Patchou's petition
Wow, it has 11,139 signatures at time of writing..... that's pretty pathetic for a programme with an alleged 7 million users.
Of course, that total is *before* deducting signatories such as (for example) Abraham Lincoln, Donald Duck and Wil E Coyote.
If Patchou has a problem he should use the proper channels. MS should not be bullied into changing *anything* when it comes to spyware or adware. The only reason MSAS detections should be changed is for technical inaccuracies..... and technical inaccuracies do not need passionate but misguided petitions to be fixed.
Frankly, even if Patchou got millions of signatures it won't mean anything.... The signatories are declaring that they have 'solid evidence' when they don't have said 'solid evidence' to hand. Why can I say that? Because many statements on Patchou's petition are simply untrue and/or have not been proven publicly. Taking somebody at their word is not sufficient evidence to allow signing of the petition as it stands (says I from a position of 20 years working in the legal fraternity).
Here's a nice big cluestick. If a person signing a petition is not accurate in their declaration, they may as well not sign at all. See my previous blog commentary for information about how INACCURATE Patchou's statements on his petition page are.
Understand this. If/when the msgplus.exe misdetection is fixed, it will have NOTHING to do with any petition. The only reason that MSAS detections will be changed is technical.
The day that MS bows to the demands of anybody is the day that I write them off and direct people elsewhere... just like I have done for other products that have caved in to threats and intimidation.
Update: Has Patchou's petition been invalidated?
http://msmvps.com/spywaresucks/archive/2005/08/27/64290.aspx
Update: 6 September:
http://msmvps.com/spywaresucks/archive/2005/09/06/65524.aspx
What I think of the MSAS/Patchou kerfuffle, and the Petition itself:
http://msmvps.com/spywaresucks/archive/2005/08/18/63180.aspx