« December 2005 | Main | March 2006 »

eBent

When is eBay going to sort its security out? Consumers are going to get sick of getting ripped off soon and that can't help sales.

Phishing attacks are becoming part and parcel of everyday life and to an extent it's your own fault if you get duped. But eBay is selling itself as a mass market product, not something for security conscious techies.

If the company has got enough money to pay billions for Skype it can certainly afford to have a decent public education campaign. Maybe the PR gurus don’t want to frighten people off by making too much fuss but the result of such a short sighted tradition could be a brand problem the company may never overcome.

January 9, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Putting profit before principle

Microsoft's attitude to the Chinese government is shameful from a company that declares its primary mission is to "help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential."

 
How exactly is pulling the blog of someone who has committed no crime helping them achieve their potential? The case of Zhoa Jing shows instead the company is willing to sacrifice its customers as the prioce of placating the Chinese government.

 
Microsoft isn't alone in this. Google in Chinawon't allow search terms that the Chinese government doesn’t like, Yahoo hands over account details for people who have irritated the powerful and Cisco and Websense are actively helping build the great firewall of China

January 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

About time too

SonyBMG has apologised at last for the DRM fiasco before Christmas. The only problem is why did it take them so long?

Now the company is getting into books I only hope the experience has taught it something. Intrusive DRM is not welcome and consumers are smart enough to know what's going on, Mr. "Most people don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it"

Hesse

January 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cynical, me?

Call me Mr Cynic but the speed with which Microsoft got this patch sorted looks a little dodgy. Great job getting it done so fast, but now you've shown us what you can do why not do that all the time?

To be fair though Microsoft isn't even close to being the worst offender in this. So far that prize goes to Oracle for sitting on flaws for years at a time.

January 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack