I wish there were a English version of this...

[daacosta]

Or at least I couldn't find it.

Microsoft allegedly fabricated a case of software piracy against Consultores en Computación from México and lost in court. Judgement was $90000000 against Microsoft...


http://www.softwarelibre.org.pe/modu...rticle&sid=881

[fingal]

I loaded it up in Konqueror and ran it through the Babelfish translator - Spanish to English. Not a great translation but I could understand what was said. It seems a couple of other large corporations were also fined.

[jonantice]

It is a fact (IMO) that most computers in devoloping countries run on illegal copies of MS Windows. Piracy is huge in Latin America, it isn't limited to software. Music and even movies can be bought on the street before they are even in the theatres. It is partly cultural. In school, for example, it is completly acceptable to pull something direclty off the internet and hand it in as homework, without quoting or anything. It took me a while to adjust to college here in the states where I'd be kicked out of college at the slightest hint of plagiarism. And the list goes on....
I am far from defending MS and company. They brought this on themselves. I had one or two of my own illegal MS Windows when I lived in Panama. Reason: In Panama min wage is $0.80/hour and especially for students, computers are becoming more and more of a necessity. So when the student tells his parent he needs a computer and the parent starts shopping around, they find that the cheapest price is from someone who puts together a clone, which will usually be installed with an illegal copy of MS Windows etc.(although the buyer hasn't the slightest clue about copywright issues). In most cases (except mine) people have no idea they are running illegal software. And if they suspect it, why would they make a fuss? It is a thing of survival. Most of my friends wouldn't be able to have a computer if they weren't running illegal copies of MS Windows and Office. True, we now have OpenOffice but I only recently discovered that. I think Linux is the best thing that hasn't happened to Latin America yet (arguably). In my last visit I left a couple of Knoppix CDs lying around. Hope they get put to good use.
Sorry this was so long and a little of topic.

[fingal]

I think you made some interesting points there jonantice, but it's not just in developing countries that software is pirated. When I was still a student for example, piracy was (and still is) very common. Why? Because now student grants have been abolished, and unless you have a spare £20,000 you will leave university in severe debt. You will then be expected to pay rent ... save for a mortgage, pay your bills etc. It's not likely that everything you do after that will be legal.

Of course you can decide not to be educated and let other people exploit you for the rest of your life ... again, that's an expensive option. You can then listen to your Government telling you, 'Unless you make more effort to save money, you'll be poor in your old age.'

So the computer I bought when I was a student (not many years ago) had a rather suspect copy of Windows on it. I'd never even heard of Linux! In fact, I've never directly paid for a copy.

I sympathise with those people in Panama. If I was in their shoes I would do the same things. Why not? If some idiot says, 'If you don't do this you'll be poor' I know that poverty will shorten my life, and make the years I have hardly worth living in any case. Now I earn a salary, but I still won't pay for something which I don't believe is worth having. The price of dependency is too high as far as I can see. I think the most important resources we have as human beings are knowledge and each other. We can achieve anything with those.

[carlosponti]

pirating windows and the office suite is quite common here as well who wants to pay 150 bucks for a stripped down OS. XP home edition is basically just that. when i was going to college i was poor and i found ways to save money. and on my computers i just built them and installed a copy of windows i had from three previous computers before that. when i got a job as a programmer its quite common to have your employers let you burn copies of thier software for home use. they claim ignorance if you get caught with it. now i use linux but i still have a pirated copy of windows XP on my computer at home dual booted of course. but XP is surely the last windows i use because in vista it will be just that more difficult to pirate.

[Apollo]

I sympathise with those people in Panama. If I was in their shoes I would do the same things. Why not? If some idiot says, 'If you don't do this you'll be poor' I know that poverty will shorten my life, and make the years I have hardly worth living in any case. Now I earn a salary, but I still won't pay for something which I don't believe is worth having. The price of dependency is too high as far as I can see. I think the most important resources we have as human beings are knowledge and each other. We can achieve anything with those.

