Billwatch Snippets Database – Part IV
Snippet: | Recently, a Microsoft evaluation of the Linux OS mentioned lack of applications as a detrimental feature of this OS.
Linux On itself, Java removes technological barriers to Thus Microsoft has The latest is that Microsoft is “opening” their java “interoperability technologies” by giving them for free to developers: Microsoft If As for wording, Microsoft’s “openness” has Microsoft Opens Java Integration Technologies |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-20 14:01:01 |
Snippet: | The CEO’s invited to Microsoft’s third annual CEO summit may be gullible where it concerns Microsoft’s technology marketing presented at the occasion, but one can trust that they do understand the idea of markets. Therefore it is not According Gates Defends Telecom Investments |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-20 23:18:15 |
Snippet: |
The Register The |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Date: | 1999-05-21 04:51:22 |
Snippet: | When the biased Mindcraft benchmark was released I predicted that we would see more reports like these. Now this has become official: “I have now upped the focus on it. I’ve got a performance team prepared to benchmark it every which way.” says vice president Jim Allchin. Given Allchin’s past of bringing forged evidence in the form of a video tape in court, there is little doubt about what to expect when he says “every which way”. Microsoft treatment of Yes, expect Microsoft do go against Linux “every which way”. Linux draws Microsoft interest Hit team’ drives MS plan to bludgeon Linux with benchmarks |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-21 17:26:10 |
Snippet: | Microsoft has classified nearly all documents in the Caldera case to confidential status to prevent the press getting its hands on them. After a long fight in court, the number of documents thus classified is now down to 40, and news organizations have a better opportunity to report on the intentions that were driving specific actions of Microsoft’s. Earlier Caldera 2, Microsoft 0 |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-21 18:25:05 |
Snippet: | It is quite strange that Microsoft’s lawyers and spokespersons tell us that “paradigm shifts” happen every six months in the computer industry and that Microsoft’s position in the PC market might in such a shift be cast aside from the center of attention as were IBM’s mainframes, as Bill Gates thinks that the market is steady and growing: The PC's growing popularity ... For Gates latest book has been described as Newsweek: Why the PC Will Not Die |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-24 22:51:46 |
Snippet: | I browsed a bit through the transcript of Gates’ speech at the 3rd Microsoft CEO Summit. It may well contain some nice quotes, but otherwise it merely presents the old “paperless office” ideas in a form that allows for dropping the names of Microsoft products. Waste of time. 1999 CEO Summit Keynote The press release is more fun: The Bill Gates Envisions Strategy of “Knowledge Workers Without Limits” At Microsoft’s Third CEO Summit press release: introduction: When looking up the transcript of Gates’ speech, I noticed that the menu contained an entry “Philantropy”. When following the link I came at the home page of the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations”. The The different images are to tell the story of the different foundations and there is only the following introductory text: Bill As I doubt that Melinda has anything to Highly recommended browsing! |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-24 23:34:21 |
Snippet: | Falling stock prices may have triggered the painful awareness at Microsoft that their claims on ferocious and powerful competitors and paradigm shifts every six months might be believed by those that tend to believe their statements generally. Gullible investors may suddenly come to consider why the company is deemed to be worth sixty years of its present profits. So now Q: There has been a lot of speculation lately that the PC is dead. What's your view? Maritz: The Uh One Q&A: Microsoft’s Paul Maritz Talks Update: Re-reading Maritz’ statements, I found another one that is of interest: Developers If you didn’t notice, I’ll make the anaphorical jump more explicit and add some emphasis: “Developers .. need leadership from companies like Microsoft.” I I admit cutting away some context, and will quote it here to make it easier for you to consider its truth in isolation: Microsoft Maritz is not talking about some “coming out on top” here, but about “providing leadership”. Brrr. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-25 23:26:07 |
Snippet: | Microsoft-Caldera antitrust judge skeptical http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,0-37058,00.html?st.ne.lh..ni Java Lawsuit: Judge Says Microsoft Infringed On Copyright Split decision in tentative Java rulings (Would you believe that the last two articles describe the same event?) Update: Win98 and IE broke Sun copyright – judge rules Think of this next time you hear a Microsoft executive speaking harshly of software piracy. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-26 09:33:05 |
Snippet: | According to StatMarket, which monitors over 25 million daily visitors to over 79,000 independent Web sites, the Linux operating system has experienced 25% growth since the beginning of 1999. The percentage of Internet surfers using Linux is currently a whopping 0.22%, up from 0.16% in January of this year. The Lots of Noise, but not Numbers on Linux |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-26 13:30:29 |
Snippet: | Unlike earlier IBM witness John Soyring, who spoke mostly of networking effects operative in making or breaking an operating system, IBM witness Garry Norris is going to the heart of the matter: Microsoft’s usage of its monopoly power to dictate licensing conditions. This is likely to become dirty. The Register: IBM ‘dossier’ to detail MS Windows threats PC Week: MS-DOJ: |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-27 13:46:20 |
Snippet: | Here are some fragments from an article in the Washington Post (by an Associated Press writer):
Garry He ... Norris said that weeks before the IBM had paid only $9 for ``Microsoft Norris said IBM's costs rose from $40 million to $220 million. The The Washington Post: IBM Executive Tells of Threat |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-27 22:34:39 |
Snippet: | Reader grchism@dpc.net sent in the following:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/news/applems.htm "As People talked about this It Also http://www.microsoft.com/mac/news/years4.htm Thought you might like this for your collection. It Now that I have seen the “Microsoft MacTopia home” I can’t wait to see how they are going to do the same to Linux. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-28 09:44:22 |
Snippet: | Two articles by Graham Lea on MS’s present “embrace and smother” activities:
The Register: Maritz at TechEd – still embracing and smothering The Register: MS play the standards game with BizTalk |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-28 10:15:22 |
Snippet: | Apparently, ProComp – the “pro-competition” action on behalf of several companies that consider themselves cornered by Microsoft’s ability to abuse its monopoly – has held a press conference May 27th. The statement “Just the Facts Furthermore, The statement contains several quotes from ProComp: Just the Facts AOL-Netscape is a diversion, not a defense |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-28 18:33:07 |
Snippet: | Ever heard of “VHS Inc”? Windows has so often been compared to VHS that we should expect to find such a company. Both VHS and Windows satisfy a condition like the following: The However, where they differ is that there is Furthermore, [W]hat motivates Symbian's The Economist: Symbian’s friends |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-29 08:09:24 |
Snippet: | You can make Microsoft pay one dollar to Kosovo relief efforts by downloading a WMT file with Beastie Boys music.
