The Substantially Similar Weblog

Brian McGroarty· (who has a very sparse web page) writes on Linux-Elitists·: Microsoft goes after Linux kernel downloaders?·.

In the wake of the recent accidental leak of the Microsoft Windows Source Code to the Internet·, McGroarty started a BitTorrent· torrent entitled “Kernel source here,” serving up the Linux Kernel·. McGroarty writes:

Imagine my surprise when my DSL stops working this morning, I call my provider, and I learn that I’ve been accused of copyright infringement.
[…]
Now, admittedly I was just asking for it by hinting at something that might offend the big giant. Still, it took them three or four days to issue this letter. In the meantime, shouldn’t they have been able to find someone capable of cracking open a .tar.bz2? Did nobody raise the question of how a leaked CD fits into a 32m file?

Microsoft must be using batch “take down” tactics, similar to the recording industry. You’d think they’d be clever enough to devise a script that could differentiate actual copies of its leaked source code from things that are totally unrelated. Crying wolf could have predictable consequences.

If people really want to make things hard for Microsoft, they would post articles and files all over the Internet entitled “kernel source here.”

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