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Subsentient (1111)
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http://universe2.us/
Programmer, Linux guru, agnostic, socialist, a hardcore and very serious Utilitarian, leftist on most issues.
Fucked up, disgusting sense of humor. Has no shame.
Journal of Subsentient (1111)
So I just got this message from Aaron Hoag at the DOJ.
It looks like we're fucked.
My original letter to the FTC, which was then forwarded to the DOJ, is here.
Mr. Hopson,
Thank you for your e-mail regarding changes to Microsoft's Secure Boot policies in Windows 10, which was forwarded to the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice by the FTC given our history with our cases against Microsoft.
I spent many years working on enforcement of the Division's judgment against Microsoft. As a result, this is an issue that I personally have followed since it initially arose, as you note, in Windows 8. While I appreciate your concerns and those raised by the open source community at large, from an antitrust point of view it is difficult to build a viable case in light of, amongst other factors, Microsoft's willingness to work with the largest Linux vendors to ensure their operating systems will be able to load when Secure Boot is enabled. Without disputing or diminishing the fact that in your own case this solution has not been sufficient to allow you to install your preferred variety of Linux, I can only note that to build an antitrust case, we would be required to show a market-wide effect, which would be exceptionally difficult given the ease with which a user can install Fedora or Ubuntu, to take two of the largest Linux flavors, on a machine even where the OEM has chosen to prevent users from disabling Secure Boot.
We will of course continue to watch this market and will take appropriate action if Microsoft engages in anticompetitive behavior in violation of the antitrust laws.
Thank you again for taking the time to ensure that we were aware of this issue, and do not hesitate to contact us again should future events warrant it.
Yours truly,
Aaron Hoag-------
Aaron Hoag
Assistant Chief
Networks & Technology Enforcement Section
U.S. Dept. of Justice, Antitrust Division
450 5th St, NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20530
Phone: (202) 307-6153
E-mail: aaron.hoag@usdoj.gov
If you have something to say to him, be civil, rational, and kind. No good will come to our cause by being a dick.
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Wednesday September 02 2015, @10:04PM
I thought that you was making good progress but that's a terrible response. The Antitrust Division of the US Department Of Justice believes that it is acceptable if a computer runs Windows8 (now with added spyware! [soylentnews.org]), Windows8.1 (now with added spyware!), Windows10 (with spyware), Fedora (with systemd), Ubuntu (with systemd) and nothing else. And I'll be extremely unamused if we subsequently find this not due to market forces.
1702845791×2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 04 2015, @08:07PM
It sound like the problem is that the war on general-purpose computing is larger than just Microsoft. DRM has aways been pushed by a consortia of companies.
I think cafebabe was alluding to alphabet agencies putting pressure on manufactures. However, with all the pressure from the media industries (now with legal backing due to changes in copyright law), all our computers are back-doored anyway. Years ago, I concluded you have to move to very small (like the begalboard) or very large (servers) computers to avoid this crap.
(Score: 2) by Sir Finkus on Tuesday September 08 2015, @03:22AM
I'll admit that I don't know much about the actual laws involved here, but this part was a little confusing to me.
While I appreciate your concerns and those raised by the open source community at large, from an antitrust point of view it is difficult to build a viable case in light of, amongst other factors, Microsoft's willingness to work with the largest Linux vendors to ensure their operating systems will be able to load when Secure Boot is enabled.
So basically people running linux distributions have to ask Microsoft's permission to run their operating systems on computers? Isn't this imposing an additional burden on linux developers? It gives Microsoft a ton of power. They can totally screw over a distro's release schedule. What about rolling release distros, like arch and gentoo? Does running an update carry the risk of the OS not being bootable?
Join our Folding@Home team! [stanford.edu]
(Score: 1) by elixir on Sunday September 20 2015, @08:38AM
This is exactly what it means. It looks like the only other Linux distributions that are on board to be installed are Fedora and Ubuntu. This poses a huge problem for the common GNU/Linux user with future hardware manufacturers.
It looks like my idea of starting a hardware company who distributes PC's with no OS will need to start soon!