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A very interesting article by Chloe Albanesius appears on the PCMAG.COM site regarding congressional concerns and peer to peer networks. Peer to Peer nodes utilized by various file sharing software packages have been in the news because of security issues raised by members of congress where by legislation has been proposed to ban them on government networks.

Remarks made after his congressional panel held a hearing on inadvertent file sharing over P2P networks featuring Mark Gorton, chief executive of LimeWire, as a witness:

“At its worst, it isn’t peer-to-peer; it’s predator-to-prey. For our sensitive government information, the risk is simply too great to ignore. I am planning to introduce a bill to ban this type of insecure, open network, peer-to-peer software from all government and contractor computers and networks.”
Representative Edolphus Towns
Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform

The panel posed a primary concern that ‘classified’ information including personal bank records, privileged communications such as those involving attorney-client, income tax forms, military orders, Presidential motorcade routes, intellectual property, company strategic communiques, and governmental emergency response plans.

“Although LimeWire has all but solved the problem of inadvertent file sharing for users of the LimeWire application, the global issue of inadvertent file sharing has not been resolved. While the LimeWire software allows its users to access the Gnutella network, LimeWire is not alone in providing access to this network, much like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are not alone in providing access to the Internet.

Holding LimeWire accountable for the files its users put on the service would be like holding Google accountable for what is on the Internet.”

Mark Gorton
chief Executive of LimeWire

Using the terms ‘joke’ and ‘cosmetic’ to characterize present efforts to deal with the security risks, the congressional panel indicates that escalation of plans to deal with the situation appears to be in the works, as the chairman of the FTC, US Attorney, state Attorneys General, and even the White House will be drawn into the fray regarding the potential dangers inherent to file sharing software.

“I actually think it’s a bit of a joke, and the joke might be on us if we don’t get firmer on this. You’ve got a business that’s all about denying intellectual property rights to people who create movies and music … and your routine is to come in here and tell us you’re doing everything you possibly can … but your concern doesn’t extend to doing that which is effective to combat the problem.”
Representative Peter Welch
Democrat, Vermont
Committee on Oversight and Reform

I keep wondering what the RIAA and MPAA think of these developments. The RIAA in particular appears so lawsuit crazy going after poor people instead of the rich ones actually making the haul in their fight to get paid.

“The file-sharing software industry has shown it is unwilling or unable to ensure user safety. It’s time to put a referee on the field.”
Representative Edolphus Towns
Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform

Well … seems that I’m not the only one with these concerns. However, I was unable to convince any of my customers regarding them some decade back. When you make your file system available to the world you shouldn’t complain when your data is harvested. We sometimes become so preoccupied with having ‘rights’ that we forget the associated ‘responsibilities’.

Microsoft Thinks People Will Learn to Love Vista

“People will look back on Vista after the Windows 7 release and realize that there were actually a bunch of good things there.”
Steve Guggenheimer
Vice President,
Microsoft OEM Division

Spoken like a true evangelist. Mr. Guggenheimer further says that in two years we will have a ‘better perception’ of the product.

Windows 7 improves on a lot of the problems which surfaced early in the release of Vista. It has better performance and an improved design with less need for machine resources.

Mr. Guggenheimer said that Vista service pack 1 took care of a lot of the problems with Vista but by that point in time there was a reputation problem, and that there are scenarios where it will be important to operations in companies — and that upgrading to Windows 7 will be easier for those who embraced Vista compared to the rest of us who kept using XP.

He summed it all up with the notion that a lot of what people will really like in Windows 7 originated in Vista and that the new product will not “appease” every detractor — but that the product will not be considered the “complete turkey” as was Windows ME.

The only problem I have with this marketing technobabble revolves around the facts that:

1. The user owns the operating system the operating system does not own the user
2. The operating system does not have the right to control the user beyond his or her willingness to be controlled
3. The operating system should not intentionally attempt to be the single most annoying thing on the face of the earth
4. The concept of good ideas and program features are not a universal concept and just because some programmer thinks something is a good idea doesn’t make it so
5. Bossy, control freak interfaces such as that in Vista are bound to tick users off
6. Corporate entities like Microsoft aren’t automatically entitled to a cash infusion every 2 years
7. If you can’t interoperate with 32 bit applications used by many your customer base is bound to decline
8. Operating systems do not exist solely as a vehicle to sell vendor certifications
9. Look at the price of your stock

Windows 7 may be based upon and a large improvement on Windows Vista. However, the disdain for the product is as entrenched as that mainstream monopoly called Microsoft.