Microsoft swoops amid fears over piracy rise: related news

Microsoft swoops amid fears over piracy rise

Microsoft is stepping up efforts to snare illegal traders after research suggested the economic downturn could spark an increase in software piracy.

Microsoft swoops amid fears over piracy rise

Microsoft is stepping up efforts to snare illegal traders after research suggested the economic downturn could spark an increase in software piracy.

Microsoft's Annual Report Reveals OSS Mistakes

mjasay writes "Microsoft's most recent annual report suggests that the company is increasingly coming to grips with open source, yet also seems determined to perpetuate myths about open source that poorly serve it and its shareholders. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has suggested before that 'free software means no free soda' for Microsoft employees; but this is perhaps the first time that Microsoft has managed to enshrine its ignorance in a public document. In the annual report, Microsoft makes two primary false claims about open source: 1) Open source companies don't invest in research and development and instead largely free-ride on Microsoft's patents and copyrights; and 2) Open source projects don't innovate and instead mimic Microsoft's products.

Microsoft and Apache - What's the Angle?

A week ago, we discussed Microsoft's contribution to the Apache Foundation. Now, Bruce Perens has written an analysis "exploring the new relationship of Microsoft and the Apache project, how it works as an anti-Linux move on Microsoft's part, and what some of the Open Sourcers are going to do about having Microsoft as a rather untrustworthy partner." In particular, he notes: "...Microsoft can still influence how things go from here on. If they have to live with open source, the Apache project is Microsoft's preferred direction. Apache doesn't use the dreaded GPL and its enforced sharing of source-code. Instead, the Apache license is practically a no-strings gift, with a weak provision against patent lawsuits as its most relevant term. Microsoft can take Apache software and embrace and enhance, providing their own versions of the project's

Reducing Software Piracy Could Have Exponential Effect on Channel Profitability, Says New White Paper

HOUSTON, July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new white paper by IDC released today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2008 highlights the collateral damage that software piracy is causing to companies across the technology industry. Sponsored by Microsoft Corp. and the International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners (IAMCP), the white paper shows that every dollar Microsoft loses to software piracy translates to $5.50 in lost opportunity for other companies in the partner ecosystem. The white paper points to a stark reality not often highlighted in industry discussions: Software piracy is a wide-ranging problem that deeply affects small companies as well as large software vendors.

YAHOO SPURNS JOINT MICROSOFT-ICAHN BID TO REVAMP FIRM, ACQUIRE SEARCH BUSINESS

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Yahoo Inc. said late on Saturday that it rejected a restructuring proposal from Microsoft Corp. and the investor Carl Icahn, and the Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet-services giant called on Microsoft to bid for the whole company. Yahoo said the Microsoft-Icahn plan, which it said would turn Yahoo's search business over to the Redmond, Wash., software giant and the rest over to the New York investor, was presented as a take-it-or-leave it proposition. "This odd and opportunistic alliance of Microsoft and Carl Icahn has anything but the interests of Yahoo's stockholders in mind," Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said in a statement. Yahoo said that while it rejected the restructuring, it offered two alternatives: "It repeated its offer to sell the entire company to Microsoft for at least" $33 a share, and it "offered to nego

Some Developers Leaving Google For Microsoft

recoiledsnake writes "We have heard about lots of talented developers jumping ship from Microsoft to Google, but is the trend beginning to turn? Dare Obasanjo (a Microsoft employee) writes about a few high-profile people picking Microsoft over Google — either making the jump directly, or choosing Microsoft after receiving offers at both. Sergey Solyanik is back to Microsoft and he primarily gripes about the culture and lack of career development at Google. He writes, 'Everything is pretty much run by [engineering] — PMs and testers are conspicuously absent from the process. Google as an organization is not geared — culturally — to delivering enterprise class reliability to its user applications.' Danny Thorpe, who was the key architect of Google Gears, is back at Microsoft for his second stint working on developer technologies rel

Microsoft to stream Netflix movies over Xbox 360

Los Angeles - Bringing the vision of the digital living room one step closer, Microsoft announced an alliance with Netflix Monday whereby the leading online video rental company will stream movies over the internet to the Xbox 360 video game console. Microsoft announced the move at the opening of the E3 video game convention in Los Angeles. The deal will allow owners of the Microsoft video game console to access 10,000 movies offered by Netflix - twice as many as Netflix previously offered over its internet streaming service to PCs.

Study shows reducing piracy benefits Microsoft VARs, some experts disagree

A recent study shows that reducing piracy will benefit Microsoft VARs, arguing that the VARs' income will increase as a result. The IDC study, which was sponsored by Microsoft and the International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners, says that VARs, rather than retailers, would be the biggest beneficiary from a reduction in piracy.

Senior Microsoft developer dumps Redmond to embrace open source

Mike Gunderloy spent over a decade consulting for Microsoft, helping to build the Access and Excel versions of Microsoft Office 97 and 2000, as well as SQL Server, C#, and ASP.Net. A series of Microsoft moves, most particularly its "patent land-grab," has pushed Gunderloy away from Microsoft to the point that he's now "100 percent Microsoft-free" and has embraced a variety of open-source projects and programming languages.

Microsoft Not Sure If SaaS Will Cut Piracy

Microsoft has been increasing its efforts to battle software piracy using lawsuits and educational programs to bring more illegal users into the light. But as Microsoft moves toward delivering more applications as services, its anti-piracy tactics will

Microsoft Not Sure If SaaS Will Cut Piracy

Microsoft has been increasing its efforts to battle software piracy using lawsuits and educational programs to bring more illegal users into the light. But as Microsoft moves toward delivering more applications as services, its anti-piracy tactics will also have to change, according to solution providers.

Microsoft: $1 of piracy = $5.50 in "lost opportunities"

Each dollar lost to software piracy equals $5.50 in lost opportunities, claims Microsoft. A new white paper released by IDC and funded by the software giant looks at how copyright infringement affects the software ecosystem as a whole, not just how it affects a single corporation. IDC claims that, if Microsoft were to make back each of those lost dollars, partner companies would gain $4.37 in increased revenues and $1.13 in lower operational costs. That's assuming, however, that the Business Software Alliance's estimated losses due to piracy are correct—an assumption that IDC makes in this report, despite having admitted in the past that the numbers are misleading.

Microsoft starts to talk: Engineering Windows 7 blog is live (Updated)

Microsoft has thus far been very tight-lipped on Windows 7; everything that we know about Vista's successor—which is very, very little—has been carefully disclosed to us by Microsoft. The software giant has already been heavily criticized for not having any public channels of communication open. Even Microsoft's own partners have complained that the company isn't telling them much, and they're the ones that really have to know the details so they can align their products accordingly. Anyway, it seems that the stance over at Microsoft is changing, but very slowly: the Engineering Windows 7 blog (E7 for short) is now live.

Microsoft Exec: Still Early in Search

SAN JOSE, CALIF. Speaking before hundreds of search marketing pros, Microsoft's Satya Nadella readily admitted Google is currently the gold standard in the market. Yet, like other Microsoft executives over the past two years, the svp of Microsoft's search, portal and advertising platform group vowed Microsoft would catch up.

Earnings: Microsoft and Google disappoint, while IBM soars

If there's a recession on, you would hardly guess it from the earnings reports from Microsoft, Google, and IBM. In terms of revenue, Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations with an 18-percent rise to $15.64 billion over Q2 2007. Yet the Street pummeled Microsoft's stock by 5 percent due to lowered guidance for the year and lower-than-expected profits, hinting at problems in the company's newer businesses like online and XBox.

IBM, Linux and the Microsoft-Free PC

IconAfter 10 years of supporting Linux, IBM continues to challenge Microsoft on multiple fronts and aims to push Linux even further into the enterprise. While IBM has competed and partnered with Microsoft over the last two decades, the Microsoft-free PC effort is perhaps its most direct assault yet. "The idea of Microsoft-free personal computing has been in the air for a while," Inna Kuznetsova, director of Linux at IBM, told InternetNews.com. "We're just partnering with Linux distribution vendors and hardware vendors to make it happen."

Microsoft reduces Office price to combat Kenyan piracy

Microsoft East Africa announced a 40 percent reduction in cost of its home and student office suite amid complaints of rampant software piracy in the Kenya.

Microsoft Reduces Office Price to Combat Kenyan Piracy

Microsoft East Africa announced a 40 percent reduction in cost of its home and student office suite amid complaints of rampant software piracy in the Kenya.

Microsoft Gulf and UAE Ministry of Economy collaborate on major UAE anti-software piracy raids in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Microsoft, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the leading global organisation that is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace, has announced successful anti-piracy raids in Dubai and Abu Dhabi that have led to the arrest of five salesmen and the confiscation of 122 CDs and five hard disks containing mostly pirated Microsoft software.

Microsoft Outlines the Hidden Costs of Piracy

Software piracy not only costs channel partners money in lost sales, it also leads to higher costs for their business, according to a study sponsored by Microsoft and the International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners.

Microsoft and UAE Ministry of Economy collaborate on major anti-software piracy raids

UAE. Microsoft, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the leading global organisation that is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace, has announced successful anti-piracy raids in Dubai and Abu Dhabi that have led to the arrest of five salesmen and the confiscation of 122 CDs and five hard disks containing mostly pirated Microsoft software.

Microsoft Fights Piracy with Price Drop--in Kenya

Microsoft East Africa announced a 40 percent reduction in cost of its home and student office suite amid complaints of rampant software piracy in the Kenya.

Microsoft Gulf, MoE collaborate on major UAE anti-software piracy raids in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

WAM Abu Dhabi, August 18, 2008 (WAM) -- Microsoft, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), has announced successful anti-piracy raids in Dubai and Abu Dhabi that have led to the arrest of five salesmen and the confiscation of 122 CDs and five hard disks containing mostly pirated Microsoft software.

Privacy fears over YouTube user data

A US judge's order to Google to turn over YouTube user data to Viacom sparked an outcry on Thursday from privacy advocates in the midst of a legal showdown over video piracy.

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