APRIL 10, 2006

NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

etc.

OK OK - S'pose that's the date on the dead-tree version.

Well.. there's SysInternals' Rootkitrevealer, etc.
..compare raw registry vs 'displayed'-after-massage- 'registry', but as Messrs. Russinovich & Cogswell observe within: it's possible to conceive a Rootkitrevealer-outwitter too.. but (he explains), at least that won't be trivial to do.

The more I delve into this morass and especially -in detail- into the Out-of-Box ABSURD config of XP for the target audience
(neighbor's and now.. same parasite temporarily on my 'new' 3-yo hp notebook)
- the main question I hear echoing inside the jelloware is -

Where Are the Class-Action Lawsuits?

CA has the "Song-Beverly Act" aka the Lemon Law, but it is applicable in the sense:
that it codifies and expands upon the idea of "Merchantability and Fitness for the Intended Purpose" (of any purchase.)

Liability? - 'oem': THAT's who The Beast will put the onus upon.
Yet, last I heard: there are ndas which prohibit making sane config changes in the bundle. Nevertheless, scripts! Could be a part of their Restore disks; that is what OEM-status should permit:

Beast's customers are mainly the OEMs.
Their customers are .. us.
Fix the blame: that would be the dance.

If 'we' collectively sue - then, if The Beast has prohibited / via nda / protecting the customer ?? -- should be a clear path to apportioning damages.

BUT - Only IF SOMEONE HAS THE BALLS TO SUE. Else it's all moot.

It's a monopoly; "buy something Else" would seem to be an effete defense against the unconscionable. Well, in a Republic, so-to-speak
So then, how many rootkits must proliferate before it is obvious, even to a Repo, that: Beast customers are being sold bogus goods?
10K? 1M? would 5M do it? All in a 2-week period, say..


All that dead hardware - 'part of the Consequential-loss suffered', in the eyes of a non-techno court. Maybe. No idea where *nix would fit into an obviously convoluted Battle of Billionaires in full-spin: I suspect all unwashed lose in the end, but the choreography should beat Murican Idol or CNN.
Could 2006 be The Year of Comeuppance??

How many Judges have had a BSOD/vermin wipe out a few days' work?
Give 'em a website to report-in..