Microsoft's protocol license agreement
Microsoft's protocol license agreement
Posted Nov 8, 2004 15:37 UTC (Mon) by cpm (guest, #3554)Parent article: Microsoft's protocol license agreement
Steve Ballmer and Dick Cheney are buddies.
Is anyone really suprised?
I'm sorry to appear overly cynical. But now that the triumverate
Ashcroft,Bush,Cheney cabal is freed from any concerns about their
dominance of US policy, Steve and Company are pretty much free to
do as they please.
No court under the dominion of Ashcroft is going to do anything
*about* microsoft. This has already been clearly demonstrated.
Posted Nov 8, 2004 16:22 UTC (Mon)
by sab39 (guest, #2185)
[Link] (7 responses)
(Now, with Bush likely to nominate a Supreme Court Justice, there may still be problems in this department - but it's not Ashcroft's department)
Posted Nov 8, 2004 17:33 UTC (Mon)
by cpm (guest, #3554)
[Link] (5 responses)
US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly did a very admirable job
Oh! wait, in the face of overwhelming incontrovertable evidence
Yes, the courts are doing a wonderful job.
Posted Nov 8, 2004 19:06 UTC (Mon)
by sab39 (guest, #2185)
[Link] (4 responses)
There's no evidence to say what any judge would or wouldn't have done if the Justice Department had been willing to see the case through to the end. But when the organization in charge of prosecuting the case essentially concedes it (as happened with the change of Administration), there's not much the judge can do.
Posted Nov 8, 2004 20:42 UTC (Mon)
by cpm (guest, #3554)
[Link] (3 responses)
As long as *someone* who is BIGGER than the US Department
got it.
Posted Nov 8, 2004 20:44 UTC (Mon)
by cpm (guest, #3554)
[Link] (2 responses)
Or, perhaps in the face of current and past
Posted Nov 9, 2004 17:16 UTC (Tue)
by sab39 (guest, #2185)
[Link] (1 responses)
Can't blame the courts for the fact that all the plaintiffs are (as the Governator would put it) legal girlie men...
Posted Nov 9, 2004 21:49 UTC (Tue)
by cpm (guest, #3554)
[Link]
MS can, and will tie things up until it get terms it can live with,
Posted Nov 8, 2004 18:44 UTC (Mon)
by Baylink (guest, #755)
[Link]
Posted Nov 8, 2004 17:39 UTC (Mon)
by frazier (guest, #3060)
[Link] (2 responses)
I didn't vote for either Kerry or Bush this political cycle.
Posted Nov 9, 2004 7:35 UTC (Tue)
by mbp (subscriber, #2737)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Nov 9, 2004 9:48 UTC (Tue)
by frazier (guest, #3060)
[Link]
Bark! Say "This sucks and I won't support it!" I have no party affiliation, but if I did, I wouldn't have voted for either major presidentail candidiate regardless. #5 (Kerry) vs. #19 (Bush) just doesn't attract to me either way. This was an easy election to win, but the Democrats presented #5 instead.
The courts aren't under the "dominion" of Ashcroft. The Justice Department is. This means that the government *itself* won't go after Microsoft, but not that the courts won't provide a fair verdict if someone else decides to.Microsoft's protocol license agreement
You're right.Microsoft's protocol license agreement
handling the microsoft anti-trust case. The verdict in that case
was certainly fair, wouldn't you agree?
of wrong doing, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave Microsoft a pass. Put them in charge of their own settlement, gave them dominion
over their own oversight, and instructed them to further tighten their
grip on the educational system.
The courts can't force a plaintiff not to settle if that plaintiff is determined to do so. The plaintiff was the Justice Department.Microsoft's protocol license agreement
Okay, I get it. Microsoft's protocol license agreement
of Justice goes after Microsoft, then the courts will be
fair and honest.
Yes, I am being cynical.Microsoft's protocol license agreement
events, skeptical.
Actually I was suggesting that as long as *anyone* actually goes after them and sticks to it, the courts will be (at least to a first approximation) fair and honest. Seems that everyone who might have a case decides to settle instead, though - Sun, AOL/Netscape, and now Novell. In at least two out of three of these cases, "settle" appears to be a euphemism for "bend over"... too little information to tell if Novell's in that boat, yet, but their pullout from the European antitrust case suggests that it might have been.Microsoft's protocol license agreement
Well, in the end, I think everyone settles, because Microsoft hasMicrosoft's protocol license agreement
very deep pockets, and knows that if a Sun/Novell or whatever is
really going to be responsible to its stockholders, it's going to
take the money, rather than spend every last nickle in a vain
hope that it will live long enough to collect a judgement.
and no one has pocket deep enough to test MS in the long haul.
And more importantly, the press seems to think Ashcroft is not long for this regime...Microsoft's protocol license agreement
Following Microsoft political money
It may be that Microsoft employees/shareholders/alumni donated a comparable or larger amount of money to that given directly in Microsoft's name. I wouldn't be surprised if it skewed towards Kerry too, given the north-west and intelligence bias.Following Microsoft political money
The bigger moral is that both parties are playing (payed) in the battle for information rights. I hope everyone out there that cares about information rights will bark at their corresponding political parties. Following Microsoft political money