the essay

Microsoft friend or enemy

The following essay will look into the way Microsoft has affected not only the common man but how it has affected digital media, copyright, censorship, internet politics. I will be also providing insight on the development of Microsoft into a multi national which came to dominate the world single handedly. I will also be discussing the advantages and disadvantages arriving from this multinational company. In the end I will also talk about the future of the corporation, and the role it will play in the years to come.

Microsoft was established on April 4 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Microsoft was a very promising firm in the start and everyone wanted a piece of it. So they did, the software made by Bill were given out to computer analyst to work on. Somewhere down the line it started selling. It is then Bill Gates decided to charge a price on the software. This is the first evidence we get of how Microsoft will effect the years to come. “THE SKUNK is, like Microsoft, nocturnal and omnivorous. And after millennia of natural selection, the skunk is, like Microsoft, an exquisite survival machine. So, catching moonlight in a pair of scanning eyes, the skunk instinctively knows, like Microsoft, exactly what to do.

Like a skunk, Microsoft is now hissing defiantly into what it mistakes for the approaching eyes of another Digital Research,VisiCorp, Software Publishing, WordPerfect, Lotus, or Novell. This time, however, Microsoft is squirting musk into the headlights of the onrushing 18-wheeler that we call the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.” (Cusumano,M & Selby,R, 1995, Microsoft Secrets)

Microsoft is squirting insults at the Department of Justice prosecutors, Federal judges, expert witnesses, and the computer industry's vast right-wing conspiracy. He is happily taking everyone for granted and does not care anything about anyone. So this essay will show how this has come to happen.

The most recent of these topics is Digital Rights Management or DRM. It had taken the World Wide Web by surprise. Obviously knowing Microsoft it also wants a piece of the action. “DRM technology will enable the author or owner of a document, a music file, a game or other digital content to control access rights to that content or even charge for it throughout the distribution process.”( Darrow.B, 2002). The concept of copyright still stays in the loop but the laws become more stringent and the big businesses call all the shots an command the market.

Microsoft has already got teams to work on DRM projects. According to Microsoft documents palladium which is code name for a set of future window features that when combined with new hardware, will promise better system integrity and data security. It this happens then no one else would be able to create the same software and Microsoft will have supreme authority. From past incidences we have seen after Microsoft gains an advantage it makes its own rules. They will again monopolize the market and set any standards they want. Lot of other companies are also lobbing for DRM to kick in but out of all of them Microsoft will gain the highest advantage. They can also integrate this with their web browsers and make coping of information next to impossible. To access this information you might have to pay a certain amount of money. For example while accessing Microsoft website one has to go through a genuine window check and if the windows software is not original further help on windows is not provided. So people who have been ripped for buying fake copies have to again spend money in buying the original software. ( Adams.S, 2004)

Microsoft has worked hard to avoid the barrage of criticism that Google faced when it launched the Google Books Library project to digitize copyright material. “Microsoft's Clifford Guren, director of partner evangelism, Windows Live Books, said: To be clear, we are only scanning and indexing in-copyright books with the expressed permission of the rights holder. This was certainly taken in positive spirit by many publishers. Gwyneth Jones, vice president of publishing information systems and technologies at John Wiley and sons has expressed interest in this software as search engines would be able to provide important service to end users”. (Fontana,J. 2006)

Next on the issues is Microsoft’s role on the internet. How it has affected the way news is displayed on the media. It plays a big role in censorship too. Due to Microsoft there are plenty of laws which prevent people to see the real picture. This is how these multinationals protect themselves. In recent times there have been several reports in this matter. It is seen that Microsoft has always tried to monopolize the cyber space. For example a report was released on Sept. 24 by seven self-proclaimed independent researchers from the IT security industry that harshly criticized Microsoft Corp.'s monopoly hold on the software industry. That hold is a fundamental cause of security problems that now confront the global Internet community, the report contends. The next day the co author of the article was fired for his comments on the report. The report was ordered not to be published as Microsoft had a big part in the company. This again proves the point that Microsoft tries to keep the people in the dark and maximize its profits in any way possible. (Verton,D, 2003)

Everything is at the disposal of Microsoft and it can do anything it wants to do and get away with it. Microsoft’s action’s affect everyone directly or indirectly. For example one such situation came up when the government of USA put forth a lawsuit against Microsoft calling it a monopolist. Microsoft was accused of monopolizing the market for software and hardware. Microsoft was said to be the gate keeper, deciding how much consumers will pay for the vital machinery of the information age. From this many questions arose which were, “why does the company charge so little for it – typically, just a few percent of the total price of a computer system?.” (Verton,D, 2003) In Microsoft’s defense it had research teams working on the demand and supply of its systems which helped it to keep the prices down and get rid of any competition. Microsoft was asked to submit reports to the government highlighting all the work done by Microsoft in the research work. The case was ultimately won by Microsoft but it was an opening into the dark secrets behind the walls of money making giant.

