Microsoft ‘educational’ comic
p2pnet.net News:- Are Bill and the Boyz about to do a Captain Copyright, as the bizarre and ridiculous cartoon character Access Copyright dreamed up was called?
Microsoft is, “expanding its fight against software piracy with a new educational effort that includes comics,” says CNET News.
Whenever you see the word ‘educational’ attached to a new corporate venture, you know it means trying to spin you into doing, or accepting, something your common sense tells you to totally ignore.
“The online campaign, set to start on Monday, is meant to tell people the benefits of using properly licensed software,” says the story, reading very much like an original Microsoft PR puff piece.
“It covers such aspects as awareness of intellectual property rights, risks of using pirated products, proper licensing practices and legalization of fraudulent products,” it says as though it’s serious reporting.
CNET even quotes Cori Hartje, director of Microsoft’s Genuine Software Initiative, as saying in an ‘interview’, “We want to enable customers to make informed decisions that are best for their business by providing them with the facts that they need.”
This latest Microsoft ‘educational’ scam is being called Genuine Fact Files, but it’s about as genuine as the ludicrous Windows Genuine [dis]Advantage scheme, from which it draws its name.
The ‘campaign’ is now launching in the US, but it’s already being pushed in Italy, France, the UK, Indonesia, Brazil, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
Don’t bother to stay tuned.
Also See:
bizarre and ridiculous - Canada’s Captain Copyright, June 1, 2006
CNET News - Microsoft to use comics in antipiracy campaign, January 21, 2007
Windows Genuine [dis]Advantage - Disable Microsoft WGA, June 24, 2006
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January 24th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Someone should make a parody of this very campaign that points out the security, convenience, and ethical benefits of using FOSS instead.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
True, WGA may work poorly. But I saw the flip-side of that coin yesterday. A friend of mine bought a custom-made PC that came with Windows XP Professional on it. The PC builder installed Windows XP Professional (from a Volume Licensing CD & Key) and gave the customer an XP Home Upgrade CD & Key - on a new PC!! Yes, Microsoft has plenty of money, and nobody cares about hurting them. But customers are being ripped off too, and if it weren’t for WGA catching this machine with an abused key, this customer would never have known he was ripped off until it was too late.