Very Computer

< The following was sent via email to several MS
  contact addresses.  See http://www.veryComputer.com/
  for details concerning MS attacks on humor
  sites. >

TWIMC,

I'm writing this letter to protest Microsoft's vicious attacks
on free speech!  Your legal*campaign against the internet
humor sites of Userfriendly, Segfault, and Bedope is the final
indication to many of the lengths to which Microsoft will go
in it's attempts to _force_ it's acceptance by the internet
community.

Parody is a recognized form of free speech.  It often contains
at least a grain of truth, which is precisely what makes it
humorous.  We DO recognize aspects of "an Evil Empire" in
Microsoft, and if you wish to stop the parodies then you should
ammend your practicies.  Completely untruthful parodies are
NOT funny.

Your current actions are the final straw for me.  You've
deprived me of a _significant_ portion of the Internet's utility
as a source of entertainment.  I now consider myself _vehemently_
anti-microsoft, and will make my opinions concerning your
company and it's practices known whenever possible.

 Sincerely,

--
     Peter F Curran
     Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Use address in Organization line, finger
for PGP key.  Antispaam test in progress.

 >< The following was sent via email to several MS
 >  contact addresses.  See http://www.veryComputer.com/
 >  for details concerning MS attacks on humor
 >  sites. >
 >
 >TWIMC,
 >
 >I'm writing this letter to protest Microsoft's vicious attacks
 >on free speech!  Your legal*campaign against the internet
 >humor sites of Userfriendly, Segfault, and Bedope is the final
 >indication to many of the lengths to which Microsoft will go
 >in it's attempts to _force_ it's acceptance by the internet
 >community.
 >
 >Parody is a recognized form of free speech.  It often contains
 >at least a grain of truth, which is precisely what makes it
 >humorous.  We DO recognize aspects of "an Evil Empire" in
 >Microsoft, and if you wish to stop the parodies then you should
 >ammend your practicies.  Completely untruthful parodies are
 >NOT funny.
 >
 >Your current actions are the final straw for me.  You've
 >deprived me of a _significant_ portion of the Internet's utility
 >as a source of entertainment.  I now consider myself _vehemently_
 >anti-microsoft, and will make my opinions concerning your
 >company and it's practices known whenever possible.
 >
 > Sincerely,
 >
How do you know that it's Microsoft that wrote those letters?
Slashdot say that the "person" responsible hasn't been named publically.

I wouldn't be surprised if it *is* Microsoft; they are certainly
stupid enough to do something like this.  But let's get the facts
first.

Bob T.

First off, although the responsible party was not explicitly
named, they were referred to as "the Evil Empire" on the
userfriendly site, which is an obvious parody of MS.  For it
to be someone else it would take a _deliberate_ act of
misdirection.

Speaking of deliberate acts of misdirection...  Has anyone
noticed the date?  This could all be part of some elaborate
hoax, but it would have to have been started several days ago...

Personally, whether I've been "stung" or not, I'd consider
this a "not funny" joke.  It hits too close to reality.  If in
fact it was a hoax, I would consider it reasonable for MS to be
outraged!  ;^)

--
     Peter F Curran
     Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Use address in Organization line, finger
for PGP key.  Antispaam test in progress.

If it is a hoax, it is an irresponsible one.  M$ may have legitimate
grounds for a lawsuit under libel or slander laws. In addition some
immature individuals with formidible technical skill may decide to
avenge one of the sites.  In such an instance, M$ might not only have
grounds under libel, but sedition.  That is saying something (usually
untrue) that causes another to be placed in danger.  The classic example
of such is the yelling of 'fire' in a crowded theater.  

Granted M$ deserves to be nailed just on general principle, but such an
attack would make us look bad even if it is only a few individuals doing
stupid things.

I want to believe that it is all just for April 1, but this is just too
believable to be fake.  I can imagine M$ doing just such a thing.  On
the other hand this is what may make it such an effective if
irresponsible hoax.

