Look at the webbrowser called Konqueror. It does not give extra privileges to applets that have puchased trust from a certificate authority. The user has to tell Konqueror to trust the application and specify exactly what permissions the applet gets. This is in start contrast to Microsoft based solution where OCX and other scripts are run automatically simply because they are “signed” and certified by a “Trusted Authority”.

When buying software from a company, remember that the highest calling of that company is usually to make money. The software is designed with that goal in mind. However, when a hobbyist or a free software group writes a program, it is usually for the goal of accomplishing a task. In many cases, it is also to show off the skills of the programmer. The programmer who writes insecure code most of the time will not have a good reputation. I find that the work of a very active open source poject to be superior than that of a commercial developement business.

In February, 2005, responding to a solicitation which promised one full year (12 MONTHS) of free virus protection software from CA, I decided to give it a try — at that particular time, my poor HP Pavilion simply could not weather the blizzard of pop-ups, viruses, spyware, and malware which had beset us in recent months. I figured I might as well give the CA offer a try, just to see if it worked well enough to buy NEXT year.

In early May, 2005, I received this email notice from CA (I copied it directly from my “Saved email” file — no editing:)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>Dear eTrust™ EZ Armor™ LE Customer:
>
>Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) is constantly
>striving to improve our software and services to best meet your
>needs. As we work to develop superior functionality and
>embrace advanced technology, it is sometimes necessary to
>discontinue support of some of our older product releases in
>order to focus development efforts on new releases.
>
>Therefore, effective August 15, 2005, we will be discontinuing
>support for:
>
>eTrust™ EZ Armor™ LE version 2.1.
>
>Rest assured that we will continue to support your product until
>your free trial is complete. As well, if you renew or upgrade
>your subscription, you will be given a FREE upgrade to our
>latest version, which is fully supported.
>
>Upgrade Now:
>
>You may prefer to upgrade your trial to the latest full version
>now. The latest full version includes fixes to known issues,
>additional functionality, and full support for Windows XP Service
>Pack 2.
>
>To renew your subscription now and upgrade to a full featured
>product, click here.
>
>If you have ALREADY renewed, but did NOT upgrade your
>software at that time, then click here to get your FREE upgrade.
>
>Click here to get upgrade instructions.
>
>Thank you for your continued support of Computer Associates.

>>>>>>>>>>>

Please note how quickly they offered to provide an update for a fee. I have long suspected that most of the perpertrators of viruses, spyware, trojan horses, etc. etc. are the software companies which supply (for healthy fees) the necessary remedies.

One other quick note: One day I was reading in the paper where Mr. Gates had pledged the mighty resources of his megalith to help combat excessive junk mail. That very evening, while idly surfing the Internet, I ran across an ad from MS which offered a course to help start-up businesses in mass marketing on the Web; among other things, the course would tell and show how to create massive email lists — etc.

No B.S!! I now wish I had used my Acrobat Distiller to print the page for posterty.

Software giants make money the old-fashioned way — they buy and sell politicians and “public servants”.

Well, from all the coverage p2p has received it is abundantly clear the cartels (aka hollywood) do control the media.

And it all started with M$ leaving their system open to attacks, and people not knowing how to protect themselves from attacks.