“It’s easier for our software to compete with Linux when there’s piracy than when there’s not.”
–Bill Gates
A post that we published the other day about 'addicting' children in Finland actually received a lot of attention. It was the beginning of something broader. There is a news report which stems from a Microsoft press release (published on Tuesday). It talks about Microsoft’s intention to spend obscene amounts of money just to ensure GNU/Linux and Free software cannot gain ground as quickly as they do.
Microsoft faces heated competition from companies supporting the open-source OS Linux and associated software in developing countries.
There is also this new report from CNews today and it talks about Russia’s continued migration to GNU/Linux in schools.
FAS Amur Department agrees that Linux is Windows analogue
Last week, Stallman was in India to celebrate the FSF’s triumphs in one corner of the country where his philosophy has been taken to heart. This is Kerala, where the India chapter of FSF has been instrumental in getting the 12,500 state-run high schools to switch to free software over a two-year period.
Watch a previous long post where we show how Microsoft tried to combat this migration. More recent reports from the state appear to suggest that Microsoft wants to introduce and settle on dual-booting. Didn’t we hear a similar story quite recently when it came to OLPC, which Microsoft actively sabotaged in the past (there’s plenty of evidence)?
At the end of the day, it is clear that Microsoft speaks the language of money when it needs to get its way. Just consider how much money Microsoft is spending to promote OOXML (and therefore abolish ODF). Novell is a significant part of this. Novell still supports its wallet; it doesn’t support ODF. █
Microsoft’s patent deal with Kyocera Mita goes back to November 2007. It involves Linux. As far as Novell goes, there is only a insignificant connection between Novell and Kyocera Mita, but the two are committed to equally-appalling deals. Kyocera has just snatched the mobile phone unit of Sanyo, so it might be worth looking into Sanyo’s products in the future. It would be interesting to see if there can be royalties involved, by association. We have already seen that as it happened when Xandros acquired Scalix.
Sanyo Electric Co. said Monday it will sell its troubled mobile phone operations to Kyocera Corp.
The two electronics companies have said the value of the business to be transferred is about $375 million, or 40 billion yen. Including debt the deal — set for completion April 1 — is worth about 50 billion yen although a final transaction price has yet to be agreed.
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Under Monday’s agreement, about 2,000 employees in Sanyo’s mobile phone operation will be transferred to Kyocera, which will continue to use the Sanyo brand on handsets at home and overseas.
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Kyocera has close ties with telecommunications company KDDI Corp.
This would be bad news if and only if Sanyo mobile phones were/are running Linux. █
We have been looking forward to some updates from the Open Malaysia blog and there is finally a quick post, which is yet to be followed by others. The post sheds some more light on things that have been happening in the country. It seems to suggest that certain Microsoft partners have liaised to support and lobby in favour of OOXML in a country that has already made the decision to adopt ODF and has rejected OOXML with a “No” vote back in September.
With great “wins” like this, I always wondered why the Microsofties did not trumpet these case studies of wonderful “industry acceptance” of MSOOXML any louder? Its a gold-mine to announce that independent system vendors have wholly adopted their spanking new specification? This is further proof that ISO should ratify MSOOXML immediately with this worldwide support.
So is it “Well done, Microsoft Malaysia?” or is a timebomb just waiting to explode ala Sweden?
For those who do not remember or know, Microsoft got caught bribing its partners in Sweden in order to win support for OOXML. The vote from Sweden was consequently invalided. Here is a quick reminder in the form of an article from ComputerWorld.
Microsoft Corp. admitted Wednesday that an employee at its Swedish subsidiary offered monetary compensation to partners for voting in favor of the Office Open XML document format’s approval as an ISO standard.
“In general, Microsoft uses its money in a variety of ways in order to promote OOXML.”There has been a lot more coverage of this incident. It’s just the tip of the iceberg and it represents a widespread phenomenon, whose existence requires some ‘smoking guns’ leaks such as the above. In general, Microsoft uses its money in a variety of ways in order to promote OOXML. It’s all about money. Whether it’s illegal is a separate matter and it probably depends which part of the world you live in.
As time goes by, Microsoft will need to cope with the fact that office suites are becoming a commodity. Documents, spreadsheets, presentations and so forth will be more portable and tools for managing them will be based on support subscriptions or advertising as means for profit. Microsoft is still experimenting with the pay-as-you-go or pay-per-documented idea in particular parts of the world as it clings on to a dying business model. The following new article talks about some more barriers and disruptive trends.
The way we work is undergoing the biggest shift since Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Office launched in 1989–and it’s poised to make editing documents on your desktop as quaint as correcting mistakes with Liquid Paper. Collaborative work applications, collectively known as “office 2.0,” now let you work remotely with other people in whole new ways.
Factor in the marketing muscle of these two über-brands and suddenly it’s easy to imagine a Gates-less Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) losing its monopoly in office computing.
It is worth emphasising that only two divisions at Microsoft account for the vast majority of its revenue. Discussing the failure of other divisions is beyond the scope of this Web site, but let it be clear that without the Office monopoly, Microsoft will be in serious trouble. The company is not as healthy as it wishes you to believe (we’ll challenge criticism of this assertion shall that be required). █
Last week we put together a fairly comprehensive report which contains links to articles about the developments in Malaysia. There is a great deal of manipulation by Microsoft over there because the country has already chosen OpenDocument format.
While the battle between proponents of ODF and OOXML rages on, Microsoft is making some headway persuading several strategic organisations in Malaysia to adopt OOXML.
Microsoft is hoping to have industry partners apply pressure to officials. This is very typical and we saw this in Croatia just a couple of days ago. It’s another class of proxy strategies, of which there are plenty. Examples also include the use of partner analysts as mouthpieces (e.g. Burton, IDC).
There are innumerable departmental, community, and personal web sites worthy of long-term preservation but proportionally fewer archivists available to properly prepare and process such sites. We propose a simple model for such everyday web sites which takes advantage of the web server itself to help prepare the site’s resources for preservation. This is accomplished by having metadata utilities analyze the resource at the time of dissemination. The web server responds to the archiving repository crawler by sending both the resource and the just-in-time generated metadata as a straight-forward XML-formatted response. We call this complex object (resource + metadata) a CRATE. In this paper we discuss modoai, the web server module we developed to support this approach, and we describe the process of harvesting preservation-ready resources using this technique.
OOXML is Binary!
ECMA, a Microsoft middleman, tries to hide this. Microsoft tries very hard never to talk about this. But we shouldn’t be naive or passive. OOXML still contains operating system-dependent binaries.
In short it means ECMA finds Open XML shall remain an incomplete specified and inconsistent format. Some elements are still (in the spec undocumented) binary. It is hard to understand why DEVMODE structures cannot be transformed to XML for consistency reasons. Ah! “High-fidelity” of course which means everything but in particular that your XML format is a projection of the binary format, also by some referred to as a “dump” of the old legacy format. Even more fidelity is guaranteed when you just take the binary. In wonder why the drafters of the format started this WordprocessingML and didn’t add support for the highest fidelity of the doc format inside the open packaging zip container.
Surely, our grandchildren will never find a way to figure out what undocumented series of zeros and ones actually mean and how they should be treated in order to retrieve important old documents. Who is ECMA kidding? If OOXML ever passes at ISO, this will be a first-class fiasco and a total mockery of international standards. █
If you are new to the Burton Group saga, you are encouraged to read some background on this [1, 2, 3, 4]. These are not primers or introductions to the issue, but the gist of it all is that proxies appear to be disseminating disinformation. Presented below are a few of the responses generated from that FUD piece from the Burton Group. It came from what seems like a secret ally of Microsoft.
OpenOffice.org has dismissed an analyst report from Burton Group which claims that Microsoft’s Office Open XML document format is preferable to the OpenDocument Format.
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Burton Group also attracted controversy in August 2007 when it warned businesses against the use of Google Apps, another free software competitor to Microsoft Office.
Read that last sentence again, if necessary. We stressed that point before. And just look at the gross bias here: [via Andy Updegrove]
In some ways, [the Burton Group's] O’Kelly and Creese’s analysis hinges on this inevitability, implying that the ODF camp might be better off lying down in the face of Microsoft’s will and market dominance and instead tap into OOXML’s openness to create other “productivity ecosystem” opportunities. Many, however, question Microsoft’s commitment to keeping the standard “open.” Burton’s analysts err on the side of taking Microsoft at its word, depicting Microsoft’s go-to-alone OOXML standards stance with regard to openness as well-intentioned.
“The debate and scrutiny are not surprising, given Microsoft’s historical track record as an extremely aggressive competitor and convicted monopolist, but it’s important to understand that Microsoft appears to be sincerely committed to making OOXML a substantive standard,” O’Kelly and Creese write.
This says nothing about Microsoft intentions to deviate from OOXML as (partially) documented. It also says nothing about the endless crimes which show that the “historical track record as an extremely aggressive competitor and convicted monopolist” (to use Burton’s own words) continues to this date. Just moments ago we showed some new examples from Croatia.
Rather than attack some of their more questionable arguments, such as ODF being a political statement rather than as the platform for Lotus’ next possible software suite for Mac OS, the ODF Alliance issued a treatise (PDF available here) taking apart many of the Burton Group’s claims one-by-one, including the notion that theirs is the latest “everybody-but-Microsoft” standard to fail to attain momentum.
“The openXML criticisms has no backing,” said Tom Robertson, general manager of corporate interoperability and standards group of Microsoft Corp. in a briefing here, who said that Microsoft products are also going to support ODF through a translator.
We covered these affairs in the Philippines quite recently and it’s funny how Microsoft mentions Novell’s work on OOXML rather than support it natively, which it probably will do anyway. Microsoft and the Burton Burton are trying to create uncertainty at the moment. Just look at the article above in its entirety. In general, many of the articles that speak about the new ‘study’ (all the above) are pure FUD because they are based on wrong assumptions and suppositions that serve Microsoft. They echo incorrect statements.
“The press is being deceived by incorrect information, which is truly unfortunate and by all means deliberately planned (by those who unleashed the paper at a tactical moment).”We are continuing to collect more and more evidence of the ties between this research firm and Microsoft. We apologise if it’s seen as ‘strong’ content for this Web site, but if you keep track of our posts, you’ll see how profoundly these issues can be explored. When it comes to OOXML/ODF studies, it’s sometimes the money which talks most loudly, as opposed to reality doing its work. We spoke about this problem only a couple of weeks back.
The future still looks very bright for OpenDocument Format. The press is being deceived by incorrect information, which is truly unfortunate and by all means deliberately planned (by those who unleashed the paper at a tactical moment). █
A lot of this was expected and what we recently called the "Month of the Dirty OOXML Tricks" has truly begun. Owing to overwhelming pressure and disinformation, Microsoft seems close to flipping some votes and reversing inertia through pragmatic support.
While the battle between proponents of OpenDocument Format (ODF) and Office Open XML (OOXML) rages on, Microsoft is making some headway persuading several strategic organizations in Malaysia to adopt OpenXML.
The guys at OpenMalaysia will hopefully take a careful look at this. It is unlikely that Microsoft plays fair based on what we’ve witnessed so far. There are not many reports that provide inside information and sufficient insight. █
Changing/rewriting the law when it’s not on your side
It it no secret that diplomats play a significant role in this debate which involves the power struggle between IPR and Free Culture. On the one hand you have companies that wish to legalise software patents, for example, while the other side claims them to be absurd (which they are).
Yesterday, Forbes published an article about NBA Asia. Having looked closely at this article, I found the following paragraph.
Tim Chen, the former CEO of Microsoft Greater China, who joined the NBA in mid-October last year, will lead the new entity as CEO. In four years with Microsoft, Chen forged a productive relationship with Chinese regulators, managing to convince local and provincial governments to buy licensed software instead of pirated versions.
You can truly see the lobbying machine at work. Corporate power assists in changing national laws and transform a government’s take on important matters. By the way, the person in question left Microsoft a couple of months ago (quite abruptly in fact). To elaborate on what was briefly mentioned in the comments the other day, there is an executive exodus in Microsoft at the moment. Even the departure of a veteran Windows figure was announced just yesterday, with more likely on their way. In general, the Windows development team is not what it used to be. Consider this older article:
“With Alchin retiring, MarkL and MarkZ, two of the most talented architects in MS already having left, the picture gets really ugly for the Windows division,” my friend claimed, and the BV’s core team members, Ian McDonald, Jack Mayo, Todd Wanke, Clyde Rodriguez and others are starting to connect the dots.
[...]
He concluded ominously. “A trainwreck of biblical proportions looms. Pick a good seat on the sidelines, trainwrecks this large take awhile to complete. Vista may be the last MS OS for some time to come, especially if Cutler decides to play hardball.”
Going back on topic, the manipulation of Microsoft in the Chinese government was demonstrated in more a comprehensive post that we unleashed a fortnight ago. Therein you will find evidence of high figures such as Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer playing a major role and possibly having direct impact on policies in China. It’s a move against preloads of GNU/Linux (Red Flag), which is common in China, not to mention unbundling (Microsoft uses the term “naked PC” to add a negative connotation). This whole scenario blends fairly well with a post that Glyn Moody put together only yesterday. Have a look:
A dissertation on copyright in 19th-century America may not sound exactly like beach reading, but the fact is that US law in this area affects the rest of the world – not least because of the US’s heavy-handed attempts to extend its application around the globe:
With the rise of digital reproduction and the expansion of the Internet, copyright issues have assumed tremendous prominence in contemporary society. Domestically, the United States is awash in copyright-related lawsuits. Internationally, fears of copyright violation strongly influence U.S. foreign policy, especially with China. Hardly a week goes by without some new copyright-related headline in the news. In a globalized world with cheap digital reproduction, copyright matters.
That law has been shaped by the 19th-century experience.
The gist of it is that corporations and policy makers are able to mix policies and make laws assimilated. It is therefore hardly surprising that Microsoft's CEO is being offered a position which is the United States ambassador in China. If you knew nothing about it, then now may be time to get curious and understand how flawed parts of the system have become.
The moves by Microsoft to offer free or subsidized software in India have however come in for criticism from the Free Software Foundation, which compared Microsoft’s philanthropy to that of a cigarette manufacturer handing out free samples of cigarettes to students.
Let’s end this with a quote:
“Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but people don’t pay for the software [...] Someday they will, though. As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”
There are many signs of GNU/Linux growth in India. The government actively encourages Free software. If you want large number of links to support this, look here. It is another complicated story that we can cover if there is enough interest. It just seems unrelated to the patent game Microsoft has been playing. Naturally, we try not the broaden the scope to the point where we completely lose focus on key issues. █
Sony and Nintendo have both come under fire by an American company which claims the the Japanese console makers had stolen its ideas.
A US company has filed a lawsuits against both Nintendo and Sony, alleging that the controllers that go with the companies’ games consoles trample over its intellectual property rights for console to controller connection.
Someone whom we spoke to yesterday took a look at the company’s profile, but was unable to find Microsoft connections. Remember that Microsoft has a lot to benefit here because of XBox360. You might wish to see the following video:
Sony’s approach to handling or treating standards bears some resemblance to what we find in OOXML, so the company is no innocent angel, either.
Never one to settle for an open standard when the opportunity to push a proprietary alternative presents itself, Sony has announced that it will wade into the next-generation short-range interconnect wars with a proprietary new wireless spec called “TransferJet.” Sony’s proposed TransferJet spec has a physical peak transmission rate of 560Mbps and would appear to compete directly with short- and medium-range ultrawideband-based offerings like wireless USB (W-USB) and the next generation of Bluetooth technology. But in spite of any similarities to either W-USB or Bluetooth 3.0, both of which are based on the same WiMedia radio technology and promise transfer speeds in the 480Mbps range, Sony’s TransferJet has some distinguishing characteristics that set it apart from the pack.
“Distinguishing characteristics that set it apart from the pack,” states the article. Sounds familiar? “More functionality,” anyone? █
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Now, try to imagine Microsoft approaching the authorities in question with a 
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