Welcome to the 84 Online Newsletter

 

Brought to you each week by the 84 Online Team, a loose collection of volunteers from around the Kentuckiana region.

 

84 Online is broadcast live each Sunday from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM (EDT) on WHAS radio, 840 AM.  You may call the show directly during this time period at 502-571-8484 or toll free at 1-800-444-8484.  You may also interact with the team online by visiting www.84online.com and clicking on Chat Room.  IRC users can access the room through server ucanweb.com, channel #84online.  Chat hours match the show on Sunday and generally some of the members are in nightly from 8:00 to 10:00 PM EDT. 

Vol. 3, No. 4                

 

We have a little change in store for readers this week.  Hash takes the lead with a guest editorial concerning the BSA (Business Software Alliance).  Hash and other members of the group got fired up for the Super Bowl by taking on a BSA rep that called into the show Sunday.  Also this week Art features a helpful utility for moving files, a great site for budding web page authors and a little bad news for folks who think they can increase their system resources by adding even more software and Matt’s email pick deals with the steps needed to remove Windows Messenger from XP.

 

Have a great week!

 

Kevin Mefford, Editor

84online@microdome.net

 

Things that make you go Hmmm …

 

The BSA, Microsoft and Illegal Software

 

The following was taken from the BSA Website.

http://www.bsa.org/usa/press/newsreleases//2003-01-27.1443.phtml

 

Between February 1-28, BSA will reach out to more than 540,000 business contacts simultaneously in Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Albuquerque, NM; Dallas, TX; Louisville, KY; Harrisburg, PA and Seattle, WA.  .....  Companies that take part in the Grace Period and take the necessary steps to become fully licensed will be excused from penalties for software violations occurring prior to February 28, 2003*. These penalties include fines up to $150,000 per copyright work infringed.

 

This is the so-called “Grace” period when the BSA wants you to “come clean” as they say, regarding the illegal software that may be installed on your computers.  During the show this week, we actually had a BSA representative come on the air to basically publicize this.  We asked him some very direct questions and in my opinion didn’t get a single satisfactory answer.

 

This is not new to BSA.  They have done this numerous times before.  In fact they have been doing this for over a decade.  They claim they are doing this to make sure everyone is compliant with software licensing agreements, but their heavy handed approach makes it look more like racketeering than software compliance. 

 

This is where I have a major problem with the BSA.  Anyone remember a basic principle of law that says we are presumed innocent until proven guilty?  It appears that you can sign away that protection of law, and of due process, merely by clicking on the little YES button when you install software from Microsoft.

 

How the Deal Goes Down.

 

1.You get a form letter from the BSA telling you something to the effect that you may have illegal software on your computer and that you are in deep trouble if you cannot account for it.  There are thinly veiled threats of penalties, fines and even prison time.  They brag about the penalties and settlements they have levied so far.  This is enough to send the average business owner into PANIC mode.  How are you going to account for all the software on your computers?  Did you save every one of those little tags that show proof of purchase? In case you are wondering, it’s those stupid little hologram license keys that are so easily lost.  Hmmm….

2.So you do the audit.  Despite the fact that you can afford neither the time nor the people to do such an audit.  Remember, you only have 30 days at best!  Obviously, you fail miserably to account for all of your software, even if you are sure you have purchased each and every one of the programs on your computers.  So now you go confess to the BSA and try and settle out of court, just so they don’t send the US Marshals after you for illegally possessing software.  I ask you - when was the last time you had to prove to Amana that you bought your refrigerator legally?  Or to show Zenith the proof of purchase for your television?