Smart Microsoft: Free Beastie Boys Music Download to Aid Kosovo Relief Effort |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-30 23:55:09 |
Snippet: | The head of Microsoft’s Research Department and co-author of the book “The Road Ahead” – something that is mentioned inside, but not on the cover – was apparently more enthusiastic about his hobbies than Microsoft’s research, and that kept him from the office a significant amount of the time. At least, this would be understandable: escaping boring tasks and doing what one likes is what one gets rich for, right? Time magazine: Microsoft technology chief departs Update: The Register: MS dilettante research head ousted in Ballmer purge |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-31 06:47:37 |
Snippet: | From http://linux.de/ :
Die Insbesondere bei den von Ministerp�sident Kurt Earlier French Linux It |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-31 14:41:55 |
Snippet: | Microsoft president Ballmer expects StarOffice to disappear, whereby the market for office suites, that is already seriously dominated by Microsoft, will further grow towards monopoly. OEM’s can license StarOffice far cheaper than MS Naturally, Mr. Ballmer would gladly Mr. You can read an account (in German) at: http://futurezone.orf.at/futurezone.orf?read=detail&id=1387 A slashdot discussion can be found at: |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-05-31 18:12:13 |
Snippet: | The Register: MS finalises Nextel stake by Graham Lea http://www.theregister.co.uk/990601-000001.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-01 09:03:32 |
Snippet: | It’s a sorry sight to see the display of technological incompetence of Microsoft’s army of lawyers in court. Clearly, these people don’t even grasp the fundamental difference between file and function. One would think that someone among those almost 30,000 employees must have been able and willing to educate Microsoft’s lawyers since they questioned Felten for the first time, but as their questions have not changed since last time, clearly nobody volunteered for the task. The following article extensively discusses the interrogation: The Register: DoJ’s ‘Punch’ beats MS’ ‘Judy’ |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-01 20:13:45 |
Snippet: | Releasing a stand-alone version of MSIE, Gates declaring that the PC is not under pressure from appliances - but the latter must be connected to, and are therefore dependent on the former -, Gates writing in his latest book how advanced Microsoft’s accounting practices are, contrary to what their apparently not very informed economical witness Richard Schmalensee had come to believe, and an IBM witness recounting that Microsoft told IBM to buy at retail if they were so persistent in producing operating systems themselves to co-exist with Windows. As mentioned earlier, Microsoft’s lawyers Sarcasm isn’t pretty, but Microsoft seems to catalyse it in a lot of commentators today. ProComp: What They Forgot to Tell You |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-02 00:48:32 |
Snippet: | Not only Linux firms like Redhat, VA Linux Solutions, LinuxCare, and SuSE hire Linux experts, also service and systems companies like HP, SAP, Oracle and IBM are hiring. The latest company to jump on the bandwagon is Microsoft: PRODUCT MANAGER Division: Primary Job Location: Redmond, Washington If you want to learn more, you can look up the job description. Update: Mark |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-02 01:03:38 |
Snippet: | Apparently, we are moving back to the era when the phone companies determined what machinery one was allowed to connect to the network and prohibited everything else. I Vide |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-02 15:20:47 |
Snippet: | Probably due to a long time manic obsession with destroying Netscape as a company – as witnessed e.g. by the Ballmer quote on cutting their revenues – Microsoft today fails to distinguish between markets – which is what antitrust is about, and the well-being of specific competitors. Government witness and Mark Murray, Microsoft’s spokesperson for the trial, commented: I long for the day that my four-year-old company is so irrevocably broken that it can only be sold for $10 billion. Mr. I got the quote from: Netscape Loses Again, Despite AOL Purchase |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-02 23:51:39 |
Snippet: | Government witness Franklin Fisher noted that Gates has recently publicly stated that the PC is going to be at the center of a network of appliances, rather than being replaced by them as was proposed by Microsoft’s defense in court. Microsoft defense lawyer Michael Lacovara went over the edge by asking the question: "Isn't that exactly what you'd expect Mr. Gates to say, given what his business is?" I Second, Lacovara asked whether Bloomberg news: Government: Microsoft “grasping at straws” |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-03 00:44:46 |
Snippet: | The “Independent Institute of Oakland” (I couldn’t find anything on this name through altavista) placed near-fullpage adds in national newspapers to decry the government’s treatment of high-tech companies it has accused of anti-trust violations. The institute claims to represent 240 economists. To Stan Such And yes, Microsoft is a paying member, but 32bitsonline.com: 240 Economists Slam US For Antitrust Actions Liebowitz’ |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-03 20:02:08 |
Snippet: | Here follows an e-mail from tech support to a would be customer:
#################### ---------------------------------------- In 1998 Microsoft made a 10% equity investment in Road Runner. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-03 23:43:48 |
Snippet: | June 3, the antitrust trial of Bristol vs Microsoft has begun. It is expected to last some six weeks.
The At Bristol Technology sues Microsoft Corporation for violation of antitrust laws Microsoft and Bristol Technologies, Inc. Apparently, "Despite Bristol's claims, this case is Meanwhile, Bristol has pointed out that the not-mentioned “one of its competitors”, which is Mainsoft, signed a contract with Microsoft only after Bristol filed suit. Clearly, one cannot “impose a preferential contract .. over one of [one's] competitors” if that competitor didn’t have a contract at the time. Furthermore, one should ask how Microsoft’s usage of Mainsoft’s “MainWin” Windows/UNIX library for the ports of Internet Explorer and DCOM to UNIX is related to Mainsoft’s licensing conditions. For details, see Mainsoft’s website: http://www.mainsoft.com/. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-04 08:14:15 |
Snippet: | "It is likely that Norris will find himself under personal attack from the Microsoft legal team during cross-examination."
MS, DoJ lawyers out in force for IBM witness "Microsoft IBM witness – MS probes for conflict within IBM "We IBM witness reveals MS OEM price threats and deals "Pepperman MS OEM VP to IBM: dump Lotus and we’ll cut a deal All articles by Graham Lea. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-04 09:39:12 |
Snippet: | Highlights are:
Mr. Otherwise transcript: See also: The Register: Linux is outselling Windows 98, says Microsoft |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-04 12:07:24 |
Snippet: | Mark Hinds forwarded a message from MediaOne tech support: Subject: RE: Support for non-Windows platforms From: "MediaOne Road Runner" To: Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 22:28:04 -0500 Thanks for writing. We We are able to provide only the following information about the Linux platform: To For information about Ethernet and Linux, please consider the following URL: http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Ethernet-HOWTO.html For information about DHCP and Linux, please consider the following URL: http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/mini/DHCP.html If MediaOne(r) Road Runner(tm) Technical Support Department 05 -----Original Message----- It is my understanding that MediaOne has no plans to support Mark Hinds ##8## Of |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-04 17:23:00 |
Snippet: | WSJ reports:
"Wink has been The deal gives Microsoft a 10% stake in Wink. WSJ/CNetMS invests in Wink Communications |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-04 20:09:27 |
Snippet: | Usually such lengthy articles come after the weekend, but here’s Graham Lea’s in-depth story on the Microsoft-IBM relationship:
IBM witness: the inside poop on MS and IBM killing OS/2 |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-04 20:22:40 |
Snippet: |
In the US Department of Justice See: Microsoft E-Mail Shows Late Data Search Similarly,
Microsoft must have a much lower standard for true competition; they See: Microsoft trial: Judge pursues `parallel universes’ and: Microsoft Trial: Linux argument fails in court |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Date: | 1999-06-05 05:24:58 |
Snippet: | By accident I came across the following page:
Computerwire's We have made it available to non-subscribers here, The page contains links to several ComputerWire articles with trial coverage each day. ComputerWire: The Microsoft Trial |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-05 09:45:04 |
Snippet: | A federal judge upheld the decision of a local court that AT&T is to open its cable networks to competitors.
AT&T ZDNN: Judge to AT&T — Free access for all! |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-05 21:06:05 |
Snippet: | IDG has listed the acquisitions and investments of Microsoft and Intel since the beginning of this year.
Is IDG: Analysis: Wintel acquisitions on the upswing |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-07 11:21:55 |
Snippet: | The computer industry has a pretty good idea of what constitutes an operating system and an application. Microsoft wants to change the definitions, just as they often rewrite history, to suit their needs. However, there are precedents. Stan Gibson gives his take on the fundamental issue of product tying. Why Microsoft will not winPCWeek By Stan Gibson |
By: | Rick Fane |
Date: | 1999-06-07 19:08:44 |
Snippet: | Microsoft executives are beginning to be more explicit about their ideological preferences. Gone are concepts like “price/performance” that belonged to the legacy capitalistic system. The new focus is on “leadership”. [Developers] need leadership from companies like Microsoft[.] We have to lead – and we have to follow our customers. What Update: A recent article at ZDNet has yet another reference to “leadership” by Steve Ballmer: "We Its a good thing that this is Ballmer: Remaking MS in his own image |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-07 23:08:12 |
Snippet: | "It was no excuse in a winner-take-all world for Microsoft to be allowed to do anything it wanted to reach that position: only competition on merits was permissible. Fisher launched into an analysis of predatory acts, and how anti-competitive actions like giving away an expensive product free - stand-alone IE - only made sense if it were done to protect a monopoly." MS economist gets fail mark from his old prof "More Did Compaq and MS collude to ambush DoJ witness? "Microsoft yesterday announced its latest acquistion, Canadian software developer ShadowFactor Software." MS shines light on ShadowFactor "Ballmer's MS ‘Office Servers’ to rival Web servers – Ballmer Update: Additionally: The The day Bill Gates screamed IBM’s house down |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-08 13:15:46 |
Snippet: | Microsoft had better hurry to get this trial over with, as the companies it can point at as competitors are running out.
