Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:50 UTC (Thu) by TxtEdMacs (guest, #5983)Parent article: Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
I think to many of the comments are missing the real significance of the MS threat. Implicitly they are now admitting that they cannot beat Linux based upon either technical merit or TCO arguments. What are they left with?
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:20 UTC (Thu)
by sphealey (guest, #1028)
[Link] (9 responses)
A multi-prong legal attack involving patent lawsuits (probably through third parties), mandating of patented/protected DRM technology for certain types of transactions (banking, interaction with government agencies), and laws outright banning the GPL.
They have been laying the groundwork for this for about 2 years now; I would expect some serious movement in the next 12 months while "political capital" is being spent.
sPh
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:26 UTC (Thu)
by emkey (guest, #144)
[Link] (7 responses)
I suspect a lot of this stupidity is coming from people other then Gates who were raised in the rather retarded Microsoft culture. Of course that culture is his creation.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:43 UTC (Thu)
by sphealey (guest, #1028)
[Link] (6 responses)
Unfortunately I don't have time to write an essay, so please don't take offense at how my tone comes across.
Why will they fail? How will it wound them? The recording and movie industries are being VERY successful at crushing any alternative distribution channels and having those who disagree with them crushed in court (not excepting 12 year old children).
Pretty much any restrictive legislation can be passed in the US now by referencing "terrorism". DRM will be pushed through on a HomeSec bill. Outlawing of GPL will be attached to a DoD appropriation. No legislator will dare to vote against the bills just to excise those small section - not after what happened to Kerry.
Sorry, but that is where I see it heading.
sPh
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:58 UTC (Thu)
by ewan (guest, #5533)
[Link] (2 responses)
That is how it would wound them. If the cost of dealing with the US
Posted Nov 18, 2004 18:06 UTC (Thu)
by ccchips (subscriber, #3222)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Nov 19, 2004 10:49 UTC (Fri)
by nix (subscriber, #2304)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 21:02 UTC (Thu)
by emkey (guest, #144)
[Link]
As for the recording industry, you have a point. Part of the issue there though is not enough producers are willing to buck the trend.
These things are cyclical. The deeper/steeper a particular swing, the more severe the backlash. In many ways we're still suffering from the backlash of the 1960's for instance.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 7:17 UTC (Fri)
by ekj (guest, #1524)
[Link]
??AA has been pretty successful in getting attention for their shotgun-tactic in the media, perhaps enough so that sharing of movies and music is fractionally lower than it would otherwise have been, afterall it's plausible that some have gotten scared.
But they have also:
If this is success, then yeah, I guess.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 12:11 UTC (Fri)
by zotz (guest, #26117)
[Link]
Perhaps, but they have also been VERY successful in getting me to cut way back on my business dealings with them and to become more active in creating Free (GPL software Creative Commons writings, etc.) works as an alternative.
It would not surprise me to find they have had the same effect on others.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/userinfo.php?uid=47354
I have committed to others to release the nanowrimo first draft of this book under a creative commons licence if I reach the goal.
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22drew...
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topi...
zotz
Posted Nov 18, 2004 23:02 UTC (Thu)
by TxtEdMacs (guest, #5983)
[Link]
You very well may be correct, indeed in the U.S. this battle might well be lost. However, I see MS actions as revealing act of desperation it can no longer work so far behind the scenes. They are being forced to act.
However, even if they <i>win</i>, they lose. Here and abroad there will be trade offs. There will be some significant corporate opposition and new engendered distrust of MS's ambitions. Abroad they may compromise current inroads and good will.
Consider India, which has a new research center promised with a fairly significant hiring in the offing by MS. If they are observed to be vicious to get their Windows only milieu in the U.S. their Indian partners are open to the nationalist card that they played to get into office. The middle class is large and significant in India, but much less so than imagined by our publications and TV. China would be a dead, complete loss - they remember too many slights by militarily superior, but to them culturally inferior states to follow any dictation by the U.S. Even the E.U. states might be miffed and more likely to pursue an independent path.
The sad truth is the U.S.A. is just not as important and the policies of the present regime has contributed to loss of status. So while MS can spend its political capital here, perhaps even unnoticed by the electorate it will be noted here and abroad in many places. Some may later play a role in paying back in kind.
> What are they left with?What is Microsoft left with?
If they go this route they'll fail and it will wound them big time. Gates is stubborn as heck but I don't think he's this stupid. Microsoft fought the Internet tooth and nail in the early 90's. When it became obvious they couldn't win they did a complete 180. Look for them to do the same here as well.What is Microsoft left with?
> If they go this route they'll fail and it will What is Microsoft left with?
> wound them big time.
> Pretty much any restrictive legislation can be passed in the US now
What is Microsoft left with?
becomes too high to bear we'll all just stop doing it.
Hmmm...see my earlier comment about the decline and fall of the United Nations (which, frankly, in my opinion, was largely created while the US was the only A-bomb holder.)What is Microsoft left with?
I hear that this little island off the coast of Europe (whose name I forget) and this big country (then run by a nasty person) where they use a weird alphabet were involved as well.What is Microsoft left with?
They'll fail when the pain level become too high for the world at large. Europe has already turned down software patents, at least for now.What is Microsoft left with?
I guess that depends on what criteria you use for success.What is Microsoft left with?
"The recording and movie industries are being VERY successful at crushing any alternative distribution channels and having those who disagree with them crushed in court (not excepting 12 year old children)."What is Microsoft left with?
/* A multi-prong legal attack involving patent lawsuits (probably through third parties), mandating of patented/protected DRM technology for certain types of transactions (banking, interaction with government agencies), and laws outright banning the GPL.*/What is Microsoft left with?