 

 

3.In the meanwhile BSA will sell you more software licenses to get you in compliance.  They even offer you a 20% discount during the grace period and Microsoft will send you blatant promotional material advertising the same, just days after you get your threatening audit letter.  Coincidence?  Hmmm…
They accuse you of being a criminal, get you to self confess, and sucker you in to buying even more software that you have to keep up with.  And Microsoft is laughing all the way to the bank.  They didn’t have to lift a finger!  All they did is get their cronies at the BSA to send out a form letter.  I asked the BSA rep during the show where they got the business addresses to send the letters to.  He stated that he didn’t know where they got them from, but assured me they were obtained legally.  Hmmm… why doesn’t the BSA accept that from you?  That you don’t know where your software came from, but rest assured you obtained it legally!

4.The BSA says they have the RIGHT to walk into your business anytime they want to and audit your computer software.  Just based on the suspicion that you have illegal software.  They brag about the fact that they get a lot of their information from disgruntled employees.  So in essence if an employee wants to get you in trouble tomorrow, all they have to do is install illegal software on the company’s PC and dial the BSA Hotline.  In fact, under certain licensing schemes from Microsoft you agree to the random audits.  Didn’t read the fine print, did you?  So Microsoft has made the BSA their de-facto software police and enforcement arm.  But that is NOT their motive.  The amount of penalties they collect are minuscule in the grand scheme of things.  What they are after is for you to purchase the licenses.  So you will continue to remain on the perpetual upgrade cycle.  And this can get downright ridiculous.  Consider you still have an old Windows 95 PC hanging around because Ol’ Bill in the corner office wont let go of it.  If you can’t prove you got the Win 95 legally you have to pay for a new license.  And so for something that you wouldn’t be able to sell for a “quarter” at the flea market, you will be required to buy a FULL PRICE OS license from Microsoft.  You don’t believe that Win 95 still costs around $100?  Ask the guys who wanted to install it on machines they were donating to charity!  Microsoft said NO, you had to purchase new licenses and they would gladly sell them to you.

5.  Why am I going after Microsoft since the BSA is technically composed of many other companies?  If you do some simple research on the web, it becomes pretty obvious who is behind this BSA nonsense.  Microsoft has built its monopoly on pirated copies of Windows and Office.  They can sit here and preach Anti-Piracy all they like.  I personally am not buying the charade.  Case in point, when Office XP sales hit rock bottom Microsoft offered an “academic” version.  This was offered in stores to teachers and students at steeply discounted rates.  The wonderful part, the storekeepers were not required to ask for or check any form of identification what so ever.  A 70 year old could walk into the store, say he was enrolled in middle school and get the academic discount.  This is a blatant invitation to piracy.  The BSA rep said during the show that it wasn’t Microsoft’s job to tell store owners to check ID’s.  Baloney!  If Microsoft truly wanted only students and teachers to have the academic versions they could do that in a jiffy.

6.So are there other companies represented by the BSA?  Sure there are, but that is meaningless.  The BSA says they are against piracy, and that is such a noble cause.  That’s why they have many other member companies.  But being against piracy - is like being against world hunger.  Sure, everyone is against it.  Who can say that they are for piracy?  It’s what you do about it that is bothersome.  The BSA says that people who are legal have nothing to worry about.  Yeah Right!  That’s like saying that the only people who need to be worried when they get an audit letter from the IRS are people who cheated on their taxes.  The Anti-Piracy rhetoric is just a front.  This has nothing to do with piracy and everything to do with another exploitable revenue stream.  And if the revenue stream from corporations and small business dries up, they can always come after the individuals.  And don’t for a moment think that they won’t do it!  After all, it’s easy money.  It’s revenue without ever having to make a new product.  Now that is a sweet deal.  

7.Hmmm…

I wonder if the BSA has ever audited their own computers for software compliance?  I wonder if an independent third party performed such an audit?  I am willing to bet that there is at least one computer that belongs to the BSA that has had at least one piece of illegal software installed on it at least one time.  Isn’t that all it requires?  A hint of suspicion?  So whom should I contact?  The BSA?  Do I need to fill out their web page “Snitch” form?

Hmmm… Better still, I think I shall contact the RIAA.  They might want to check if there are any MP3 files on the BSA computers.

