03.04.07
Happy Browsing Through Microsoft’s Antitrust Exhibits
History can return to life when written communication gets resurrected then exposed. If you have been following Microsoft litigation, you must have heard about their short-yet-intensified battles in the State of Iowa. With quotes
like this one from Jim Allchin, who can possibly defend the Microvell deal?
[Allchin, a very senior Microsoft manager:] “We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger… If you’re going to kill someone, there isn’t much reason to get all worked up about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Any discussions beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger.”
Under undisclosed terms, Microsoft has recently paid to settle Iowa’s class action lawsuit and (yet again!) escape prosection. Immediately after that, many valuable documents were no longer available for public access. But worry not, my friends. After a few weeks, everything was resurrected. The extensive mirror, http://edge-op.org/iowa/www.iowaconsumercase.org/ , has been up for a while. Merely each exhibit there, among thousands, contains an example of Microsoft ‘dirty tricks’, be it fraud, extortion, technical sabotage, exclusionary contracts, FUD, or malicious and uncompetitive tactics. Enjoy browsing as many secrets contained therein have not received the public attention they deserve. Spread the word. Knowledge will save us from ignoring history’s lessons.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
Draconishinobi said,
March 5, 2007 at 7:10 pm
“We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger”
I suppose that’s what they’re doing right at this moment
BTW, this link is broken:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Microsoft_Iowa_Settlement.html
Roy Schestowitz said,
March 5, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Thanks. I got it fixed. The URL has changed completely since the actual settlement was reached. Maybe some more 404s were part of the deal. You know, hiding the trails…
I’m kidding, of course, but I heard that CNN has a tendency to eliminate pro-Linux articles that reside in their archives. Again, let’s not hypothesise too much.
Draconishinobi said,
March 5, 2007 at 11:34 pm
What can I say … “you can count on CNN” … the central propaganda network … pay em a large lump sum and they’ll cheerfully spread your propaganda amongst the proles.
Anyway, I was thinking of downloading the whole Iowa trial site you have posted … looks like valuable stuff. Unfortunately, wget obeys the robots.txt
… I’ll find a way.
loxo said,
May 24, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Whoa, it’s all true, it’s one thing to listen to hearsay but this stuff is straight from the horses’ mouth.