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BusinessSoftwareAllianceSaga

hey!

So I was annoyed at what the BSA posted on their website, specifically that they were the:

foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal online world....We are the voice of the world’s software, hardware and Internet sectors... (http://www.bsa.org/usa/about/)

So, I decided to write a letter to them and tell them that it was innapropriate for them to self-aggrandize in that fashion. Let's seem what they have to say to me!

... let me just turn on the tag.. <RANT> ... there we go!

RobinsonTryon

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hi,

From a post on a recent slashdot article [1], it was brought to my attention that you have a page on your website entitled "About", with the following content:

"The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal online world.

We are the voice of the world’s software, hardware and Internet sectors..."[2]

While I would admit that the long list of Industry giants such as Microsoft, Apple, Autodesk, IBM, Intel, Cisco, and HP indicates that you have the support and money of several large corporations backing your operations, it seems a bit pretentious to call yourself "the foremost organization" and "the voice of the world's software, hardware, and Internet sectors", does it not?

While we all engage in a bit of healthy hyperbole from time to time, it is hardly appropriate for an organization of your stature to claim superiority in such matters as I am unconvinced that your activities justify such self-aggrandizement.

If you are indeed the preeminent organization promoting a safe and legal online world, does the BSA does the work of the ICRA (Internet Content Rating Association)[4], or even sponsor their work? I see that you have the "Play It Cyber Safe" website[5], but that site contains innacuracies:

On the "Tools for Teachers" page[6], you have several PDFs available for download.

• In one (class_activities.pdf) (page 1):
  • The paper confuses the subject by comparing a copied piece of software to a borrowed bicycle. In the first place, most software won't LET you lend it to someone, and if someone makes a copy of your software you can still use the original, unlike the bicycle example.
  • You also put many possible correct answers for questions. When in #2 "John" copies software for his friend, you have as answers "a.John is breaking the law", "c. a great friend because he wants to help Tom with his reports", "d. foolish to give the software to Tom, who might get a better grade than John because his report will look so good.". At the top of the page you ask students to "choose the correct answer", but both a, b, and c could be potentially correct. WIth all of the money backing you, please find competent individuals to work on your materials.

• on page 2 of the same paper, you continue:
  • you say that downloading a program from the internet is unsafe because "you could download a virus or the program could have lots of glitches and not work right". Well hot diggety darn! You mean that I could never get a virus from a Microsoft CD? (yes -- MS shipped CDs with a virus [7]), or perhaps that every Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft product is free of critical holes? Oh.. I guess not. So then what are you trying to say? If you don't like Free Software, why can't you be open about it? or are you going to hide that little "fact" too?
    Oh, and not to be too nit-picky, but as the materials are for "educating" children, I believe that it is more proper to say "not work CORRECTLY", as opposed to "not working RIGHT".

• Continuing down the page, the "kid" says "So I couldn't just make a copy of the greeting card program?". His father replies with "No, that's stealing. Taking some else's work and saying it's your own is illegal and just plain wrong...". One of the follow-up questions for that article has a blank that is invariably filled in to make the sentence: "_PLAGIARISM is when you copy someone else's work and call it your own._"
  But you're not trying to make a point about plagarism, are you? The kid isn't trying to represent himself as the software creator or reseller -- he just wants a copy. You should say that the kid has violated the license agreement or is stealing intellectual property or something... I really don't think that he's a plagiarist!

• On a following page, you list that "unlicensed software is not eligible for manufacturer updates". You make it seem as though software downloaded from the internet cannot be licensed or have updates, which must be false as there are thousands of Free Software products that are updated quite regularly.

• On another page you mention that "Every year, over $11 Billion is lost due to software theft." How do you generate these numbers -- do you list your sources compiled from an objective analyst somewhere in that document? If someone is using an unlicensed copy of a program, that doesn't mean that they have the money or the volition to actually purchase a licensed copy if they could not use an illegally-obtained version. Therefore, I hope that the $11 Billion is an accurate representation of the total money that would be earned if there was NO illegal use of software, not just a quick product of number of illegal copies times market cost per copy.

• In another document (class_poster.pdf), you state "_What's the difference between copying software from a friend and stealing it from a store?_" ... "_A: Nothing._" But this is only true for software that does not allow copying in its licensing. If I go and take a boxed set of RedHat Linux from the computer store down the block that's stealing. But if my friend buys that boxed set and makes a copy of some of the CDs inside, that's perfectly legal. Presenting confusing or complicated situations to small children may not be productive and may not teach them anything, but it seems just a little too fortunate that your simplification of the truth is biased in favor of certain types of software. Little stretches of the truth are good for business, eh?

As well, the "Megabyte" Flash animation that you have on the website [8] includes many innacuracies and gross exagerations about software:

• Why is the hero pulled into the computer?
• Why is licensed software a "holy grail", complete with music and a glowing vending machine?
• What computer programs come with "warrantees" ? Most commercial licenses that I know about (from Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, etc..) seem to restrict the rights of the consumer, giving power to the manufacturer.
• And how exactly does our "hero" magically make tons of money after she purchases licenses for her software? She just sucked that money to buy it right off the ground, eh? Amazing...I wish that you could show me how to pull that stunt.

Looking at the claims on your website from a different angle, what stance do you take against people violating the software licenses of products not sold by your memebers? -- what protection or effort do you puts into GPL violations, for example?

Of course, the BSA also claims that it is "the voice of the world's software, hardware, and Internet sectors". But what about the voice of linux? or Apache, which is running over 62% of the world's websites [9]. Do you listen to the Apache foundation's voice? ... I seriously doubt it....

If I read you wrong there and you weren't talking about the manufacturers and producers of software, hardware, and Internet products, were you talking about the consumers and Internet users? Surely you aren't trying to convince people that a commercial venture such as yourself is speaking for every Tom, Dick, and Sally on the Internet, are you?

Of course, what about users who'd like to be "safe and legal" on the internet, but can't afford new software for their computer? --- aren't you hypocritical if you are the "foremost organization ...promoting a safe and legal online world", but you don't point poorer users to information about using Free Software (or even freeware) instead of the commercial products that your members (such as Microsoft and Apple) sell for hundreds of dollars? It seems like there is a conflict of interest for the BSA here...

I would very much like a reply justifying the statements made on your "About" page. If some other group or some individual made those comments about you, I would like to know their name so that I can ask them for justification.

If you cannot provide appropriate justification for the statements on the website, I would ask that you remove them entirely or edit them to accurately indicate your goals when dealing with the online world and the voices you represent from the "hardware, software, and Internet" sectors.

Children learn from your classroom materials that "Taking some else's work and saying it's your own is illegal and just plain wrong". So is it okay for a company to pass itself off as something that it is not?

I'll leave that last question as an exercise for the reader.

sincerely,

--Robinson Tryon,
Dartmouth College '03

[1] http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=52579&cid=5237272
[2] http://www.bsa.org/usa/about/
[3] http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
[4] http://www.icra.org/about/
[5] http://www.playitcybersafe.com/
[6] http://www.playitcybersafe.com/toolsteachers.phtml
[7] http://news.com.com/2100-1001-240413.html?tag=rn
[8] www.bsa.org/usa/megabyte/
[9] http://www.netcraft.com/survey/ (numbers from Dec 2002 - Jan 2003 report)

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RobinsonTryon - 10 Feb 2003