| About InfoWorld : Advertise : Subscribe : Contact Us : Awards : Events : Store |
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
||||
 |
|
|||
 |
||||
|
|
|
||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 COLUMN
Some games aren't fun A TUG-OF-WAR is in progress between users of proprietary software and the software companies. If you cannot control the software you use, control of your business is at risk. Recent events demonstrate how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) can be used by software companies to wrest control of proprietary software from you.
So, in the name of the anti-piracy provision of the DMCA, bnetd has been shut down (for the moment, anyway). Now, someone may ask, "What does this have to do with me? I'm interested in running a business, not playing games." In this case, the distinction between game and business software is immaterial. Whether in the office or in the den, software providers will continue to push the envelope to expand their control in order to protect their interests. And their expansion of control will in all likelihood reduce your control over your business. The problem here is one of precedent. If you thought you were free to use legally obtained software any way you wanted, think again. Under the guise of protecting its intellectual property, Blizzard has also demonstrated that it is possible to force its customers to use its software with its services alone. And don't think for a minute that the rest of the software industry hasn't noticed. Up until now, producers of a product could void a warranty if you did not use the product according to the manufacturer's instructions. But now, the producers of a product can actually demand that you use the product in a certain way. Attempting to use the product in a different way could not only void the warranty, it could make you subject to prosecution. It's amazing how the right to protect intellectual property has managed to erode the rights of consumers. Open source, on the other hand, specifically seeks to empower software consumers, giving them the right to use, distribute, modify, and distribute modifications to the software. In the days ahead, I fully expect that the gap between the rights of open source and the restrictions of closed source will begin to resemble the Grand Canyon. Many Blizzard software users are now calling for a boycott of the software company. Others are investigating a legal response. Still others are seeking to overturn the DMCA. But the big question is, what will be your response when it happens to you? If you are relying on closed source software, your time may be closer than you know. Write me at pavlicek@linuxprofessionalsolutions.com, or log on to www.infoworld.com/os .  RELATED SUBJECTS  Business NewsEnterprise ApplicationsDiscuss this article in our online forums MORE > SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
SPONSORED LINKS
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
