03.23.08
Recollections a Year After Comes vs Microsoft
A reader has asked us to make a mention and a clarification about Comes vs Microsoft, of which we hold a very partial exhibits archive (stored as plain text).
The reader asks:
Would it be possible to request a nutshell summary of what Comes vs Microsoft was about and the outcome? I’d like to point people to this page but would like to not have to explain the case each time myself.
http://boycottnovell.com/comes-iowa-trial-exhibits/
“The Web site containing court exhibits went down as a result, but copies of it had been made and then shared through BitTorrent.”We have made slight modifications to the page, thanks to this reader’s suggestion. Many articles were published about that at the time. Groklaw covered this also. The case took a long trip into the past and dug up Microsoft’s ‘greatest hits’. It strives to show that Microsoft had overcharged Iowans by choosing to be predatory and by breaking the rules.
Microsoft settled the case very quickly. The Web site containing court exhibits went down as a result, but copies of it had been made and then shared through BitTorrent. In relation to this, our reader tells us:
Yes. I was just starting to use the web site. I presume shutting down the web site was part of the “settlement”.
…but to be clear, the site went down a long time ago. But at the time I was just starting to use it. IIRC one of the other settlements (vs Caldera?) required that court records be destroyed.
Also related to this:
- Iowa Memos Provide a Mouthful About Novell and Microsoft
- Novell and Microsoft E-mails: More Blasts from the Past
- Another Blast from the Past (1999): Microsoft Says Novell Raises Its Ugly Head Again
- Another Novell Betrayal Story Returns from the Past
- Bill Gates and His 'Attack Groups'
- Blast from the Past: A Look Back at Microsoft's Predatory Response to Novell
- Studying Exclusionary Deals with OEMs
- Microsoft: “Evangelism is WAR!” [as Text] (Updated)
- Chris “Microsoft” Pirillo (Microsoft MVP) on Antitrust Settlement
- Happy Browsing Through Microsoft's Antitrust Exhibits
The trial may be over, but large piles of documents are still available for exploration.
Ways people can help include OCRing of the scanned PDFs. Optimally, all exhibits should be stored online as plain text, preferably with commentary that adds context and explains how one exhibit relates to another. █
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.