Kaspersky Quits BSA Over SOPA Support 140
First time accepted submitter Cmdrm writes with an article about Kaspersky Lab quitting the BSA over their (now lukewarm) support of SOPA. From the press release: "Kaspersky Lab would like to clarify that the company did not participate in the elaboration or discussion of the SOPA initiative and does not support it. Moreover, the company believes that the SOPA initiative might actually be counter-productive for the public interest, and decided to discontinue its membership in the BSA as of January 1, 2012.'"
-1 for the BSA (Score:5, Insightful)
Kaspersky, not fanatic/evil enough to fit in the BSA.
"might?" (Score:5, Insightful)
Might be counterproductive to the public interest? Wow, way to soft-peddle it.
Bravo (Score:5, Insightful)
Kudos to Kaspersky for having a spine. SOPA is a sick, twisted power grab by big media, and their quitting the Business Software Alliance over it is a good thing IMO.
Fuck the BSA (Score:5, Insightful)
Posted anonymously because I don't want the BSA on me. The BSA is a pack of lawyers who exploit vague legal definitions to extort people out of money. They destroy small businesses reguardless of weather or not they actually bough the software and they run some of the dirtiest campaigns I've ever seen. Just look up "BSA Rat out your boss"... Seriously? Anybody who destroys some company because they have a chip on their shoulder and are greedy should be blacklisted - if you don't like where you work you should quit not destroy someones dream and leave all your coworkers jobless.
Fuck the BSA and anyone who ever took their side, Kapersky included.
Re:"might?" (Score:5, Insightful)
Soft-peddle? Who cares. They QUIT the BSA because of it. It's better than saying:
"Ohh, we don't like that they do this but we're still willing to pay our $$$$$/year to remain a member....but we really don't like what you're doing and we almost, kinda, sorta mean it!"
Re:Fuck the BSA (Score:5, Insightful)
Just look up "BSA Rat out your boss"... Seriously? Anybody who destroys some company because they have a chip on their shoulder and are greedy should be blacklisted
Considering how it seems US companies treat their workers, I'd say calling the BSA is many steps below going postal. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the same companies that do gross, systematic piracy are also equally willing to screw over their employees over pay and benefits. I figure the BSA are looking for disgruntled ex-workers with opinions ranging from "couldn't happen to a nicer company" to "f*ck you too". Besides while the BSA are a nasty bunch, having piracy-using companies undercut other companies ruins it for everybody else. I have a lot less sympathy for commercial users who use it to widen their profit margin...
Re:Fuck the BSA (Score:5, Insightful)
a) "Bosses who screw over their employess", "Bosses who pirate software" and "Bosses reported to BSA" are three intersecting sets, not the same set.
b) It's not too difficult for a disgruntled ex-employee to put something unlicensed somewhere on company's system before going to BSA. Just gotta be careful not to get found out.
c) And even when there's no licensing problems, BSA audit is one hell of a hassle.
Re:Fuck the BSA (Score:5, Insightful)
BSA audit isn't just a hassle, it's intractable. Can you prove that you hold a license to absolutely every single piece of software on your computer? Even the libraries and third-party drivers bundled with Windows? Do you track every install and keep hard copies of every license?
The BSA doesn't exist to fight piracy or advance the interests of its members. The BSA exists so a bunch of do-nothing law school graduates - remember, a lawyer is a person who practices law - can leech a living off of the companies and businesses that actually contribute to society.
Re:Fuck the BSA (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone smart will throw out ANYONE demanding anything if they dont have a warrant in hand. Most of the time the BSA shows up with rented local police so they look more official.
If they do not have a warrant, throw them out, and instantly call the lawyers.
Re:Difference between Europe and USA (Score:5, Insightful)
Boy Scouts of America is a private organization and as such has the right to set requirements for membership. The Scout Law explicitly states that a scout is reverent. The Scout Oath states that a scout will "do my duty to God and my country." You can see how an atheist could not recite the Scout Law or the Oath with a clear conscious. The only way atheists could participate in Scouting would be if BSA changed the Law and the Oath, but neither of those things have changed since their adoption in 1911. To change them would be to compromise the principles on which Scouting was founded.
