Bonum Certa Men Certa

On Hypocrisy, Müller's Mass Mailing to Journalists, and Lobbying

Summary: The question of abolishment versus embrace of dysfunctional systems which impede freedom and civil liberties

Florian Müller (probably a lobbyist whom we definitely distrust but must track nonetheless*) is still spreading his controversial stuff en masse (by E-mail) to journalists who sometimes propagate his disregard for Microsoft opponents without realising that he's just tweaking/personalising the same messages and sending them to tons of people who write for large readerships (just like ACT does). As the commenter says there, "You're quoting Florian Mueller calling others hypocritical?



"Pot, meet Kettle."

The one sense in which he's right about hypocrisy from IBM et al. is probably lobbying. Here is a new press release from lobbyists who work on behalf of these companies to promote GNU/Linux and "Open Source" in government. This got some more press coverage following the press release.

Open Source for America (OSFA) an organization of technology industry leaders, non-government associations and academic and research institutions that aims at boosting the use of open source software in the U.S. Federal government, has announced that as the organization is going to celebrate its first anniversary, it has already achieved a number of feats within the first year of its establishment.


We have already argued [1, 2] in favour of abolishing the practice of lobbying (in the pure sense where it's an occupation) rather than fighting lobbying with more lobbying. Likewise, it is hoped that IBM et al. will change their mind regarding software patents. It is better to just abolish software patents than to try and make them exist alongside "Linux" (where Linux mostly means the kernel).

If you spot journalists echoing Müller's talking points, let them know (e.g. in the comments) that they are being taken for fools because he sends the exact same stuff to lots of other journalists, most of whom are not responsive. He is essentially lobbying and he is not lobbying for software freedom, to say the very least. ____ * Just minutes ago he mailed me again with a special disclaimer what he is mass mailing journalists today (he probably does not send them the same disclosure when he pushes them to publish such Microsoft party line). To give readers the idea of what he regularly sends, here it is:

EU launches investigation against IBM over mainframe practices



(this goes to multiple recipients but I didn't want to use an undisclosed list because of potential problems with spam filters; nor do I use a mailer tool ;-)

I have some background for you on the European Commission's launch of an antitrust investigation against IBM.

If you'd like to link to my comments, I published them on my blog:

http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2010/07/european-commission-launches-antitrust.html

Please find my comments and background information below (for your convenience).

Different agencies report that the European Commission today announced the launch of two formal investigations into IBM's practices in the mainframe business, following complaints lodged by T3 Technologies last year and French open source startup TurboHercules in March:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-26/eu-investigates-ibm-for-suspected-abuse-of-dominant-position.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100726-705141.html

By coincidence, this announcement was made just a few days after IBM launched its new generation of mainframe computers, an event that shows mainframes are still big business and far from obsolescence. There are estimates that the mainframe business (including software) generates about half of IBM's corporate-wide profits. The mainframe software market has an estimated size of $25 billion, about twice the size of the software market for Linux.

The Commission appears concerned about the tying of IBM's mainframe hardware products to its dominant mainframe operating system, z/OS. This is reminiscent of the Commission's previous objection to the tying of the Media Player to the Microsoft Windows operating system and the "browser case" that was settled last year and resulted in a browser choice dialog box for Windows.

In early April, I published a threat letter with which IBM tried to intimidate French open source startup TurboHercules SAS, whose founder started the Hercules open source mainframe emulator in 1999, with 106 patents and 67 patent applications. If you're interested in the correspondence between TurboHercules and IBM -- two letters from each company --, please look up

http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2010/04/turbohercules-entire-correspondence.html

There is a possibility of the Commission also formally investigating the complaint brought forward by NEON Enterprise Software, on which I reported here:

http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2010/06/neon-to-lodge-antitrust-complaint.html

The other complaints were filed earlier, and there's always some back-and-forth correspondence between a complainant and a defendant after a complaint. That process must still be going on with respect to NEON's very recent complaint, but I wouldn't be surprised if in a few months the Commission also picked up that case. Then there would be three parallel EU cases related to IBM's mainframe practices in light of the suspected abuse of IBM's dominant market position (a de facto monopoly, actually).

Moreover, the US Department of Justice announced in October that it investigated IBM's mainframe practices. Since then, there hasn't been any further announcement by the DoJ. It will be interesting to see if the DoJ makes a further announcement in the weeks or months ahead.

The open source aspect of the TurboHercules complaint and IBM's use of patents are the reasons for which I recently learned a lot about the situation in the mainframe market. I'm convinced that customers are locked in and milked shamelessly by IBM, and I hope that the outcome of the process will result in more customer choice, including the possibility to use the Hercules open source emulator to run legacy mainframe applications on affordable Intel-based servers.

For some time, IBM has been lobbying the EU as a self-proclaimed advocate of open source and open standards. I can't see how this antitrust probe will enhance IBM's credibility in that context:

http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2010/07/openforum-europe-hypocrites-lobby-eu.html

Florian

[phone number omitted]

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Coming Soon: Microsoft Fake Results, Mass Layoffs, and Silence About All the People Microsoft Pressured to "Quit" (So That They Don't Get Counted as Layoffs)
there will be more mass layoffs
Speed of GNU/Linux
The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"
Proprietary Windows Versus "Linux" News (Trying to Keep People on Windows, Never Exploring GNU/Linux)
Good editors know better how to recognise threats and not give them lip service
Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: The Purge, the Cover-up, and the Witch-hunts
OSI has gone "full Microsoft"
 
China is Already Culling GAFAM (Not Just Microsoft Windows)
OS monoculture or "OS hegemony" may be coming to an end
The "Telephone Operating System in the Vatican" is 95 Years Old, Vatican Moved to GNU/Linux
Maybe Microsoft is down to zero already
If Tesla Shares (and Alleged Value) Fell 55% (From $489 to $222) in a Few Months Maybe It's Not Worth Anything At All (It's Just Gambling)
Tesla swasticars have turned from a "status symbol" into a "public embarrassment" and cause for casual humiliation
Chromebooks' Adoption in Sweden No Longer Depends on Schools
School breaks are when classrooms are shut
No, IBM is Not Investing $150 Billion in the US and It Doesn't Even Have That Kind of Money
Here we go again... media as a vehicle of lobbying and misinformation
Leak: The EPO's General Consultative Committee (GCC) Does Not Consult Staff on Crucial Matters and Bypasses the Administrative Council (AC) to Do Illegal Things
violations against the EPO's very staff
New Leaks Coming Soon, We Maintain 100% Record of Successful Resistance to Censorship
We won't be told what we can and cannot say (especially when it's true)
Central African Republic (CAR): Vista 11 is Only ~0.2% Market Share
99.8% to go!
BSD and GNU/Linux Replaced Microsoft in Secure Servers, All Microsoft Has Left is LLM Slop for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
the FUD machine never rests
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: A Simple Task Tracking and Auto-Prioritization Tool and Other Programs
Links for the day
Links 28/04/2025: Canada's Election, Pakistan-India Conflict
Links for the day
Glue Inside Your Pizza (or Why People Will Get Fed Up With Slop)
People are given "answers" from non-intelligence word dumpsters
Links 28/04/2025: Cyberattacks Happening, Chatbots Disappointing, and "Free Speech Under Fire"
Links for the day
Phone Adoption Very Low in Vatican, Windows Usage Fell Nonetheless
Even in places where people still use desktops/laptops most of the time (and have access to these) Windows is gradually losing ground
GNU/Linux 9% in Cuba, Vista 11 Waning, Android Dominant
Microsoft has pretty much lost Cuba
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025
In 24 Countries Observed by statCounter Vista 11 is Still Less Than a Quarter of Windows Users Despite All Other Versions Being 'Expired'
They ought to move to GNU/Linux
Links 27/04/2025: Pope Goodbyes, "Politics of Fear", Slop Redux and More Google Shutdowns (Google Debt Had Grown This Year)
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Serenity Dialectics, Hockey Jersey Ethics, and More
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Death of Nest Thermostats, Death of Metaverse
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Projects Workflow and Discovering Technology
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 26, 2025
Microsoft Isn't on the Map in USSR
To them, it's either Google or Yandex
In Central America Windows Became a Small Force
These are countries where Windows used to have well over 95% of the "market"
What's Very Vexing to GAFAM, EPO and Others Is That It's Incredibly Hard to Censor Us (and Nobody Ever Successfully Did That Before)
resist, do not capitulate
Site May be Even Faster Now
It basically takes less than a tenth of a second to serve the page
Receiving SLAPPs and Collecting Them Like Trophies (the SLAPPs Always Fail)
People who file lawsuits bring even more attention to themselves (or to embarrassing statements about them)
Year of GNU/Linux on the Laptop?
It's not happening only in Lenovo
What People Must Understand About the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
some facts about the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Many of the Scandals Are Interconnected (Overlapping People and Corporations)
We're only getting started
More Copyright Lawsuits Against LLM Slop Providers and Suppliers of LLM Slopfarms Would Benefit Society
It's not just bad for the Web and for society; it's also legally dangerous
Links 26/04/2025: General Assassinated in the Town of Balashikha, US Promoting Seafloor Mining
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: Facebook Layoffs Again, Remembering What's Real, and Say No to Mass Surveillance
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: NOAA Budget Cuts and "Dog Days Ahead"
Links for the day
In defence of JD Vance, death of Pope Francis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Three Years in Prison for Disney Employee’s ‘Menu Hacking’: The Economic Fallout of Digital Menus
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 25, 2025