Microsoft’s latest “alliance” acquisition is Inprise: Microsoft Will Inprise now do the following? INPRISE AND MICROSOFT CONFIRM COMMITMENT OF INPRISE TOOLS FOR THE WINDOWS PLATFORM |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-08 19:27:30 |
Snippet: | IBM's experience is very familiar to computer makers. Microsoft has a well-earned reputation of threatening these customers into supporting Microsoft products and punishing those who do not. Examine the record and you will see how Microsoft uses its operating system monopoly to leverage its browser and application software, stifle competition in many different markets, and hurt consumers through higher prices, fewer choices and less innovation. What follows is an enumeration of how IBM Speaks Out For an Industry Bullied by Microsoft’s Monopoly |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-08 21:57:56 |
Snippet: | We’ve heard it time and again: Digital had to close down research on the “Shark” network computer it was developing with Oracle in order to get access to Windows NT to run on its Alpha processor, Intel had to close its NSP development in order to keep Microsoft from collaborating with AMD and Cyrix to exclude Intel, Apple had to drop cross-platform Quicktime in order to prevent Microsoft from acting on its threat to stop supporting MS Office for the Mac, and now we hear about how Microsoft sought to have IBM drop support for its own software, and that of a party Netscape, in order to get access to Windows to a degree one would expect them to have on the basis of the quantity they were buying. MSNBC: “MS held `secret meeting’ with IBM” The Register: “MS offered IBM Win95 source for ‘neutral’ PC” Meanwhile, "Microsoft (USA Today, Email Edition Jun. 09, 1999 6:00 a.m. ET |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-09 14:27:48 |
Snippet: | After this evidence, there can be no doubt that Microsoft should be prevented from ever again abusing its dominant position by having to publish an OEM price list, with only volume discounts allowed. It would also be necessary to ensure that the prices are set at a fair level and not subject to discounts refereed by Microsoft, as is the case with its so-called MDAs. The mechanism for this would need to be worked out, but it should not be beyond the capability of the courts. IBM evidence shows how MS controls PC OEMs Some Secret deals MS uses to control PC companies From Cut a deal or you don’t get Win95 – IBM faces PC suicide When Screws went onto IBM at Gates’ bidding All articles by Graham Lea. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-10 11:52:22 |
Snippet: | When, Why and How Windows CE Will Save Bill Gates? Butt Jesse Berst’s AnchorDesk Jesse’s I God forbid that the pointy headed managers of the |
By: | Rick Fane |
Date: | 1999-06-10 15:49:19 |
Snippet: |
In the US DOJ’s antitrust case Trial focuses on security question Update:
Of course, this makes for a flashy display but completely avoids some key issues:
DoJ expert: there are 3,000 bugs in Win98 |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Date: | 1999-06-11 05:09:45 |
Snippet: | All over but the shouting June 10 IBM plugs hole for government Rich However, he has consistently avoided jumping to the conclusion that Microsoft could not win. This |
By: | Rick Fane |
Date: | 1999-06-12 14:53:14 |
Snippet: | Originally compiled by Roy Bixler, Billwatch has a page with OS prices: http://main.billwatch.net/background/os_prices.phtml
Unfortunately, As I wanted to From |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-12 18:12:29 |
Snippet: | Some wierd glitch made Billwatch go down yesterday. The magnificent Pentium 100 Mhz with 16 MB server on which billwatch runs is graciously hosted by my ex-employer Euronet Internet BV (http://www.euronet.nl/). This |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-13 11:19:26 |
Snippet: | Microsoft has closed a deal with minister-president Clement of Nordrhein-Westfalen, one of Germany’s states, to the effect that Microsoft is to provide the informational infrastructure for the state at the cost of NRW’s taxpayers (see: http://www.ffii.org/clem/pm99-069.txt) This The government support for Microsoft’s monopoly has not gone unnoticed and protest is mounting. June 13, a conference takes place in K�ln titled “Informationelle Monokultur und die Alternativen”. (See: http://kongress.ffii.org/) (Yeah, that’s today, if I had known earlier I might have gone there :-(. ) Aside It |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-13 12:48:43 |
Snippet: |
Web Publishing the Microsoft Way Now
Microsoft chimes in with this comment:
The |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Date: | 1999-06-13 16:29:08 |
Snippet: | I think the affidavit of Richard N. Langlois is interesting reading as it concerns the effects of Microsoft’s monopoly in an area that was already touched several times in DoJ v Microsoft but with a new player and a slightly different vocabulary. Wind/U is described as an adapter, or converter, or “gateway technology” that reduces network effects and thereby softens the power of the owner of dominant technology. 54. Wind/U is I have no idea whether Bristol will or should Bristol Technology v Microsoft Corporation |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-13 22:09:18 |
Snippet: | I can’t add much to the title: basic arguments of Fisher, Norris and Felten are listed in this article.
Summary of government’s rebuttal case |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-14 23:48:04 |
Snippet: | Microsoft attorneys made questioning David Colburn about strategic matters the main part of their interrogation. As Colburn had little or no knowledge of these matters, he seemed to be the wrong witness, the exercise seemed like a waste of time and effort. |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-16 08:09:57 |
Snippet: | Charles Fitzgerald, director of business development at Microsoft, declared in the context of Microsoft’s paying Transvirtual to create open source software: Open Two things are Second, if Netscape’s distribution of The following article contains Wired |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-16 10:01:28 |
Snippet: | we would have been hearing how cars provided competition for Standard Oil because these could also run on oil provided by other vendors (even though none had relevant market share or production capacity at the time, so no choice was available to buyers). Furthermore, we would have heard that the And It takes the absence of principles leading to a MSNBC |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-17 00:17:43 |
Snippet: | From ComputerWire:
Eubanks' ComputerWire Addendum: In a reaction to this item, Rick Fane wrote: The Well, this supports Bill Gates’ |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-17 08:57:01 |
Snippet: | Microsoft banks on ClearType to spur electronic books InfoWorld
For A few months ago all these So today, I just read a story from InfoWorld Starting with the (This pronouncement In The Anybody want to buy a used Rocket eBook? If you’re interested in ebooks, check out:eBookNet |
By: | Rick Fane |
Date: | 1999-06-17 20:10:01 |
Snippet: | Reading between the e-mail snippets InfoWorld by Mary Jo Foley Once |
By: | Rick Fane |
Date: | 1999-06-17 20:49:02 |
Snippet: | Another glance at Microsoft’s “vision” of the world to be: it attempts to leverage its market power to urge its customers to take political action to save Microsoft from the laws of the land. Just watch that Active Desktop once Gates goes for the presidency. The Register |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-18 13:50:28 |
Snippet: | The FFII has sent a letter to the EU competition commissioner on software patents.
It The Anyway, I consider this initiative a Good Thing. Letter to the EU Competition Commissioner |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-20 22:54:46 |
Snippet: | A Macintosh user sent me a fax from a page of Dutch Macintosh magazine MacFan of an interview with Diego Piacentini, general manager of Apple Europe. Here are some – translated - fragments: If the Dutch government persists in its refusal ... We Of course, I sympathise One |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-21 11:10:06 |
Snippet: | In his latest testimony Dr. Schmalensee suggested that competition should be sought between specifications for non-homogeneous products (in his words, in “platforms”), rather than between homogeneous – interchangeable – products. By the standards of Dr. Schmalensee Standard Oil was under competition from coal companies. With LACOVARA: SO BASED ON YOUR REVIEW OF THE GOVERNMENT'S COMPLAINT, Otherwise the testimony is full of little word tricks like the following: LACOVARA: HAVE YOU SEEN ANY ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OR EVIDENCE Charming straw man, right? Actual economic analyses don’t say that it is over “because” of some usage share percentage – this would be a limit, not a cause. As transcript Schmalensee testimony 21 June am session |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-22 10:14:34 |
Snippet: | Once more Microsoft has provided us with an interesting example of statistical propaganda.
Of And yes, this works! Windows NT comes out well – on a four-processor machine. But Things get even funnier when Microsoft notes that Linux Aside from these Another Industry Benchmarks Show Windows NT Server 4.0 Outperforms Linux Update: Microsoft I am happy to see that Linux Orbit is expecting barrages of Microsoft FUD and are preparing to deal with it: http://www.linuxorbit.com/fud/ |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-23 20:08:20 |
Snippet: | I haven’t yet formed much of an idea about Richard Schmalensee’s claims concerning Linux and open-source, but for my own benefit and that of others I have placed the relevant fragments together. To get an impression of how relevant Linux So, it starts with a small base of users, starts It I won’t underestimate the role of ISV’s - I |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-24 02:46:42 |
Snippet: |
Judge Rejects Microsoft Call to Dismiss Bristol Case The Government Destroys Microsoft Chief Economic Witness The |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Date: | 1999-06-25 05:35:00 |
Snippet: | In order to get rid of its competition in the market for Korean language word processors, Microsoft is dumping a localized version of Word at about $9, or just above three percent of the English version. Aggressive Marketing Plan for New MS Word 2000 The link comes from LinuxToday that also has some links to past dumping actions by Microsoft in the Korean market: |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-25 09:37:25 |
Snippet: | From ComputerWire:
At one That was at the end of ComputerWire |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-25 21:00:45 |
Snippet: | The good: Billwatch is now hosted by my present employer on a 24×7 Solaris machine. Old news is searchable now (case sensitive only!) and the same goes for quotes. Pages all have a random quote now. The bad: The last few days of news are missing, all features and most links are missing, and the forums have gone. The buggy: Testing has taken place to the level that the programmer has had a “Gosh, this works!?” experience on several components. Except for the home page, search and quotes, none of the visible functionality works. Clearly, this move is premature, but I would rather expose you to the alpha site (and thereby putting up the pressure on my coding efforts) than port the old site to a different database and PHP version. Suggestions and comment welcome. Case Roole cjr@xs4all.nl |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-06-30 10:28:59 |
Snippet: | Judge Denies Four Microsoft Motions in Caldera Case http://www.computerwire.com/msoft/mt1-990630.html Judge denies first MS motions in Caldera case http://www.theregister.co.uk/990630-000021.html Judge Benson has denied the first of Microsoft s motions for Partial |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Date: | 1999-06-30 17:24:55 |
Summary: | Feds investigate MS over accounting ‘irregularities’ by Graham Lea |
Snippet: | The Register Feds investigate MS over accounting ‘irregularities’ by Graham Lea http://www.theregister.co.uk/990701-000011.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Feds investigate MS over accounting ‘irregularities’ |
Date: | 1999-07-01 14:53:52 |
Snippet: | According to a study by the Business Software Alliance software piracy has lead to $11 billion revenue losses in 1998.