For a long time Microsoft has fought off every challenge that has arrived on its path. Recently Microsoft launched Microsoft Explorer 7 to answer the competition. Browser competition is becoming even more intense as Microsoft, Mozilla, and Opera ready new versions of their software for release. With version 7 of Internet Explorer, Microsoft's developers have seriously overhauled the browser, giving it popular features such as tabbed browsing, as well as improved security, thus closing the gap between it and its rivals. This has been done to make sure Microsoft has a stand in the market but the true story is that there are a lot of problems with the browser. The browser takes more time to load up and updates are not that frequent. ( E, Jan 2006.)

So there is no doubt the future does not look good. We need to make sure that Microsoft is kept under control and provisions should be made to check the progress of Microsoft. We live in a democracy; it is for the people of the people and by the people. So it is up to us to make sure that Microsoft does not take any unfair advantage over us.

References

Buetow.M The Real Lesson of the Xbox Failures ,Circuits Assembly. San Francisco: Aug 2007. Vol. 18, Iss. 8; pg. 6.

Darrow.B, Microsoft drives DRM CRN. Jericho: Dec 16, 2002. , Iss. 1025; pg. 84.

Fontana.J, Microsoft's antipiracy plan raises concern, Network World. Framingham: Oct 9, 2006. Vol. 23, Iss. 39; pg. 1, 2

Gray. M E & DeVries, M E, The legal fallout from digital rights management technology ,Computer and Internet Lawyer. Frederick: Apr 2003. Vol. 20, Iss. 4; pg. 20, 16

Krap, E, So What About Microsoft?, Business Communications Review. Hinsdale: Aug 2007. Vol. 37, Iss. 8; pg. 10, 3

Larkin.E.Browser Face-Off PC World. San Francisco: Jan 2006. Vol. 24, Iss. 1; pg. 18, 3.

Microsoft hands copyright control over to publishers ,Information World Review. Oxford: Jul 2006. , Iss. 226; pg. 3

Kenneth G. Elzinga, David S. Evans, and Albert L. Nichols, U.S. v. Microsoft Corp.: Remedy or Malady?, Feb12, 2002, vol 13,Iss 10, pg 14

Survival lessons: Skunks, Microsoft, and Bill Gates' 1998 Antitrust Epiphany

Bob Metcalfe. InfoWorld. San Mateo: Feb 16, 1998. Vol. 20, Iss. 7; pg. 95, 1 pgs

Adams.S, Downtime, Computer Weekly. Sutton: Feb 3, 2004. pg. 56, 1 pgs

Digital Rights Managment, Anonymous. EContent. Wilton: Dec 2003. Vol. 26, Iss. 12; pg. 38, 2 pgs

Evaluation

where do i start. this is the first time in my 3 years of uni that i have actaully enjoyed the lectures. communication with fellow class mates and adam was very easy. the content of the subject is easy to understand. the lectures were done in a very systematic way. the use of clips online really helped me understand and analyse the topic covered in the lectures. the group discussions that were in the class also helped me to put my ideas across and on the other hand helped to me appreciate other person's point of view.
some problems i faced in the lecture was that some people in the discussion took most of adam's attention and they talked too much which sometimes prevented other people from talking. the first week of lectures were a little boring and not very interesting. sometimes during discussions we would loose track of the topics being discussed.
but i must hand it to adam he has really done a fantastic job in teaching this subject. he has done everything possible to make the lectures more interesting. he was always available for help and never neglected any student.


big thank u....

30 november..it all ended today

i rocked up to the lecture 10 mins before the starting time. just wanted to be there early. the summer semester has come to an end with the end of this subject.
usually in the first semester a review is done in the lecture because the stuff taught in the 12 weeks is lots. what we did in our 10 day course was only 1/4 of it. so we didn't do any kind of review, but there was a little MCQ test that Adam thought we should have a look at..so we did..and quiet a lot of us got at least 65% correct answers. so what that proves to me is that lot of us were paying attention in the class.
after this began the discussion on free stuff on the internet, softwares and what not. Adam showed us many websites where we could get useful information for making the assignment. before i forget, some time was also spent on discussing the various topics of the assignment.
to sum up the lecture today was pretty mellow.....extremely cool atmosphere...something i have never seen in my 3 years in uni...was a welcome change.

finally i write my last words for this subjects lecture summary...hoping that i will keep this blog alive for a long time.
ciao......adios....aasta maniyana (PS means good bye)

the future is here...prepare yourself

when reporters asked Einstien what would happen after the second war his answer has. "i do not know what will happen after the second world was but i can tell you that there wont be anyone left after the third world war".well my predictions are not that sinister but they are certainly interesting.

so what holds in the future for culture internet. the way things are going on at the moment there will be very less choices left for us too choose from. with all the copyright's and censorship being added on everyday you wont be able to write anything on your blogs, websites before going through online regulatory authorities. all the big companies will make rules and regulations which will prohibit people from accessing information on the web.
for people like us who work on blogs future looks good. you will be able to put your comments in the form of videos rather than writing your comments on the blogs. you would be able to write a blog in many languages. maybe able to change the blog from email. also there would be places where people could rate your blog and this would help to put your page on the web. from there i want to move on to video conferencing. you would be able to send your video feeds from anywhere in world and receive a 3 D video of other people in the conference. this would be very lifelike and exactly similar to face to face interaction.
but there lies one problem , the way google and microsoft are progressing there might be complete domination of the net by them. this kind of rule would be on the same lines of dictatorship and no one would be allowed to rise. free opnion on the web will vanish and this will completely change the way we look for news online. it will be contorted to just suit the higher parties. at the end of the day it will come down to whose pockets are more full. everyone would be forced to sign the terms of conditions set by ruling multi-nationals before they access the net.