As far as pushing Mormonism, this is the first I've ever heard of it. I am an Eagle Scout and have been very active in the Scouting community for the last 20 years or so. While Scouting makes a big deal about being reverent, they do not push any specific denomination. There are no religious requirements for advancement through the ranks. My troop was filled with a hodgepodge of Baptists, Methodists, Catholics and a few others. Scout camp chapels were all non-denominational (though a few of the larger camps had chapels by denomination) and very general.
There was no religious agenda being pushed upon any of us.
As far as the gays issue, would you want your daughter going on an overnight girlscout trip led by a male leader? Its the same issue. I know most gays are good people who wouldn't harm anyone, but don't pretend they are all saints. There is, at the very least, a perception issue and at the worst there is a legitimate safety issue for the boys in the troop.
BSA is a great organization that does a lot for boys and for this country. Every Eagle Scout has to do a service project that benefits his community. These are no small things, they typically require a few hundred man hours and get the scout's whole troop involved. They can't be done for Scouts or on Scout owned land. Every boy, to advance in the higher ranks, must hold a leadership position in the troop for at least 3 months. They learn how to work together, how to plan a camping trip, how to prepare for emergencies, basic first aid. Many boys have found their vocation through merit badges such as Environmental Science, Radio, Emergency Preparedness, Music or even Computers.
You can disagree with BSA's morals or with their admissions requirements or whatever. But please, don't demonize an organization that has done so much good and that is well within its rights to determine these policies you find disagreeable.
Re:Difference between Europe and USA (Score:1, Insightful)
As far as the gays issue, would you want your daughter going on an overnight girlscout trip led by a male leader? Its the same issue. I know most gays are good people who wouldn't harm anyone, but don't pretend they are all saints. There is, at the very least, a perception issue and at the worst there is a legitimate safety issue for the boys in the troop.
just to let you know, in case you weren't completely sure:
YOU ARE A HOMOPHOBE.
and, news alert: they are not out to get you. if anything, I'd worry about your own homosexual feelings. those who are most against it often are the closet cases, themselves.
the 'doth protest too much' issue is loud and clear with you. you'll find yourself in 20 or 30 years, and maybe you'll be more at home with your actual identity.
Re:Difference between Europe and USA (Score:1, Insightful)
God is nothing, I can very much do my duty to nothing and my country. My reverence is blasphemy against false gods and the contagious mental illness of faith and ignorance. I can very much follow those rules in my own way.
Re:Difference between Europe and USA (Score:1, Insightful)
How do you reconcile this statement:
The Scout Law explicitly states that a scout is reverent. The Scout Oath states that a scout will "do my duty to God and my country."
with this one:
There was no religious agenda being pushed upon any of us.
?
As far as the gays issue, would you want your daughter going on an overnight girlscout trip led by a male leader? Its the same issue.
Yes, I'd be just fine with that. Everyone should be just fine with that. Pedo paranoia stops kids from forming good relationships with adults. You should be ashamed of yourself.
There is, at the very least, a perception issue and at the worst there is a legitimate safety issue for the boys in the troop
Yes, there is a perception issue. The perception is that the Boy Scouts are bigots. There is a safety issue too. You're sending your kids off to be indoctrinated by bigots.
Re:Difference between Europe and USA (Score:2, Insightful)
The problem here is you have an inability to understand that not everyone sees things your way. Your sig is a perfect example, you make blind statements of massive scope that are just utterly ignorant and then call others ignorant for not agreeing with you.
You seem to think that it is impossible for someone to have an opinion without pushing it on the rest of the world JUST because you have no ability to have an opinion without trying to push it on the rest of us.
You are the exact type of person you're trying to call the scouts. You're the one with the issues.
Re:Difference between Europe and USA (Score:4, Insightful)
Then again, if people were to go around saying 2 + 2 = 5, or that the world is flat, and if acknowledgment of these positions was taught to children and practically required by politicians running for office, and historically used to enforce dogma on others and hold back science...
Then wouldn't people be justified in speaking out? For fuck's sake, it's 2011, and we've got people killing and enslaving each other over mythology. I say it's about time that we grow up and kill and enslave each other over legitimate reasons.