You can find the conclusions at: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1999/06-29piracy2.htm The latest news from Microsoft is that it will contribute half of what http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1999/06-29piracy.htm |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft to Donate Anti-Piracy Proceeds to Community Outreach |
Date: | 1999-07-01 15:56:40 |
Snippet: |
“PC Week Validates Mindcraft Results. And Then Some” "Validating the original Mindcraft findings, the results of these Microsoft never was known for its modesty and their claim of Also, a different set of benchmarks done by the German c’t magasine |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | PC Week Validates Mindcraft Results. And Then Some. |
Date: | 1999-07-03 19:56:01 |
Snippet: |
InfoWorld “Microsoft is now resorting to spam as a call to action in its fight The article comes to a rather amusing conclusion:
|
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Don’t look now, Microsoft might be spamming you |
Date: | 1999-07-03 19:59:40 |
Summary: | “Microsoft today announced that it will acquire Sendit AB, a Swedish company that develops software solutions for digital cellular providers. Sendit, a worldwide leader in Mobile Internet technology, will continue to develop as a business unit within Microsoft’s Server Applications team, and Microsoft will use Sendit’s skills and experience to establish its first product development center in the Nordic region.” |
Snippet: | "Microsoft today announced that it will acquire Sendit AB, a Swedish company that develops software solutions for digital cellular providers. Sendit, a worldwide leader in Mobile Internet technology, will continue to develop as a business unit within Microsoft's Server Applications team, and Microsoft will use Sendit's skills and experience to establish its first product development center in the Nordic region." http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1999/07-01sendit.htm |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft to Acquire Sendit |
Date: | 1999-07-03 20:02:40 |
Summary: | By John Lettice The Register National Economic Research Associates (NERA) is a private organisation which employs Richard Schmalensee, who appeared in the DOJ trial, and Richard Rapp, who appeared in the Bristol trial. NERA was paid $6 million over an 18 month period for this type of service. Of course, Microsoft’s continued retention of one organisation to provide economic witnesses in its defence poses credibility problems in its trials. |
Snippet: | http://www.theregister.co.uk/990704-000006.html By John Lettice The Register National Economic Research Associates (NERA) is a private organisation which employs Richard Schmalensee, who appeared in the DOJ trial, and Richard Rapp, who appeared in the Bristol trial. Of course, Microsoft’s continued retention of one organisation to provide economic witnesses in its defence poses credibility problems in its trials. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | MS paid economist witness’ company $6 million in 18 months |
Date: | 1999-07-05 16:56:07 |
Snippet: | The most compelling historical analogy of the opensource phenomenon I have seen so far is the Reformation. Martin Luther cum suis broke the Church’s monopoly on reading the Bible through translations to the common vernacular and by encouraging people to deal with the book directly instead of through interpreters that had an interest in interpreting it to support the power of their own organisation. The Salon article by Thomas Scoville in which the analogy was worked out it worth a second read: Martin Luther, meet Linus Torvalds http://www.salon.com/21st/feature/1998/11/12feature.html An analogy that has came up more recently is that of a peasant revolt. It comes from China, where there are historical precedents. Andrew Leonard of Salon reported on his reading of a China Youth Daily article: Linux is like a Chinese peasant uprising http://www.salonmagazine.com/tech/log/1999/07/06/linux_china/index.html Unfortunately, the analysis of the analogy is very superficial. I think a good comparison can be made with the peasant situation under the New Economic Politics of the Soviet-Union in the 1920s. But that’s something I’ll elaborate on some other time. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Linux is like a Chinese peasant uprising |
Date: | 1999-07-06 17:24:36 |
Summary: | Exclusive: We reveal Gateway exec’s secret MS evidence
Secret trial evidence II – how MS brought Gateway to heel Secret evidence III: ‘give in or we’ll audit you’ – MS Secret evidence IV: the ‘MS Product Leverage Model’ All articles by Graham Lea. |
Snippet: | Exclusive: We reveal Gateway exec’s secret MS evidence
http://www.theregister.co.uk/990707-000004.html Secret trial evidence II – how MS brought Gateway to heel http://www.theregister.co.uk/990707-000016.html Secret evidence III: ‘give in or we’ll audit you’ – MS http://www.theregister.co.uk/990707-000017.html Secret evidence IV: the ‘MS Product Leverage Model’ http://www.theregister.co.uk/990707-000018.html All articles by Graham Lea. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Secret trial evidence: Gateway deposition |
Date: | 1999-07-07 13:57:23 |
Summary: |
Microsoft loses another round to Caldera U.S. District Judge Dee Benson denied Microsoft’s claim that |
Snippet: |
Microsoft loses another round to Caldera U.S. District Judge Dee Benson denied Microsoft’s claim that |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft loses another round to Caldera |
Date: | 1999-07-08 15:44:02 |
Snippet: |
Microsoft Wanted to Kill Java and Unix Courtroom Hears Once again, e-mail poses a problem for Microsoft in an anti-trust case:
As it happens, part of Bristol’s business is to “make Unix a better |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft Wanted to “Kill Java and Unix” Courtroom Hears |
Date: | 1999-07-08 16:12:54 |
Summary: | by Graham Lea |
Snippet: | by Graham Lea
http://www.theregister.co.uk/990709-000007.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | MS case totters in Caldera action – $1.77bn damages? |
Date: | 1999-07-09 11:24:27 |
Summary: | Writer Gary Rivlin wrote an entertaining piece for Salon about getting to put two questions to Bill Gates for his forthcoming book “The Plot to Get Bill Gates”. |
Snippet: | Writer Gary Rivlin wrote an entertaining piece for Salon about getting to put two questions to Bill Gates for his forthcoming book “The Plot to Get Bill Gates”.
http://www.salon1999.com/tech/feature/1999/07/06/bill_gates/index.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | “My five minutes with Bill Gates” |
Date: | 1999-07-09 11:44:40 |
Snippet: | On the one hand, Microsoft is dumping the Korean language version of Word on the Korean market for some $9.- to eliminate revenues of Korea’s domestic word processor software producer. On the other, it raising the price of Windows and intensifying actions against software license violations (called “piracy” by software industrialists, but not in any way resembling the ancient acts of looting ships and nailing the crew with their ears to the decks when the ships were sunk). With retailers protesting in the streets against Microsoft pricing and government and educational institutions finding that their software budgets were not realistic as they have to pay hard to Microsoft now they have been found out to have violated its software licenses on a grand scale – mark that I think this is unjustifyable – Koreans seem to have noticed that depency is both expensive and wrecking their native software industry. Good reasons to look for alternatives. Info Ministry to Discussing Linux Support Aggressively Korea Times http://www.hk.co.kr/14_5/199907/t455115.htm |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Info Ministry to Discussing Linux Support Aggressively |
Date: | 1999-07-10 11:49:51 |
Snippet: | Roy Bixler wrote to the am-info (for Appraising Microsoft) mailinglist:
Mitch Stone, of Boycott Microsoft (http://www.vcnet.com/bms/) answered:
ethical@1of1.net added:
This interaction brings the following to light:
|
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-07-11 10:36:39 |
Summary: | Caldera update: MS condemned by its own emails by Graham Lea Bristol update: MS lawyers muzzle Compaq witness |
Snippet: | Caldera update: MS condemned by its own emails by Graham Lea http://www.theregister.co.uk/990712-000005.html Bristol update: MS lawyers muzzle Compaq witness http://www.theregister.co.uk/990712-000006.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Caldera update: MS condemned by its own emails |
Date: | 1999-07-12 10:54:34 |
Summary: |
Microsoft invests in Rogers Microsoft has made yet another investment in a cable TV firm, |
Snippet: |
Microsoft invests in Rogers Microsoft has made yet another investment in a cable TV firm, |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft invests in Rogers |
Date: | 1999-07-13 16:06:11 |
Summary: | Microsoft also will make a CDN $600 million (approximately $400 million U.S.) investment in Rogers. |
Snippet: | From Microsoft’s press release Rogers Communications and Microsoft to Bring Advanced Television Services to Canada:
What a joke on economic reasoning: Microsoft and Roger's strike
Microsoft has a long history of Rogers Communications and Microsoft to Bring Advanced Television Services to Canada http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1999/07-12tvpak.htm |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Rogers Communications and Microsoft to Bring Advanced Television Services to Canada |
Date: | 1999-07-13 16:16:05 |
Summary: | Overview of Microsoft’s investments and acquisitions, going back to 1994. |
Snippet: | Overview of Microsoft’s investments and acquisitions, going back to 1994.
