[oclug] Microsoft Death Nell Beginning?

[Francis Pinteric]

Here's a link I found on ZDNet, an ordinarily Microsoft sychophant,
musing about the possibility of Microsoft going under.

What it really is about is the new Windows XP implementing a scheme
that will enforce it's copyright over the "operating" system and
somehow tracking and prohibiting bootleg copies.

Rather than spending money on maintenance and reliability, they're
spending it on security. Typical. I often wonder about this sort of
thing. Does the money expended on this sort of thing actually pay off
in returns in the long run? I'm not talking about protecting database
information and the such where security measures are a requirement.
I'm talking about the software equivilent of anti-shopplifting
measures in retail outlets.

The same question applies for retailers: does it cost more money to
have security measures in stores than the losses to shoplifting? Does
it make economic sense to stop thievery? You hear a lot about the
billions lost to theft, but no-one talks about the cost of stopping
it?

This is topical for me since I know of two outlets that have recently
lost quite substantial amounts to theft, despite security measures.
The issue is not exactly the same with software since the rate at
which the theft occurs and the speed with which it is done can mount
the losses quite dramtically in the blink of an eye.

>>>--fja->

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"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
 -- Alan Kay

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