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Re: PAY-OFF TIME FOR BUG-BUSTERS, NETSCAPE PLEDGES "DOGFIGHT"



On 18 Dec 1995, Ian Goldberg wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
>  <[email protected]> wrote:
> >On Mon, 11 Dec 1995, Michael Coates wrote:
> >
> >> PAY-OFF TIME FOR BUG-BUSTERS, NETSCAPE PLEDGES "DOGFIGHT"
> >> Netscape Communications has awarded two software sleuths $1,000 each
> >> for finding security gaps in its Netscape Navigator 2.0 software.  The
> >> company also awarded gifts to 50 other contestants in its "Bugs Bounty" 
> >> program for identifying non-security problems.  (Wall Street Journal
> >> 11 Dec 95 B7)
> >
> >Can anyone tell me whether Ian Goldberg and David Wagner got their $25,000
> >from Netscape for finding the HUGE security flaws in Netscape's existing 
> >product line??
> >
> >I can't remember whether they got anything or not ...
> 
> That would be no (well, except for the nifty T-shirt from Sameer; Thanks!).

Not anything??  That's shameful ... where on earth are the values in 
America, today?  

AT&T and Netscape have jointly made a small fortune distributing this
product, and yet NEITHER company feels that the software engineers who
"voluntarily" made a difference -- a couple of students -- deserve
even a wooden nickel for the ideas which were used.

It's absolutely shameful.  But then, I guess that AT&T and Netscape
have no shame at all.

They just steal "intellectual property" from students, and don't even
pay a token amount.

And people wonder what's wrong with Aemrica?

>   - Ian "There's a reason people talk about `starving grad students'..."
>