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On Wednesday 18 July 2007 19:34, Anton Channing wrote: > Simon Waters wrote: > > Anton Channing wrote: > >> Simon Waters wrote: > >>> Tom Potts wrote: > >>>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/18/microsoft_advertising_pc_paten > >>>>t/ they must be getting really desperate to even think of this > >>> > >>> Nah Google have been doing this for years, and it didn't do them any > >>> harm. > >> > >> Unless I've missed something, google haven't been > >> stealing files from my computer in order to target > >> advertising at me through word processors, media > >> players and email clients. > >> > >> Targetted advertising maybe old. But microsoft > >> are obviously adding a new unsavoury twist to > >> a stolen idea as usual... > > > > Google are already doing the mail client via Gmail. > > I think the difference is that is web based, so > doesn't have access to files on my PC. If MS > go through with their plan, ads that appear in > outlook will have context driven ads from all > files saved on my HD, regardless of origin. > > > But I fail to see the "inventive step". > > In this case the 'inventive step' is the very thing > that makes it a lot more intrusive and a great big > security risk compared to what google are doing. > > > We saw Google doing it in all their software, so we did it in ours, I > > don't think qualifies as "inventive".... but I'm not a patent examiner ;) > > Neither am I. And to me I don't care whether MS get > the patent or not. If they go ahead with it, they'll > do it whether or not they get the patent. I'm just > glad I don't rely on windows any more! :) > > Anton Playing Devils Advocate for a second.... It is *possible* that Microsoft have applied for this purely to prevent others from doing so. Imagine if one of the well known malware companies thought up this idea and were causing (even more) misery to Microsoft users. The blame would be placed at the feet of Microsoft for failing to prevent it from happening. Maybe applying for the patent will be a cheaper option than re-writing Outlook or whatever they use for mail these days to block this. Just a thought.... Of course, it is entirely possible that Microsoft may find a use for this patent at some point - for example an ad strewn version of their OS which was supplied free. I would not be surprised to see the next incarnation of Windows coming as both a paid for (ad free) version and a free (ad riddled) version for poorer countries. It may be part of the way forward as they see it to prevent or reduce "piracy" of Windows. Who can tell! Mark Mark -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html