After the scandal of Gateway's bigotry last month, this month it's the turn of PC World in the UK to don the black hat, and refuse to honour warranties for hardware simply because the customer installs GNU/Linux.

In this case, as in most cases, there is absolutely no question whatsoever that the software has anything to do with the nature of the fault - a broken laptop lid hinge - but that glaringly obvious fact seems inconsequential to the bigots at PC World, who believe they can only repair a broken piece of plastic if Windows is installed. If PC World's arrogance and ignorance wasn't so shocking, it'd be hilarious.

Fortunately in the UK we are blessed with the Sale Of Goods Act to protect consumers against criminal retailers. Let's hope the victim of this outrage has the determination to use it to remind PC World of their legal and moral obligations.

Nearly two weeks after it was first reported that Anvsoft was violating the GPL, they continue to plagiarise Free Software such as mkisofs, cdrdao, dvdauthor, spumux, id3lib, lame, mpeg2enc, and mplex; by distributing a program called DVD Photo Slideshow, which includes the aforementioned GPL software, in violation of that license.

UPDATE!!! ... the issue now seems to be resolved, and I have personally verified that this software does now include a copy of the GPL, however I have yet to establish whether or not Anvsoft provide the corresponding source for that GPL software. I will update this entry as I get further information.

The Word "LINUX" is inappropriate in XBOX Live

'I love Linux and the XBOX 360, so yesterday I tried to include the word "LINUX" in the motto section on XBOX Live. I was stunned when I got a message saying "Your motto contains inappropriate language. Please try again". Come on Microsoft is that really inappropriate? Maybe only to you guys.' - riverag.com

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The Swedish Standards Institute has overturned the controversial "yes" vote for Microsoft's OOXML "standard", after discovering that one the many attending Microsoft representatives had voted twice. Earlier it was revealed that Microsoft had bribed its so-called "Gold Partners" to attend and vote "yes", promising "extra marketing money" for those who subverted the process.

Oh oh ... looks like Sony are up to their old tricks again.

F-Secure : News from the Lab

This USB stick with rootkit-like behavior is closely related to the Sony BMG case. First of all, it is another case where rootkit-like cloaking is ill advisedly used in commercial software. Also, the USB sticks we ordered are products of the same company — Sony Corporation.

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