🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 19:36:49 GMT, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, privatecontact
<not_now@spam.net> wrote:
 >
 > This is old news and isn't even relevant when you look at Turbo Tax 
 > sales.  Intuit just reported in its profit report that sales are up by 
 > 11%.  Guess that means that people really don't view this as spyware,
    [snip]

Wrong, for several reasons -- not the least of which is that, given the way
retail marketing and distributuion works, there has not yet been anywhere
near enough time for the fallout from this fiasco to hit Intuit's P&L sheet
(but don't worry; they'll be sure to hide it when it does come time).

 > but a legitemate attempt by the company to protect its investment.
    [snip]

Nonsense.  It is a clear example of short-sighted greed and arrogance
overruling common sense.  Forcing user-hostile functionality down the
throats of your customers is NEVER a good idea.  Neither is stealing from
your customers or committing vandalism to their property..

Note:  We already fought the copy-protection wars back in the early '80s
(remember "Lotus 1-2-3"?).  It went away then because it was generally
considered unacceptable for a vendor to deliberately place usability
roadblocks in the path of their legitimate users.  This is no different in
that respect; only a more vicious and more damaging implementation of the
same brain-dead idea.  It too needs to go away.  Entirely.

-- 

Jay T. Blocksom
--------------------------------
Appropriate Technology, Inc.
usenet01[at]appropriate-tech.net


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary 
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
   -- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

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