The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is one key reason the business technology consumer winds up with so many defective operating systems and software. (Check out the c\net article and my comments HERE). DMCA prohibits anyone other than the copyright holder to by-pass the security code of copyrighted products, even for the purpose of conducting research into, and revealing, defective code.
Consider this: How much does it cost you each and every single year to patch, fix, and "update"
operating systems and products on your computers--products you purchased under the belief that they were genuinely ready for release? If you are not
keeping track of this dollar amount, I suggest you begin doing so immediately. In terms of invisible IT losses, you are in for a very unpleasant
surprise.
Think about this for a moment. No wait: Spend some serious time defining the problem and totaling up your associated costs. Consider how much you lose when technicians have to make themselves thoroughly familiar with a given defect and the patch, repair, update procedure. Consider how much user and technician productivity time is lost by employees while the patch is applied. If the defect opened your company to malicious code, how much did the entire event cost you? How much over a one year period? How about over three years? Five? Is the money piling up?
Before you wander off, you might also want to consider the average life cycle of the typical software product or operating system your company uses. If you are not monitoring the significant hidden costs relating to patch management, your software asset management processes are not complete, nor acurrate. i.e. You're losing big money.By the way... Guess what one of the major clauses is in your average software contract:
"The copyright holder is not liable for costs relating to product defects."
(However, you do have alternatives.)
Wouldn't it be interesting to keep close track of both these costs and the specific copyright holder who has delivered the defective products to your door. When it comes time to negotiate licenses or support agreements with these specific companies, wouldn't it make sound business sense to demand significant discounts to compensate you for your trouble with their products? If the entire consumer base began closely tracking defective products and confronting the suppliers of those products, would it be possible to change the industry quality control process?
More on this in my book, "Modern Pirates." Ask your local book seller to order you a copy--today. You will find significant savings between the covers of this long term reference resource.