It was a hoax from userfreindlty itself. This is from
www.userfriendly.org/static/

Y'ALL HAD YOUR CHAIN YANKED
 11:00 PST 01 APR 1999
 (April Fools!) There is no mysterious corporation throwing its weight
around. There were no registered letters. There were no threats. We
control the horizontal and the vertical and we gave your collective leg
a slight pull. Yup, we bad. :)

 We did learn some interesting things during this whole farce. I got
some very concerned letters from Microsoft employees, some of them quite
senior in the ranks, who said they'd land really * any 'brain-dead
idiot' that pulled something as stupid as legal action against User
Friendly or the other sites. See, MS employees can  be nice and smart
too. They even fall in the top 20 companies who frequent UF on a  daily
basis.

Quote:> If it is a hoax, it is an irresponsible one.  M$ may have legitimate
> grounds for a lawsuit under libel or slander laws.

Oh, c'mon Ken.

Three hacker websites being shut down by the "Evil Empire" on April
fool's day?

(1)  How stupid can one company be?  I mean, going out of your way to
     piss-off hackers is not a bright idea.

(2)  The people running these sites are in their early 20s -- not the
     most mature age.

(3)  Bad press.  Lots of it.

(4)  The whole "I can't tell you who it is because my lawyers told me
     not to say so" smells funny.

(5)  Satire has a very well-established precedent in the legal
     community.

(6)  It would be HILARIOUS to go back and see how much your story
     propagated.

I really doubt this is real -- but then again, the Mozilla
announcement last year came on April fools' day, and many people were
saying the same thing...

--
The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead.

Heh...  Well, it is obvious that I was made an "April Fool"!  :^)

If there hadn't been a several-day leadup to this hoax, I would
never have assumed it was true...  Oh well...  Now I need to
spend a year to plot my revenge....

--
     Peter F Curran
     Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

"If you paid for your operating system, you probably
 paid too much for your operating system."

psychotic entity.  (if you had made it big and made your company $50
billion in profits, would you still continue to crush and exterminate
opposition and do what you could to continually expand your empire?)
Gates is a nutter.  Hussein is NOTHING by comparison, the overrated git
he is... Gates is more than just a nutter, he's a self-obsessed one, too
- otherwise he would be less high-strung when he is [rightly]
criticized!

My god, Saturday Night Live, MAD TV, countless sitcoms, and the
occasional radio or tv news/show broadcast poke fun at all sorts of
people.  The Simpsons, too - why isn't Gates suing Matt Groening and FOX
Corp?!  What's up Microsoft's sorry ass?  It's totally disgusting.  Why
isn't Bill Clinton suing everybody who dissed him?  My god, he could
easily cover his legal bills and keep a buck or two afterward!  Maybe
Bill C knows more than Bill G... but Bill G can afford the lawyers...

When will common sense come back to save us?

D'oh!

 [...]

Quote:> < The following was sent via email to several MS
>   contact addresses.  See http://www.veryComputer.com/
>   for details concerning MS attacks on humor
>   sites. >

> TWIMC,

> I'm writing this letter to protest Microsoft's vicious attacks
> on free speech!  Your legal*campaign against the internet
> humor sites of Userfriendly, Segfault, and Bedope is the final
> indication to many of the lengths to which Microsoft will go
> in it's attempts to _force_ it's acceptance by the internet
> community.

Just wait until you see what happens when they start using the Pentium
III's CPU ID serial number to "hold a gun to your head" with software
protection algorithm's that will REALLY pose a problem for you when you
have to reinstall or buy a new computer...

We need to STOP INTEL from shipping CPU's with ID numbers...

NOW

Quote:

> Parody is a recognized form of free speech.  It often contains
> at least a grain of truth, which is precisely what makes it
> humorous.  We DO recognize aspects of "an Evil Empire" in
> Microsoft, and if you wish to stop the parodies then you should
> ammend your practicies.  Completely untruthful parodies are
> NOT funny.

> Your current actions are the final straw for me.  You've
> deprived me of a _significant_ portion of the Internet's utility
> as a source of entertainment.  I now consider myself _vehemently_
> anti-microsoft, and will make my opinions concerning your
> company and it's practices known whenever possible.

>  Sincerely,

--

__**__
  **
Jim Dompier
http://www.veryComputer.com/