http://www.microsoft.com/msft/invest.htm |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft Investments + Acquisitions |
Date: | 1999-07-13 20:51:04 |
Summary: | “(..) the licensing programme wasn’t about making Unix a better OS for application development (this is what Bristol thought it was about) but “killing Java and then Unix.” |
Snippet: | (..) the licensing programme wasn’t about making Unix a better OS for application development (this is what Bristol thought it was about) but “killing Java and then Unix.” by John Lettice http://www.theregister.co.uk/990714-000008.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Bristol demands $263 million as MS trial goes to jury |
Date: | 1999-07-14 13:33:47 |
Summary: | While on the one hand claiming that Bristol’s owners sought to get rich quick by sueing Microsoft, the latter’s lawyers claimed on the other hand that Bristol sought to put all of its competitors out of business. |
Snippet: | While on the one hand claiming that Bristol’s owners sought to get rich quick by sueing Microsoft, the latter’s lawyers claimed on the other hand that Bristol sought to put all of its competitors out of business. by Siobhan Kennedy http://www.computerwire.com/msoft/mt1-990714.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Redmond Says Bristol Sued to “Get Rich Quick” |
Date: | 1999-07-15 02:21:15 |
Summary: | I’ll be boarding the train to Berlin in a couple of hours to attend the Wizards of OS” conference Friday and Saturday. The conference will bring together people from different diciplines to discuss the social-economical aspects of open source software. See: http://www.mikro.org/wos/ |
Snippet: | I’ll be boarding the train to Berlin in a couple of hours to attend the Wizards of OS” conference on Friday and Saturday. The conference will bring together people from different diciplines to discuss social-economical aspects of open source software. See: http://www.mikro.org/wos/ |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-07-15 18:09:14 |
Summary: |
MS: From Partner to Litigant Microsoft has just sued a partner, Timeline, with the contract
Clearly, contrary to Microsoft’s insinuations about Bristol and |
Snippet: |
MS: From Partner to Litigant Microsoft has just sued a partner, Timeline, with the contract
Clearly, contrary to Microsoft’s insinuations about Bristol and |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | MS: From Partner to Litigant |
Date: | 1999-07-15 20:27:54 |
Summary: |
Official: it’s legal to screw Unix – MS beats Bristol rap Bristol jury find Msoft not guilty, awards $1 in damages The court rejected anti-trust charges against Microsoft (ruling they |
Snippet: |
Official: it’s legal to screw Unix – MS beats Bristol rap Bristol jury find Msoft not guilty, awards $1 in damages The court rejected anti-trust charges against Microsoft (ruling they |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Bristol Jury Finds Msoft Not Guilty; Awards $1 in Damages |
Date: | 1999-07-17 17:48:59 |
Summary: | “A nice little business took it into an alliance with Microsoft, then it got sucked in deeper, and then the carrots started to disappear, replaced by the stick.” |
Snippet: | “A nice little business took it into an alliance with Microsoft, then it got sucked in deeper, and then the carrots started to disappear, replaced by the stick.” http://www.theregister.co.uk/990718-000005.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Analysis: How MS used the WISE Trojan Horse against Unix |
Date: | 1999-07-18 22:47:00 |
Summary: | “Bristol’s antitrust claim against Microsoft appears to have foundered at the first hurdle, with the jury deciding that there was no “relevant market” for operating systems for either technical workstations or departmental servers. If there’s no relevant market, then there’s no monopoly, so there’s no antitrust case to answer.” |
Snippet: | “Bristol’s antitrust claim against Microsoft appears to have foundered at the first hurdle, with the jury deciding that there was no “relevant market” for operating systems for either technical workstations or departmental servers. If there’s no relevant market, then there’s no monopoly, so there’s no antitrust case to answer.” |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Bristol case: how MS escaped the guilty verdict |
Date: | 1999-07-19 10:57:38 |
Summary: | “Nobody seemed to be saying that the results were excellent evidence of monopoly profits, but it may not escape Judge Jackson when he decides whether Microsoft has competed illegally.” |
Snippet: | “Nobody seemed to be saying that the results were excellent evidence of monopoly profits, but it may not escape Judge Jackson when he decides whether Microsoft has competed illegally.” by Graham Lea |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Glittering MS financials mask declining trend |
Date: | 1999-07-20 13:22:55 |
Summary: | … the WSJ quoted Mary Meeker at Morgan Stanley as saying “It’s good to see that Microsoft might be finally trying to monetise its Internet assets.” |
Snippet: | … the WSJ quoted Mary Meeker at Morgan Stanley as saying “It’s good to see that Microsoft might be finally trying to monetise its Internet assets.” |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | MS to remove Sidewalk from Road Ahead |
Date: | 1999-07-20 15:41:11 |
Summary: | On Microsoft’s purchase of Suffolk, England-based STNC: “This further demonstrated Microsoft’s commitment to, and focus on, evolving a wireless telephone platform that will enable our customers to access information anywhere, any time, from their cellular phones,” said Harel Kodesh, vice president of Microsoft’s productivity appliances unit. |
Snippet: | On Microsoft’s purchase of Suffolk, England-based STNC: “This further demonstrated Microsoft’s commitment to, and focus on, evolving a wireless telephone platform that will enable our customers to access information anywhere, any time, from their cellular phones,” said Harel Kodesh, vice president of Microsoft’s productivity appliances unit. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft buy adds to wireless plans |
Date: | 1999-07-21 18:26:37 |
Snippet: |
Win95 lives – companies are slow to shift to 98 John Lettice’s article shows some numbers which indicate an |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Win95 lives – companies are slow to shift to 98 |
Date: | 1999-07-22 16:13:59 |
Snippet: | As Microsoft investor relations site crashed my browser, I rely here on John Markoff’s report on Microsoft’s meeting with financial analysts.
Earlier Ballmer stated with regard to UNIX and Linux:
Furthermore, Markoff noted that:
Analysts predict future profits on the basis of present profit centers http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/biztech/articles/23soft.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft Tells Analysts the Future Is Good, Sort Of |
Date: | 1999-07-24 11:22:21 |
Snippet: | Nothing much changes on the Net between Friday night and (European) Saturday morning. The latter is therefore a good moment to visit Microsoft’s presspass website to find out what their latest acquisitions are and what their vision of the day is. This time I found a link to an article by Richard “Dean Dicky” Schmalensee, allegedly published in the Boston Globe. Apparently, the article was only in the paper edition, as the link unexpectedly led me to http://208.29.31.65/NERA/oped.html While the title on the page is “The government’s soft case against Microsoft”, the header title is: “NERA and the Microsoft antitrust litigation: Summaries of Schmalensee rebuttal testimony”.
