Legal Research

Two Stories I’d Love To Link To [UPDATED]

But since they’re from the Wall Street Journal, which is subscription-only, I can’t. But I can write about them, and include some quotes, which (I guess) makes me an aggregator, so the lynch mob’s probably due here at Jenkins any minute now.

Anyway, story #1 concerns the rise in fake antivirus software:

“… according to Microsoft, which studied the so-called malicious software, or malware, that was found on the hundreds of millions of computers that received automated updates from the company in second half of 2008. Seven types of fake antivirus software cracked the list of the top 25 most prevalent types of malware, including the number one piece, which infected 4.4 million computers. It was the first time that Microsoft included fake antivirus in its count, which it releases every six month.”

As I blogged previously, the fake virus software doesn’t protect you. It’s a rip-off, designed to steal your credit card info. And some of the fake software actually harms your PC. Only download antivirus software from trusted sources such as Symantec and McAfee. The free AVG works well, too.

Story #2? It’s about how Amazon is facing a pricing backlash about ebooks for the Kindle. There’s now a “$9.99 Boycott” organized by users who feel that there are more than 800 ebooks that are overpriced. Said one protester, Amy Hoy:

“I go through novels like a toddler goes through Goldfish crackers. After the initial few months gorging on $5-8 novels, I was shocked as some of the prices for the Kindle books I was shopping for seemed to be rising dramatically and noticeably. I bought a $350 device just to face this kind of brain-dead economic decision.”

Sorry Amy, but traditional media producers are gonna try to wring every last penny out of their old and busted business models.

Gotta go … the guys with the pitchforks are downstairs at the front desk.

UPDATE, 12:39 pm - Andrew LaVallee of the WSJ emailed me to let me know “Just fyi — The Digits blog (where both of the stories you mentioned live) on WSJ.com is free, so link away! :-)”

I knew that. Yeah, I knew that. Of course I did.

Full post as published by Jenkins Webblits on April 09, 2009 (boomark / email).