*Whistles at Finagal's Speech*
It is very, very rare for someone around here to have a bought version of anything, except the OS, which comes with the PC. I used to go to sites or one of my friends, pirate the software burn it and distribute it freely without worry or remorse. Lately i've been on my friends' case to try out Linux. Theres no need to steal software when you can use the free open source alternative. When I made the jump to Linux, I found it odd how I could pretty much edit anything I wanted to on my system including important files. This is so totally different with Windows. Maybe if Windows didn't charge a fee to breath, they'd get some respect from their users and they might actually buy the software instead of buying it. Because of Xgl, I am probably going to buy the next stable version of Suse, just because I appreciate that Novell is make a conscious effort to improve the Linux desktop. Thats the way to get respect, not threats of law suits and revokal of liscences. I think if Windows had a little more respect, then more people might buy instead of pirating, if they were in a financial situation to do so. I do not blame the people who pirate for stealing a 150$ OS or a 700$ PhotoManipulationProgram. Windows needs to learn that its not "cool" to bully people around, because someday all thats going to come back and bite Mr. Bill in the ass.

Sorry if my post was a little (or a lot) off topic.

[daacosta]

It is a fact (IMO) that most computers in devoloping countries run on illegal copies of MS Windows. Piracy is huge in Latin America, it isn't limited to software. Music and even movies can be bought on the street before they are even in the theatres. It is partly cultural. In school, for example, it is completly acceptable to pull something direclty off the internet and hand it in as homework, without quoting or anything. It took me a while to adjust to college here in the states where I'd be kicked out of college at the slightest hint of plagiarism. And the list goes on....
I am far from defending MS and company. They brought this on themselves. I had one or two of my own illegal MS Windows when I lived in Panama. Reason: In Panama min wage is $0.80/hour and especially for students, computers are becoming more and more of a necessity. So when the student tells his parent he needs a computer and the parent starts shopping around, they find that the cheapest price is from someone who puts together a clone, which will usually be installed with an illegal copy of MS Windows etc.(although the buyer hasn't the slightest clue about copywright issues). In most cases (except mine) people have no idea they are running illegal software. And if they suspect it, why would they make a fuss? It is a thing of survival. Most of my friends wouldn't be able to have a computer if they weren't running illegal copies of MS Windows and Office. True, we now have OpenOffice but I only recently discovered that. I think Linux is the best thing that hasn't happened to Latin America yet (arguably). In my last visit I left a couple of Knoppix CDs lying around. Hope they get put to good use.
Sorry this was so long and a little of topic.

Though interesting I would like to ask you politely (see this smiley face asking nicely ) to please read the original post: The jury found that the consulting firm from Mexico didn't breach any patents and that Microsoft fabricated evidence against them and for that reason they were awarded US $90 million dollars... OK, before I get in trouble I will add a word here: Alegedly (sp?)... In this particular case Mircosoft was alegedly the bad guy...

[daacosta]

*Whistles at Finagal's Speech*
It is very, very rare for someone around here to have a bought version of anything, except the OS, which comes with the PC. I used to go to sites or one of my friends, pirate the software burn it and distribute it freely without worry or remorse. [...] .

GASP! (rolling eyes) I have never pirated or have used pirated software... Sheshhhh! I have always paid for using all of my software one way or another In fact, I would rather starve to death than not having the priviledge to use Microsoft and their fine products...

[Jiraiya-sama]

i used to be a huge pirate, obtaining anything i could for free. thanks to linux though, i no longer have a need or want to pirate programs. that is the main reason i love linux (reason#2 is my system doesn't degrade as fast as in windows).

[jonantice]

Though interesting I would like to ask you politely (see this smiley face asking nicely ) to please read the original post

I did read the article, daacosta, and the reason MS did what they did was to intimidate everyone else in Latin America, because of the huge piracy problem. Of course, their plan backfired. I thought that was the point I was making.