Where is the competition? Does anyone see a rising
So what’s the source of this number? A survey over
So what have we here? Microsoft doesn’t have over 90%
As there is no actual competition to be pointed at by |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | THE GOVERNMENT’S SOFT CASE AGAINST MICROSOFT |
Date: | 1999-07-24 12:52:19 |
Summary: | Microsoft’s Windows, Office and Internet Explorer programs already dominate the personal computer software business. But founder Bill Gates fears increasing availability of high-speed Internet access over cable TV networks could open a door for competitors in a new world combining the Internet and TV. |
Snippet: | Microsoft’s Windows, Office and Internet Explorer programs already dominate the personal computer software business. But founder Bill Gates fears increasing availability of high-speed Internet access over cable TV networks could open a door for competitors in a new world combining the Internet and TV. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | ZDNN: Microsoft: Europe’s cable guy? |
Date: | 1999-07-26 20:28:04 |
Snippet: | Concerning Microsoft’s entry in Internet Messaging, for the time being using the protocol AOL developed, Eric Raymond observes that:
Microsoft is right, for once http://linuxtoday.com/stories/8134.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Eric S. Raymond: Microsoft is right, for once |
Date: | 1999-07-28 11:42:07 |
Summary: | “Gates sold more stock in the first half of 1999 than any other executive – $2.523 billion – but the significance is not great since he still holds around 980 million shares worth about $88 billion.” |
Snippet: | “Gates sold more stock in the first half of 1999 than any other executive – $2.523 billion – but the significance is not great since he still holds around 980 million shares worth about $88 billion.” |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Gates tops share sale list, but foundations are shallow |
Date: | 1999-07-29 11:39:43 |
Summary: | Microsoft’s breakup is being studied by the Justice Department, which has sought advice on the matter from at least two unnamed technology investment banks in recent days, according to reports. |
Snippet: | Microsoft’s breakup is being studied by the Justice Department, which has sought advice on the matter from at least two unnamed technology investment banks in recent days, according to reports. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | DOJ studies Microsoft breakup |
Date: | 1999-07-29 15:03:54 |
Snippet: | Following standard operating procedure installing Microsoft’s Messenger will destroy the installation of the AOL Messenger.
Mercury Center: Instant message battle heats up http://www.mercurycenter.com/business/top/020229.htm |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Instant message battle heats up |
Date: | 1999-07-29 18:39:05 |
Summary: | But that’s not the end of the matter … At the end of November, there will be a WTO ministerial conference in Seattle. It should come as no surprise that Gates and Philip Condit of Boeing are the co-chairmen, that Gates’ father’s law firm is the legal advisor, and that Microsoft is providing the media and public relations. That Microsoft gave money for a teacher seminar on trade to raise awareness, and that the WTO now uses Microsoft software is just a minor development. |
Snippet: | But that’s not the end of the matter … At the end of November, there will be a WTO ministerial conference in Seattle. It should come as no surprise that Gates and Philip Condit of Boeing are the co-chairmen, that Gates’ father’s law firm is the legal advisor, and that Microsoft is providing the media and public relations. That Microsoft gave money for a teacher seminar on trade to raise awareness, and that the WTO now uses Microsoft software is just a minor development. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | World trade body declares MS profits illegal |
Date: | 1999-07-30 05:19:18 |
Summary: | Since what Bill Gates says he plans to do with his fortune has all been said before, this story would not be news except that it comes hot on the heels of leaks that the DOJ is looking into breaking up Microsoft should it win its anti-trust case. |
Snippet: | Since what Bill Gates says he plans to do with his fortune has all been said before, this story would not be news except that it comes hot on the heels of leaks that the DOJ is looking into breaking up Microsoft should it win its anti-trust case. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Gates to give away fotune |
Date: | 1999-08-02 04:42:18 |
Summary: | The purpose and the timing, we believe, was an attempt to soften American public opinion and to put pressure on Judge Jackson to deal with Microsoft leniently, in view of this charitable intention. |
Snippet: | The purpose and the timing, we believe, was an attempt to soften American public opinion and to put pressure on Judge Jackson to deal with Microsoft leniently, in view of this charitable intention. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Gates’ charitable foundation: gift or PR gambit? |
Date: | 1999-08-02 22:20:28 |
Summary: | “Microsoft says its own research does not find any erosion in its public image, and claims its favourable ratings hold steady at 75 per cent. Probably Microsoft is using the same methodology it demonstrated to Judge Jackson.” |
Snippet: | “Microsoft says its own research does not find any erosion in its public image, and claims its favourable ratings hold steady at 75 per cent. Probably Microsoft is using the same methodology it demonstrated to Judge Jackson.” |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Master-slave Microsoft ratings drop |
Date: | 1999-08-03 22:13:13 |
Snippet: | I am not interested in reporting bugs in software and the same goes for security flaws. What does matter to me, is how vendors deal with them. I see no reason why Microsoft would not be able to remove the bugs and security flaws from its proprietary ActiveX technology. However, instead of being committed to deal with such issues, Microsoft is clearly preferring an approach of security through obscurity in not admitting issues. Microsoft’s justification is that it doesn’t want to have the issue published until it has fixed it, so prevent malice. This reasoning is faulty. If there would not be a problem until a bug or security flaw is widely published, there would be no reason to fix it anyway: Microsoft could rely on obscurity. Microsoft’s strategic silence with regard to bugs and security flaws happens to coincide with a marketing desire to send out nothing but positive reports on the company’s software. Microsoft’s problem is that it is perceived that the marketing angle may well be more important than the security-through-obscurity angle. From Microsoft’s attitude one could easily get the impression that Microsoft is not taking the fixing of bugs and security flaws seriously. If one additionally considers that only new features justify Microsoft’s asking money for “upgrades”, one could imagine that Microsoft is more interested in having its programmers work on such new features, than on supporting its present installed base. Of course, Microsoft upgrades are generally also the channel for bugfixes, so storing bugfixes and security fixes up until the bugfix may give customers an additional incentive to buy the upgrade. If Microsoft were truely interested in supporting its present customers, and if Microsoft had any faith in the capability of its programmers, it would admit to bugs and security flaws and have them fixed the next day. Anyway, the above is purely opinion. For some details on such matters: The Register Hackers exploit MS design flaws by Graham Lea http://www.theregister.co.uk/990803-000027.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Hackers exploit MS design flaws |
Date: | 1999-08-04 08:45:24 |
Snippet: | Microsoft’s company policy to never admit being responsible for failures can lead to silly excuses:
Smart Reseller Online http://www.zdnet.com/sr/stories/news/0,4538,2309474,00.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft to Hackers: Crack This! |
Date: | 1999-08-05 11:39:20 |
Summary: |
In this case, of The tax deduction at issue is allowed for the entertainment industry The amount in question is comparably small because the dispute covers only tax returns filed in the early 1990s. … |
Snippet: |
In this case, of course, The tax deduction at issue is allowed for the entertainment industry The amount in question is comparably small because the dispute covers only tax returns filed in the early 1990s. … |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | The other Microsoft trial: software giant vs. IRS |
Date: | 1999-08-05 15:27:07 |
Summary: | The next important step in the government’s antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. happens early this week (Tuesday) when the judge receives hundreds of pages of documents largely summarizing months of courtroom arguments. |
Snippet: | The next important step in the government’s antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. happens early this week (Tuesday) when the judge receives hundreds of pages of documents largely summarizing months of courtroom arguments. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft Case Summaries Expected |
Date: | 1999-08-09 03:03:52 |
Summary: | And we have a new ludicrous claim, apparently peddled to the press by a “company attorney,” for the first surfacing of the notion of integrating the browser into the OS – in 1992, apparently. |
Snippet: | And we have a new ludicrous claim, apparently peddled to the press by a “company attorney,” for the first surfacing of the notion of integrating the browser into the OS – in 1992, apparently. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | MS filing claims browser plans started in 1992 |
Date: | 1999-08-09 09:57:21 |
Summary: |
“Plaintiffs may have succeeded While the above is from Microsoft’s actual findng of fact, it is also worth checking out Procompetion’s remarkably accurate prediction of today’s court filing. |
Snippet: | “Plaintiffs may have succeeded in portraying Microsoft as an aggressive company that occasionally engages in tough tactics, but their burden was much higher,” Microsoft’s brief argues. “Absent some showing that Microsoft’s actions have actually prevented other companies from creating new software products and getting those products into the hands of consumers, the antitrust laws are not implicated.” While the above is from Microsoft’s actual findng of fact, it is also worth checking out Procompetion’s remarkably accurate prediction of today’s court filing. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Feds: Antitrust trial showed Microsoft abuses |
Date: | 1999-08-11 04:55:04 |
Summary: | On 3 December, a petulant and self-important Gates emailed Shaw, Paul Maritz, Tod Nielsen and Mich Mathews saying: “I am really surprised that we restricted distribution of this [1 December email] so much. My comments are the best tool we have to shift the dialog and get people to understand who gave consumers the fair price [ie. a 'free' predatory price] for browsing. Just putting it in AP doesn’t have much impact I don’t [sic] think. At least we should give it to the MAGAZINE people also.” |
Snippet: | On 3 December, a petulant and self-important Gates emailed Shaw, Paul Maritz, Tod Nielsen and Mich Mathews saying: “I am really surprised that we restricted distribution of this [1 December email] so much. My comments are the best tool we have to shift the dialog and get people to understand who gave consumers the fair price [ie. a 'free' predatory price] for browsing. Just putting it in AP doesn’t have much impact I don’t [sic] think. At least we should give it to the MAGAZINE people also.” |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Behind Bill Gates’ ‘cooked’ email |
Date: | 1999-08-11 15:05:08 |
Summary: | Since the end of 1998, DELL has been selling PCs without an operating system (i.e. without Microsoft Windows) for a discount, to our satisfaction. Hence DELL was not aimed at on the international Windows Refund Day (February 15, 1999).
