● 07.23.10

●● Companies and Intellectual Properties Registration Office (CIPRO) Helps Microsoft’s Monopoly

Posted in Africa, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Windows at 6:48 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: A government agency makes Microsoft even stronger, probably due to bad design by its staff

THE Companies and Intellectual Properties Registration Office in South Africa allegedly requires that people go to Microsoft, purchase a copy of their user-hostile software, and then access the CIPRO Web site to merely be treated like a worthy citizen:

So, if that is the case, then how come the Companies and Intellectual Properties Registration Office (CIPRO) demands that visitors use Internet Explorer when visiting the site? The site has this warning (in red): “Customers must use Internet Explorer for any CIPRO transaction. To download it, click here.” Why exactly users need Internet Explorer is not entirely clear because the site appears to still work even if you’re using another browser. There may well be sections of the site that don’t work unless you use Internet Explorer but they’re not immediately obvious.

Sadly, in Korea this is the reality in many government Web sites, but they are said to be changing this at the moment. In Korea, only old people may remember an Internet that works all right without Internet Explorer. CIPRO too should fix this as soon as possible. It helps hinder South Africa’s migration to GNU/Linux and/or Free software (i.e. independence) — a migration that Microsoft still actively derails. South Africa is up against more than just a simple company here. █

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