Subject: M$ Monitor: Cybersnare
Audrie Krause (audrie@netaction.org)
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 23:51:48 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 23:51:48 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <2.2.16.19980622235442.303f786a@pop.igc.org> To: audrie@netaction.org From: Audrie Krause <audrie@netaction.org> Subject: M$ Monitor: Cybersnare
The Micro$oft Monitor
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Published by NetAction Issue No. 31 June 23, 1998
Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message.
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In This Issue:
Cybersnare: A French Perspective on Microsoft
About the Micro$oft Monitor
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Cybersnare: A French Perspective on Microsoft
Given Microsoft's global reach, NetAction thought Micro$oft Monitor
readers would be interested in a French perspective on Microsoft's
expanding monopoly. "Cybersnare," originally written in French but
recently translated into English, was written by Roberto Di Cosmo of the
Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. The article is posted on NetAction's
web site at:
http://www.netaction.org/msoft/cybersnare.html
Since France was even slower to pay attention to the dangers of
Microsoft's monopoly than the United States, this article played an
important role in raising awareness in the French-speaking community
about the risks of monopolies in information technology. It combines
incisive comments about the persistent technical drawbacks of Windows
with observations on the absurdity of computer software having the copy
protection rights of art without any of the commercial liability of
traditional manufactured goods. This leaves Microsoft not only with a
monopoly tax on computers, but with no responsibility for any commercial
loss of data or other problems resulting from its consistent practice of
prematurely shipping buggy software.
Di Cosmo also highlights the potential advantages of freeware operating
systems like Linux, not only for their technical superiority over
Windows, but also for their economic advantages for local communities
and businesses. Instead of schools or businesses paying thousands, even
millions of dollars for proprietary software like Microsoft's, people
could instead invest the same funds in local support staff who could
customize freeware and help less technically sophisticated users make
full use of the potential of their computers.
(This article was prepared by Nathan Newman, NetAction Project Director.
Contact Nathan at <nathan@netaction.org> or <mailto:nathan@netaction.org>
with comments or questions.)
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About The Micro$oft Monitor
The Micro$oft Monitor is a free electronic newsletter, published as part of
the Consumer Choice Campaign <http://www.netaction.org/msoft/ccc.html>.
NetAction is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to educating the
public, policy makers, and the media about technology-based social and
political issues, and to teaching activists how to use the Internet for
organizing, outreach, and advocacy.
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For more information about contributing to NetAction, or sponsoring the
Micro$oft Monitor, contact Audrie Krause by phone: (415) 775-8674, by
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Copyright 1998 by NetAction/The Tides Center. All rights reserved.
Material may be reposted or reproduced for non-commercial use provided
NetAction is cited as the source. NetAction is a project of The Tides
Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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