But recently this changed: it’s no longer possible to buy a PC from DELL |
Snippet: | Since the end of 1998, DELL has been selling PCs without an operating system (i.e. without Microsoft Windows) for a discount, to our satisfaction. Hence DELL was not aimed at on the international Windows Refund Day (February 15, 1999).
But recently this changed: it’s no longer possible to buy a PC from DELL |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft forces DELL to deliver Windows |
Date: | 1999-08-11 19:08:15 |
Summary: | The DoJ document is shot through with embarrassing internal documentation from Microsoft which lends support to these claims. Faced with this Microsoft’s defence has taken an intriguing (some might say, desperate) approach. The company’s own finding of facts relies heavily on the written evidence provided by its witnesses. This was fairly comprehensively dismantled by the DoJ in cross-examination, and the subpoenaed MS documents played a major part in undermining it. Microsoft, however, argues that all of this can be categorised as mere courtroom theatrics, and should therefore be discounted. |
Snippet: | The DoJ document is shot through with embarrassing internal documentation from Microsoft which lends support to these claims. Faced with this Microsoft’s defence has taken an intriguing (some might say, desperate) approach. The company’s own finding of facts relies heavily on the written evidence provided by its witnesses. This was fairly comprehensively dismantled by the DoJ in cross-examination, and the subpoenaed MS documents played a major part in undermining it. Microsoft, however, argues that all of this can be categorised as mere courtroom theatrics, and should therefore be discounted. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | DoJ files on MS: ‘broad pattern of unlawful conduct’ |
Date: | 1999-08-12 10:09:21 |
Summary: | Programmer used ruse to discredit AOL’s Instant Messenger defense Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Thursday that one of its programmers apparently masqueraded as an independent computer consultant earlier this week in an effort to discredit America Online’s tactics in the companies’ quarrel over instant messaging. |
Snippet: | Programmer used ruse to discredit AOL’s Instant Messenger defense Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Thursday that one of its programmers apparently masqueraded as an independent computer consultant earlier this week in an effort to discredit America Online’s tactics in the companies’ quarrel over instant messaging. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft caught in `dirty trick’ vs. AOL |
Date: | 1999-08-13 15:10:20 |
Summary: | The trial testimony, exhibits and company “Findings of Fact” also point up a core belief Microsoft is institutionally convinced that someone else’s distant dream amounts to a clear and present threat to Microsoft’s survival, no matter how tiny a market share an erstwhile competitor may enjoy. Prior bad acts are therefore legitimate because someone, someday, may threaten the business. |
Snippet: | The trial testimony, exhibits and company “Findings of Fact” also point up a core belief Microsoft is institutionally convinced that someone else’s distant dream amounts to a clear and present threat to Microsoft’s survival, no matter how tiny a market share an erstwhile competitor may enjoy. Prior bad acts are therefore legitimate because someone, someday, may threaten the business. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | The `Findings of Fiction’ in Microsoft trial |
Date: | 1999-08-13 15:12:43 |
Summary: | “The current fight between AOL and Microsoft over instant messaging shows how the public loses when companies produce similar but incompatible products. The same ridiculous situation exists for browsing the Web because browser makers have failed to implement the common set of standards. If Microsoft wants to argue that common standards are needed for instant messaging, they should be prepared to implement existing Web standards in their browser.” |
Snippet: | “The current fight between AOL and Microsoft over instant messaging shows how the public loses when companies produce similar but incompatible products. The same ridiculous situation exists for browsing the Web because browser makers have failed to implement the common set of standards. If Microsoft wants to argue that common standards are needed for instant messaging, they should be prepared to implement existing Web standards in their browser.” |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | WEB STANDARDS PROJECT CALLS ON MICROSOFT TO FULLY SUPPORTSTANDARDS … |
Date: | 1999-08-13 15:50:30 |
Summary: | I wish Redhat Software the best, but I can’t help expecting that the stock of this company is going to reflect that fact that it operates in a crowded commodity market. It is hilarious that the company’s market capitalization is now calculated to be $5.69 billion. Anyway, read about it in The Register: Red Hat stock shoots past Microsoft’s http://www.theregister.co.uk/990814-000005.html |
Snippet: | I wish Redhat Software the best, but I can’t help expecting that the stock of this company is going to reflect that fact that it operates in a crowded commodity market. It is hilarious that the company’s market capitalization is now calculated to be $5.69 billion. Anyway, read about it in The Register: Red Hat stock shoots past Microsoft’s http://www.theregister.co.uk/990814-000005.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Red Hat stock shoots past Microsoft’s |
Date: | 1999-08-14 21:22:04 |
Summary: |
Government lawyers have In its own set of documents, Microsoft states that consumers receive |
Snippet: |
Government lawyers have In its own set of documents, Microsoft states that consumers receive |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Potential security risk is key issue |
Date: | 1999-08-15 02:52:19 |
Summary: | “In private acknowledgment that it wasn’t winning the public-image wars in its DOJ battle–Microsoft launched a concerted campaign to change the public image of the company this past spring.” |
Snippet: | “In private acknowledgment that it wasn’t winning the public-image wars in its DOJ battle–Microsoft launched a concerted campaign to change the public image of the company this past spring.” |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | The Trials Of Bill Gates |
Date: | 1999-08-16 19:18:42 |
Snippet: | The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/) published a Special Report on the Findings of Fact in the Microsoft antitrust trial by way of a series of articles by Graham Lea. Special report: Trial truth according to Microsoft http://www.theregister.co.uk/990818-000004.html Special report: Microsoft’s pitch on antitrust http://www.theregister.co.uk/990818-000005.html Special report: MS on the threat to its position http://www.theregister.co.uk/990818-000006.html Special report: MS on the Netscape-AOL deal http://www.theregister.co.uk/990818-000007.html Special report: MS on the threat from Linux et al http://www.theregister.co.uk/990818-000008.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Special Report on Findings of Fact in Microsoft antitrust trial |
Date: | 1999-08-18 12:26:36 |
Summary: |
Microsoft, on learning that their “secure” audio format had been cracked, spins the story
To protect ourselves, and the integrity of our reports, |
Snippet: |
Microsoft, on learning that their “secure” audio format had been cracked, spins the story
To protect ourselves, and the integrity of our reports, |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft’s response to UNFUCK.EXE |
Date: | 1999-08-19 05:51:01 |
Snippet: | Sometimes news is not so much what is said, as rather who says it and where. One only has to see how Jesse Berst is crucified in the Talkback section to appreciate that he dares to write what he did about the strategy behind Microsoft’s investments and acquisitions. Following the Microsoft Money Trail by Jesse Berst http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_3756.html
|
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Following the Microsoft MoneyTrail |
Date: | 1999-08-21 15:13:19 |
Summary: |
The appellate decision made it possible for both sides to claim victory. Sun said that it thought “Judge Whyte will make the necessary Sun and Microsoft are not discussing any settlement, but Sun said yesterday it would welcome any interest by Microsoft in talks. |
Snippet: |
The appellate decision made it possible for both sides to claim victory. Sun said that it thought “Judge Whyte will make the necessary Sun and Microsoft are not discussing any settlement, but Sun said yesterday it would welcome any interest by Microsoft in talks. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | MS wins Sun appeal – but it’s probably only temporary |
Date: | 1999-08-25 14:47:10 |
Summary: |
Graham Lea has written a series which summarises the DOJ’s findings of fact. |
Snippet: |
Graham Lea has written a series which summarises the DOJ’s findings of fact. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | DoJ trial summary damns MS with facts |
Date: | 1999-08-25 15:32:02 |
Summary: | Steven Levy deserves credit for finding a way to write a highly positive article on Bill Gates. As Gates being nice to his children and being enthusiastic for an entire weekend about the “ClearType” the developers in his pay came up with doesn’t undo any monopolistic practices of his company, the article contributes nothing to the evaluation Microsoft’s alleged monopolistic actions. The following fragment – actually the concluding paragraph – indicates the degree to which the 8 page long article bores Newsweek’s readership:
“Behind the Gates Myth” http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/st/ty0109_1.htm |
