theodp writes “On Tuesday, Microsoft was granted US Patent No. 7,536,726 (it was filed in 2005) for intentionally crippling the functionality of an operating system by ‘making selected portions and functionality of the operating system unavailable to the user or by limiting the user’s ability to add software applications or device drivers to the computer’ until an ‘agreed upon sum of money’ is paid to ‘unlock or otherwise make available the restricted functionality.’ According to Microsoft, this solves a ‘problem inherent in open architecture systems,’ i.e., ‘they are generally licensed with complete use rights and/or functionality that may be beyond the need or desire of the system purchaser.’ An additional problem with open architecture systems, Microsoft explains, is that ‘virtually anyone can write an application that can be executed on the system.’ Nice to see the USPTO rewarding Microsoft’s eight problem-solving inventors, including Linux killer (and antelope killer) Joachim Kempin, who’s been credited with getting Microsoft hauled into federal court on antitrust charges.” Sounds like the mechanism by which Microsoft sells one version of Vista to all users, and lets users upgrade to higher-tier flavors of the OS after cash changes hands.
Key concepts to take out of this:
- limiting the user’s ability to add software applications or device drivers to the computer
- Don’t you own your own computer? Aren’t you permitted to add whatever you feel like? Who has the right to revoke this right on your behalf?
- functionality that may be beyond the need or desire [of the end user]
- What I want, or what are need, are none of your business unless I ask for it.
- virtually anyone can write an application that can be executed on the system.
- Move to free software!
A sneaky computer worm that uses a virtual Swiss army knife of attack techniques has infected millions of Microsoft Windows PCs, and appears to be spreading at a fairly rapid pace, security experts warn.
Also, while infected PCs could be used for a variety of criminal purposes — from relaying spam to hosting scam Web sites — there are signs that this whole mess may be an attempt to further spread so-called “scareware,” which uses fake security alerts to frighten consumers into purchasing bogus computer security software.
The worm, called “Downandup” and “Conficker” by different anti-virus companies, attacks a security hole in a networking component found in most Windows systems. According to estimates from Finnish anti-virus maker F-Secure Corp., the worm has infected between 2.4 million and 8.9 million computers during the last four days alone.
If accurate, those are fairly staggering numbers for a worm that first surfaced in late November. Microsoft issued an emergency patch to fix the flaw back in October, but many systems likely remain dangerously exposed.
One reason for this is because businesses will generally test patches before deploying them on internal networks to ensure the updates don’t break custom software applications. In the meantime, an infected laptop plugged into a vulnerable corporate network can quickly spread the contagion to all unpatched systems inside that network.
But the worm also has methods for infecting systems that are already patched against the Windows vulnerability. According to an analysis last week by Symantec, the latest versions of Downadup copy themselves to all removable or mapped drives on the host computer or network. This means that if an infected system has a USB stick inserted into it, that USB stick will carry the infection over to the next Windows machine that reads it. That’s an old trick, but apparently one that is apparently still very effective.
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/25.52.html#subj3