[ Thanks to Thomas
Corriher for this link. ]
“Microsoft founder Bill Gates has finally noodled out
the fact that his precious .NET initiative is never going to fly if
the company continues turning out insecure products. Therefore, in
a long-winded bull to all Microserfs issued Wednesday, Billg
finally admits that the company has wrongly emphasized whistles and
bells over security, and decrees that this shall change.“In the past, we’ve made our software and services more
compelling for users by adding new features and functionality, and
by making our platform richly extensible,” Gates writes.And then he reveals the epiphany he’s had: “We’ve done a
terrific job at that, but all those great features won’t matter
unless customers trust our software.””
BBC Online: Software security law call
“Windows XP has had security problems since launch An
influential body of researchers is calling on the US Government to
draft laws that would punish software firms that do not do enough
to make their products secure.The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has released drafts of
a report commissioned after 11 September to look at the state of
America’s computer systems.If the report is acted on the subsequent laws could hurt
monopolies like Microsoft, which many say does not do enough to
ensure its software is secure.”