger system by fooling people into downloading an infectious file from the Internet. [CNET News.com]
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Microsoft Corp. disclosed a security flaw Thursday of "critical" severity in its Outlook Express e-mail programs. The flaw, which affects the free e-mail software bundled in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, could allow attackers to crash the e-mail program or to potentially take over the user's machine. [New York Times: Technology]
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Wednesday, October 9, 2002
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Let's set aside for the moment whether today's Windows can ensure security of any kind. Let's also note that, except for XP's Media Player and digital rights management, Windows doesnt silently do all that much yet.
Here's the question: Since Microsoft may start using its new rights any time, won't it soon be against federal law for health care providers to rely on Windows to handle patient records?
"The EULA [end-user license agreement] change has really got me worried," writes Peter Clark, the owner of PClark.net Consulting. "I think the new SP3 license terms are in direct conflict with HIPAA. Either I don't install the service pack -- and am therefore running an OS with known security holes, which HIPAA frowns upon -- or I do install the service pack and thereby install a new security hole, which allows for automatic changes of the software configuration." [InfoWorld]
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Harry Erwin writes: "This article seems to suggest Microsoft is now considering charging for security. I don't mind vendors like Counterpane Internet Security selling security services, but I would prefer operating system vendors to treat security as part of the core functionality of their products, if only because effective security has to be designed into the operating system from the start. This proposal would create a two-tier Internet and probably make things worse rather than better. Security is like public health and education--if you think it's expensive, consider the alternative." [Privacy Digest]
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Microsoft is considering charging for additional security options, and admits it didn't move on security until customers were ready to pay for it. Microsoft "may offer new security abilities on a paid basis," according to the company's chief technical officer Craig Mundie. The possibility is under consideration within Microsoft's security business unit, recently set up under its own vice president, Mike Nash.
The idea is still only hypothetical, but represents an acknowledgement that Microsoft sees security not just as a necessary condition to reassure existing and future customers, but also as a potential source of revenue. [Privacy Digest]
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As Microsoft begins its push into the market for home-networking gear, its new products are having trouble keeping computers connected. Users have reported a myriad of problems, all involving dropped connections, and most affecting the company's MN-500 Wireless Base Station and MN-100 10/100 Ethernet Wired Base Station. Some users said connections were failing every half hour. A Microsoft representative confirmed the troubles Monday and said the company planned to issue a firmware update to correct them. [ZDNet via MyAppleMenu Wintel News]
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Monday, October 7, 2002
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An e-mail virus called Bugbear is spreading across world, threatening to become the biggest bug of the year so far. [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]
Hey - the BBC got this wrong. Bugbear is not a bug, it's a nasty worm that takes advantage of Internet Explorer and Outlook, which are so full of bugs and security leaks that Bugbear could spread in the first place.
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Security flaws in the help facility of most versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system could allow an attacker to take control of a user's PC, Microsoft warned late Wednesday. All versions of the Windows operating system, from Windows 98 up [are affected] [...]
The issue is rated "critical" by Microsoft because the help function can also be called by a Web site or HTML e-mail, not just by applications on a user's PC. An attacker who invoked the help facility and exploited the flaw could take virtually any action on a PC a user could take, Microsoft said. [InfoWorld: Top News]
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Microsoft posted a cumulative patch for its SQL Server 7.0 and 2000 database software late Wednesday, also patching four new vulnerabilities. Also affected are Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) 1.0 and MSDE 2000, products often used with SQL Server, Microsoft said in security bulletin MS02-056. The vendor rates the vulnerabilities "critical." [InfoWorld: Top News]
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The company appears to have shut down one of the largest distributors of "mod chips" - add-ons that allow Xbox and other video game consoles to play pirated games. [CNET News.com]
Not particularly evil (after all, it was kind of illegal), but shows the power they already have.
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The FBI has published a list of the Top 20 security holes in server software. Recommended reading for both Microsoft and Unix users. [Der Schockwellenreiter]
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.NET's threat to Java is financial not technological, according to James Gosling who believes Microsoft's wallet poses the biggest challenge to Sun Microsystems Inc's drive for market share. Gosling - the inventor of Java - concedes, though, Microsoft has made some inroads with Visual Studio.NET. The integrated development environment (IDE), he believes, could pose more of a threat than the .NET languages it contains. [The Register]
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Tuesday, October 1, 2002
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A clever and damaging virus is infecting thousands of computers and it is making itself very hard to spot[cedilla] say anti-virus experts. [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]
The virus uses an old and well-documented security leak in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Internet Explorer to propagate itself. I have two questions about this:
(1) Now that the security fix for this hole has been available for over a year, why aren't people installing it?
(2) Knowing that Internet Explorer and Outlook are full of dangerous security leaks, why is the number of people using them constantly growing rather than shying away from them?
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