Posted 5:07 PM (0) comments

Innovation stifling for fun and profit

Former internet domain name monopolist VeriSign is suing ICANN, new king of "doesn't anyone here have a clue" politics because the clueless have forced the ex-monopolist to end profit making activities through the use of coercion. VeriSign thought it would be a great idea to re-direct people who misspelled domain names to a search site they controlled and on which they would sell advertising, advertising geared to the domain being sought (a la Google's Ad-words). ICANN told them either to cease and desist or face revocation of their rights to control the .COM top level domain. Now VeriSign is suing claiming that ICANN stifled their "innovation".

One can only hope that the judge will put both in a small room, each armed to the teeth, then lock the door and wait until all signs of life have been extinguished.

Posted 10:09 AM (0) comments

Microsoft's Caller ID Plan

eWeek reports on the MS Caller ID Plan to fight spam which Bill Gates unveiled at the RSA conference on Tuesday. While its similar to the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) proposal (currently an IETF draft) its different enough so that the two won't interoperate. MS spokesman George Webb, Group Manager of Microsoft's Antispam Technology and Strategy Team, there are things which just aren't in SPF.

Get a clue Microsoft! Join the SPF people and work to improve the standard. Users want spam-fighting tools now, not in-fighting vendors. This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back (at least I hope so). Too often, Microsoft's "embrace and extend" strategy for common standards is abetted by other companies which should know better (IBM, Verisign, BEA, etc.). Enough is enough. SPF may not be perfect, it may need improvement but creating a competing standard is simply not the right answer.

Posted 10:38 AM (0) comments

Good for Microsoft!

The recent source code Leak prompts Microsoft to audit Windows code, according to an article on Network World Fusion. Microsoft on Monday said it was conducting a security review of the Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 source code leaked onto the Internet earlier this month to determine if there is any risk to its customers. So far, only one vulnerability (in Internet Explorer 5.01) has been uncovered by people outside the Redmond company and it was fixed a few years ago. All of the chicken littles predicting the fall of western civilization (or, at least, that part residing near Puget Sound) have, once again, been shown to be wrong.