“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

--Bill Gates (in reference to China)

Summary: Microsoft brings lawsuits to the table in hopes of increasing revenue

Microsoft is now under great pressure to recover from economic problems [1, 2, 3]. Now perhaps is the time to "collect", as the phrase as the top calls it.

This second phase in the predatory strategy actually began a while ago (lawsuits in China) and now we are seeing results. From The China Daily:

Microsoft wins piracy lawsuit

[...]

China's Do-It-Yourself personal computer market has proven a chronic headache for Microsoft Corp, which is continually battling the use of pirated software.

But the US-based software giant won a skirmish this month, when a Beijing court ruled against a major custom PC dealer accused of pre-installing pirated Microsoft Windows and Office software.

As our reader Fewa puts it, they should refer to it as "copyright infringement", not "piracy".

“Given that Microsoft is borrowing money, it is difficult to tell just how badly it's really doing.”"You get these long articles completely about copyright infringement but they don't even mention the term," he argues. "Instead [we hear] the BS about IPR and pirating, which 50 years ago meant the polar opposite of what it means today."

Microsoft's new business model seems to revolve around racketeering. Microsoft is threatening shops using the "IPR" card and it also does this to GNU/Linux users and vendors. Microsoft brings nothing to the table other than bullying.

Given that Microsoft is borrowing money, it is difficult to tell just how badly it's really doing. Many people knew nothing about the company of Microsoft's co-founder until it fell into $21.7 billion in debt and suddenly declared that it had filed for bankruptcy protection. From the news at Reuters:

Charter, which is controlled by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) co-founder Paul Allen, filed for bankruptcy protection in March, buckling under the weight of $21.7 billion in debt, but said at the time it had reached agreements with key stakeholders that would allow it to exit bankruptcy in a matter of months.

Quietly enough, $21.7 billion in debt, eh? Witness the marvels of the "Invisible Hand" and the "Free Market". When it all fails, taxpayers will pay for it. ⬆