Snippet: | Steven Levy deserves credit for finding a way to write a highly positive article on Bill Gates. As Gates being nice to his children and being enthusiastic for an entire weekend about the “ClearType” the developers in his pay came up with doesn’t undo any monopolistic practices of his company, the article contributes nothing to the evaluation Microsoft’s alleged monopolistic actions. The following fragment – actually the concluding paragraph – indicates the degree to which the 8 page long article bores Newsweek’s readership:
Behind the Gates Myth http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/st/ty0109_1.htm |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Behind the Gates Myth |
Date: | 1999-08-27 23:11:03 |
Snippet: | AT&T and Bristol fought Microsoft in court to retain their rights to the Windows sources which they needed to produce portability and interoperability products. For a consumer the meaning of the word Windows is clear: whatever is the latest version of the operating systems that Microsoft allows OEMs to sell. Today this is effectively Windows9X and NT. For the law, things are different. Any contract with Microsoft mentions specific version of the operating system and Microsoft can terminate any such contract by renaming the OS. If they call it Windows9X with Service Pack Y, it is Windows9X, but if they call it Windows0A it is a completely different product contractwise. The same approach helped Microsoft escape from having to support java in as far as it was heading for standardization. Compaq was caught in this trap too. It paid Microsoft for the honor to produce Windows NT code, but got no IP from it. No doubt Compaq has become aware by the mentioned lawsuits that Microsoft could at any time pull the rug from under Compaq’s porting efforts by nullifying the contract, thereby destroying the value of Compaq’s investment in the NT/Alpha platform. Compaq has now jumped ship from this unfavorable situation. Three things thave have come up are interesting:
Leaked Compaq Q&A shows level of 64-bit NT Alpha chaos http://www.theregister.co.uk/990826-000016.html How a leaked Pesatori Alpha NT customer letter reads http://www.theregister.co.uk/990826-000026.html MS trashes own 64-bit plans by killing Alpha NT http://www.theregister.co.uk/990827-000021.html No maybes about it, Win2k will ship this year http://www.zdnet.com/sr/stories/column/0,4712,2321830,00.html The Retreat: The Loss of the Portability Battle http://linuxtoday.com/story.php3?sn=9262 |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-08-27 23:59:46 |
Summary: | If Microsoft feels it has to offer MSN free, it is hard to see how it will be able to recover its costs – and the European Commission may decide to investigate whether Microsoft is abusing its dominant position by leveraging its dominance in other markets. |
Snippet: | If Microsoft feels it has to offer MSN free, it is hard to see how it will be able to recover its costs – and the European Commission may decide to investigate whether Microsoft is abusing its dominant position by leveraging its dominance in other markets. |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft to relaunch MSN in Europe |
Date: | 1999-08-30 15:51:23 |
Summary: |
In addition to some serious spin See: |
Snippet: |
In addition to some serious spin upon See: |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | MS failed to spot Hotmail hack threat |
Date: | 1999-09-02 07:11:05 |
Summary: |
The government, for its |
Snippet: |
The government, for its part, |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft/DOJ file blistering rebuttals |
Date: | 1999-09-11 04:21:46 |
Snippet: |
Aubrey Edwards, group product manager for Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows NT upgrade Windows 2000, referring to Linux
Charles Fitzgerald, director of business development in Microsoft’s |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Lesson’s of a waylaid ‘giant-slayer’ |
Date: | 1999-09-13 17:58:34 |
Summary: | There is nothing like central ownership if central control is your goal. Earlier this year Microsoft entered into an “alliance” with Allaire, and nothing has been heard of Allaire’s intentions to port its ColdFusion server to Linux. More recently, Borland become owned to a significant degree by Microsoft and now Visio is wholly acquired. The days of the independent software producers are numbered. |
Snippet: | There is nothing like central ownership if central control is your goal. Earlier this year Microsoft entered into an “alliance” with Allaire, and nothing has been heard of Allaire’s intentions to port its ColdFusion server to Linux. More recently, Borland become owned to a significant degree by Microsoft and now Visio is wholly acquired. The days of the independent software producers are numbered. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft buys Visio for $1.3 billion |
Date: | 1999-09-15 20:19:10 |
Snippet: | Perhaps the United States have not yet reached the level of monopolisation once present in the Soviet-Union, but the political results of the demise of the market-system are already coming to light. The Soviet-Union had its “spontaneous outbursts” of popular outrage Similarly, in the United States today, we find popular outrage When Microsoft’s secret plan to start a “grass-roots” political Microsoft Admits Deception Firm paid for institute’s ads backing its antitrust position |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Microsoft Admits Deception – Firm paid for institute’s ads backing its antitrust position |
Date: | 1999-09-21 18:51:48 |
Summary: |
Bill Gates’ share of |
Snippet: |
Bill Gates’ share of Microsoft |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Gates’ stake in MS drops 4.5 per cent |
Date: | 1999-09-29 11:45:54 |
Snippet: | Microsoft’s Linux hit team is continuing its work to undermine the statements of Microsoft’s witnesses in court.
What do you think of the following:
The article “Linux Myths” consists of claims that http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/news/msnw/LinuxMyths.asp |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Linux Myths |
Date: | 1999-10-06 10:15:15 |
Summary: | Mr. French thinks that the U.S. Government should not extract its pound of flesh from Microsoft. Instead throw them to the dogs — let every injured party sue individually. |
Snippet: | It’s an interesting notion. If Judge Jackson does rule that Microsoft has a monopoly the floodgates will open and a flood of law suits will begin. Given access to the evidence that the government has collected, some of these suits are bound to succeed. If nothing else it should keep all of Microsoft’s executives so busy testifying in various courts that they can’t do much more harm. I suspect that this will occur no matter whether the government manages to apply any kind of remedies at all. |
By: | Rick Fane |
Reference: | The Government Shouldn’t Be the One to Make Microsoft Pay |
Date: | 1999-10-09 14:31:14 |
Summary: |
The catch is this: “My belief is that ultimately [Microsoft] wants to take a percentage of every transaction,” said Parr |
Snippet: |
The catch is this: E-wallets “My belief is that ultimately [Microsoft] wants to take a percentage of every transaction,” said Parr |
By: | Roy Bixler |
Reference: | Microsoft unveils e-wallet service |
Date: | 1999-10-11 19:34:35 |
Snippet: | Rick Moen wrote an interesting account of how Microsoft produces trade news through “independent” organizations. This time its front is Gartner, that wrote on the coming demise of Linux. See: http://www.egroups.com/group/svlug/21219.html |
By: | Case Roole |
Date: | 1999-10-16 21:27:19 |
Summary: | “The meeting between 8 Eurolinux representatives and 3 members of the European Commission’s Directorate General 15 took place on 1999-10-15 16-17 in Brussels in the DG XV office.” |
Snippet: | “The meeting between 8 Eurolinux representatives and 3 members of the European Commission’s Directorate General 15 took place on 1999-10-15 16-17 in Brussels in the DG XV office.” |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | EUROLINUX meets EU legislators |
Date: | 1999-10-22 01:44:22 |
Snippet: | Aside from its immediate legal significance, Microsoft’s Revised Findings of Fact is relevant because it presents a bottom line of accepted claims that other Microsoft publications cannot contradict without the possibility of serious legal repercussions. Microsoft’s claim that the Windows “platform” is better kept pure Similarly, claims in Microsoft’s “Linux Myths“ document contradict claims made in Microsoft’s Revised Findings of Fact. Wider knowledge of what Microsoft has claimed as being true in In order to help those interested in the fate of Linux defend |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: | Revised Findings of Fact |
Date: | 1999-10-24 23:45:00 |
Summary: | “Microsoft’s bald attempt to cut funding for its adversary, in the middle of litigation, isn’t normal politics — even by our current debased standards.” |
Snippet: | “Microsoft’s bald attempt to cut funding for its adversary, in the middle of litigation, isn’t normal politics – even by our current debased standards.” |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: |
Print Edition Today’s Editorials Sunday Outlook Front Page Articles On Our Site Talk Central Editorials Hardball and Windows |
Date: | 1999-10-28 02:27:18 |
Summary: | I have extracted those paragraphs from Judge Jackson’s findings of fact in the antitrust case against Microsoft that contain the word “Linux” or “open-source”. |
Snippet: | I have extracted those paragraphs from Judge Jackson’s findings of fact in the antitrust case against Microsoft that contain the word “Linux” or “open-source”. |
By: | Case Roole |
Reference: |
“Linux” and “Open-Source” in Microsoft Antitrust Judge’s Findings of Fact |
Date: | 1999-11-06 23:52:09 |
Also see: