On previous occasions we wrote about Gartner's Magic Quadrant [1, 2], which the firm is now being sued over (preferential placements likely for customers such as Microsoft and private investors like Bill Gates). From ZDNet: [via]
Friday October 23rd will see Gartner argue a motion to dismiss a complaint by ZL Technologies Inc about the famed Gartner Magic Quadrant. According to court papers, Gartner will argue to dismiss based on First Amendment rights citing that the Magic Quadrant is not meant to represent statements of fact but is based on pure opinion.
IDG operates similar groups and practices using IDC and its Web site too remarks on the case:
On Friday, a judge in San Jose will hear arguments regarding Gartner's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed in May by ZL Technologies that seeks to not only eviscerate the Magic Quadrant but also punish Gartner severely for ever having foisted it upon the IT world. (That some of you are cheering grants ZL's case not a scintilla of validity, but point taken.)
For those who believe that the plaintiff's arguments lack substance, here is another allegation and selected antitrust exhibits that involve Gartner and Microsoft [1, 2, 3, 4]. This is not much different from what analysts in Wall Street are doing to drive stocks up and down (see video below). ⬆
If the Web gets polluted or flooded by slopfarms such as these, and Slashdot then sends traffic so these slopfarms (Slashdot probably doesn't do this intentionally), then real writers with real knowledge of GNU/Linux will lose the spark for publishing
Those of us who actually want to reform the industry and put users in control of their systems/devices will recognise that "Open Source" was selling a lie or got-co-opted by liars
The commercial exploitation of users won't stop until users exercise full control over their software or - more broadly - their computing (including data)