no more free movies, songs, softwares and videos will be present online and places like youtube will be long forgotten. there would be serious penalties for anyone who would go against the policies.

so to come to think of it the future does not look good....something needs to be done so that the big corporations know that the real power is in the hands of the people using their services and not them.

what happened today??????29 november

Okay day number 9. almost reached the end. today we discussed the concepts of Cyber Utopia and Dystopia. to us engineers something that Dan Brown stated in one of his books stands out a lot"For every Matter their is an Antimatter". so we now enter the world of utopia.
we go to the beginning the first media age where the sources and transmission sources were limited. usually their was only one source and many receivers. it was under educational, financial and technical restrictions. this allowed very less growth and their was total domination by one source.
then we went on to look at the internet usage today and it was interesting to see that there was massive growth in Middle east and Africa. it was also good to see that other languages are catching up with English in the domination of the internet.

next up the second media age. this era had many sources and many more receivers. anyone could become a source and put the ideas and thoughts out there for other people to look at and comment on. this is when the growth started. but according to Marshall Mcluhan there were 3 media ages.

• oral
• literate
• electric

next up Utopia Vs Dystopia
utopia is a state where everything is right and there is complete harmony between people and technology. sorry to say this is really far fetched. something like this cannot be balanced. now on the other hand dystopia is a state where technology empowers over people. truthfully speaking we are not there yet but are reaching there.....
so to solve this dilemma one has to get a better understanding of these new technologies. understand the concept behind the virtual philosophy, artificial intelligence. the way man is progressing all these can be proven to be true in time.
to make matters more interesting we got to watch Alphaville. movie set in the early 60's. this movie was a true testament of a society with no emotions. everything was run by a computer which lacked the basic character of a homo sapien sapiens. something like this would make a prefect society where rules and regulations were everything. but it would lack creativity and the most important thing of all 'thinking outside the box'. the growth would be none and this is where the downfall of society starts. in my opinion this society will fall down sooner or later.
so on this notion is finish this blog...

is it truev " old is gold "

The topic today for the tute's is a very smart one. so lets put the phrase "OLD IS GOLD TO THE TEST" traditional media is something that has been there for ages. stuff has been added to it but the basic principle remains the same. words in black and white on recycled paper. remains the same now but it is colored and has photos in it. the thickness keeps increasing from time to time. you get all the news all from all over the world and from your country and the community. all under one booklet. now the real question do you have enough time to read through or skim through it. best of all are you ready to lug the paper all day long. so came the internet to the rescue.everything is at one place and it's got more photos and catches the eye more than anything else. but some of us still love to sit over the table early in the morning and read the paper while enjoying a bowl of cornflakes, or read it while taking the bus or train to work. so it depends solely on the individual on what he wants out of it.
the only problem that one faces is, because it is open to everyone who do you trust to give you the right information. but this is something we are ready to take leap for. certainly the politicians of today have. for example john howard literally ran half his campaign online. so did kevin rudd. there were numerous polls and discussion threads running all over the place. different news companies had websites completely dedicated to the elections and this helped the common public to make the right choice. so it would be safe to say that the internet has certainly changed the way we look at the news.
indymedia is certainly a good website and has got a lot of information about what is happening in the local community and the state. also covers international news. it is always good to know what events are taking place around us. most of all you get to read about the problems that everyone in the community is facing, and what is being done about it. so it was a good experience going over it.
but the real question is how true is the news being presented to us??????

what happened today??????28 november

so now we come down to the real thing. internet and cyber-democracy was the topic for the day. something like this requires a lot of thinking. we kick off the lecture with the difficulties that technology poses on democracy...so we are defining the problem...something which is important for a step wise thinking. before i get into anything i need to describe what democracy is, democracy is that kind of government that is of the people, for the people and by the people. so everyone has the say on how their state should be run. was very interesting to see the different views of people on this topic. also prompted to me the gaps in their processing of the idea on democracy.
before i get into the rest of it .read this beautiful quote on the net
"Democracy is a system ensuring that the people are governed no better than they deserve."
by George Bernard Shaw

after this we had a small but interesting discussion on the different issues of democracy due to the internet. something that hit me the most would be the battle between free speech and censorship. free speech being the building element of democracy and often this it pushed down by government's to reduce opposition.

then came the icing on the cake. documentary by Corey Doctorow. his main idea during his lecture was the morals of internet. how we are supposed to use it. what the big multinationals are doing to the independence of an internet user. his speech actually showed me he actually believed in what he was putting out. his ideologies were a little out there but seemed very true. really enjoyed the clip and learned something new ...as always.