The BBC reports on findings that Computer software terms ‘unfair’

Some of the world’s biggest computer firms have been accused of imposing unfair contracts on customers who buy their software.

The National Consumer Council (NCC) has accused 17 firms, including Microsoft, Adobe and Symantec, of using unfair “end user licence agreements” (EULAs).

The NCC has asked the Office of Fair Trading to launch an investigation.

The NCC said the firms’ EULAs were misleading customers into “signing away legal rights”.

“Software rights-holders are shifting the legal burden on to consumers who buy computer programmes, leaving them with less protection than when they buy a cheap Biro,” said Carl Belgrove of the NCC.

[“Biro” is British for ballpoint pen, after the company that is the biggest manufacturer.]

You were once guaranteed that the media [diskette, CD, etc.] was without defect, but downloads have eliminated that problem. They also once provided manuals, but that was so “twentieth century”, that now you spend major dollars to tie up your computer and Internet connection for a major time span, and are not guaranteed anything. You certainly are not guaranteed that your hundreds of dollars with provide you with a program that does what they told you it would do, or anything else. About the only thing guaranteed is that if they suspect you may have copied their nonexistent program you have forfeited all of your worldly goods onto the seventh generation following.

CNN tells us Castro resigns as president, state-run paper reports. Actually, Granma is owned by the government, not just run by it, which is a healthier situation than the US where the media is owned by conglomerates and run by the government.

Fidel Castro has resigned so the Party can elect Raúl Castro, the current defense minister, president of Cuba. This is sort of like the Shrubbery resigning so the Supreme Court or RNC [same difference] can replace him with JEB.

No doubt Calle Ocho will have massive celebrations and fire guns in the air and set off some of their stored explosives, but you still can’t buy good cigars legally.

Fidel outlasted 10 US Presidents [OK, 9 and the Shrubbery] and wasn’t forced out, but retired – another millstone…er, milestone in US foreign policy.