 

So what can you do about this?  Not much if you continue to roll over and let companies like Microsoft rule your life.  As far as I know, no one has actually challenged the BSA in court.  As a customer, your only weapon is your wallet.  You need to tell people like Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and Macromedia that if they are going to consider you a criminal instead of a customer then you are taking your business elsewhere.  And don't say that the world runs Windows and there are no alternatives.  Are millions of dollars in fines, and the threats and intimidations by the 800 lb Gorilla really worth it?  You really want Microsoft software that badly that you are willing to risk your business on it?  All those people who we scoffed at when they switched to Linux and Open Source software are silently chuckling under their breath at people like you and me.  Remember, there are alternatives!  Your wallet is a very powerful ally.  Ask the city of Houston, Texas.  Microsoft tried the same bullying tactics with them and, in classic Texas style, Houston switched their computers from MS Office to Sim Desk, and told the Big Bad Microsoft Corporation and the BSA to take their audits, and their licenses and SHOVE It!

 

Hash

hash@ucanweb.com

 

p.s.  This was written on a Legal Copy of Microsoft office and completed on a FREE copy of Open Office.

For Alternatives please go to www.linux.org and www.openoffice.org

 

Download of the Week

 

Goodies and 1 Baddy

 

When you right click on a file and choose the “Send To” option, Windows sends a copy to the designated location and leaves the original where it was found.  Some of “us” (er…. me, in particular) would like the original file to truly get sent to another location.  Well, guess what?  There is an application called “SendTo” (catchy name, huh?).  “SendTo” integrates into the Windows shell. To get started with “SendTo” all you have to do is select some files or folders in Windows explorer, right click on any one of them, choose "Send

To," and "Any Folder," and “SendTo” will appear to give you the option to do any of the following:

 

     Copy the files/folders to another location.

     Move the files/folders to another location.

     Create shortcuts to the files/folders in a location you specify.

     Create a zip file containing the files/folders.

 

Get “SendTo” at http://www.trogsoft.com/products/sendto.

 

This one is not an application; but you budding webmasters will find plenty to download.  http://www.freelayouts.com is loaded with free templates for web pages, java scripts and graphics galore.  If you are building your first website, check out what is available here.  One word to the wise, it is tempting to use lots of cutesy animated .gif graphics.  Don’t do it!  It is annoying.  Also, using the clichéd “under construction” should be avoided, as well.  That just shows the whole world that you lost interest in your project. 

 

Now for the baddy, as promised.  We get several letters each month concerning RAM booster applications that supposedly speed up your system by freeing RAM from closed programs.  Folks, these things just don’t work.  In fact, they can, in some cases, make for slower performance.  Plus, it is another running program that will sap your Windows resources.

 

SUBSCRIBERS’ BONUS:  This guy has too much time on his hands, but his efforts are funny: http://www.spamletters.com.

 

Art Maley

artman@insightbb.com

http://www.saveinternetradio.org/

 

Email Question of the Week

 

Q:  Is there any way to stop getting messages from the Message Center?  Only after using XP have I started receiving these messages.  They do not come by email but just appear on the screen 2 or 3 times a week.  I have never been to this site or any other like it.  I think it is wrong for anyone to access my computer in this fashion.

 

A:  You can disable Windows messenger service this way:
 
 
Click Start->Settings ->Control Panel
Click Performance and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double click Services
Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"
Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties.
Click the STOP button.
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar
Click OK

Good luck and thanks for listening,
 
Art Maley

artman@insightbb.com

 

Contact info and legal stuff

 

If you have tech support questions or ideas and/or submissions for our newsletter please email them to bob@iglou.com.

 

Copyright 2003, The 84 Online Team.  All rights reserved.  Publication, rebroadcast or storage is prohibited without prior consent, however you may freely forward this publication to friends as long as A) it is forwarded in its entirety and B) no fee is charged.

 

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