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Documents Unsealed in Microsoft/Caldera Case

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the stuff-to-read dept.

Mirele writes "The Salt Lake Tribune reports in an article today that a lot of formerly secret documents that Microsoft had submitted in the now-settled Caldera case have been unsealed. These documents include a deposition by a former Microsoftie that indicated she had destroyed e-mail correspondence when urged to do so by her boss. They also show Microsoft's inclination to overdesignate documents as secret. The judge unsealed all but about 30 documents. "

4 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Re:A 'Troll'? by dirk · · Score: 5
    You are not imagining things. Every time I see the "Bill Gates of Borg" icon, I know I will see a flood of pro-MS FUD and anti-Linux/Open Source diatribes posted in the discussion within. You will also note many of them are bitter, angry posts about how "unfair" poor Microsoft is treated on Slashdot. Utterly ridiculous, considering that for years nearly all of the "mainstream" computer/internet press acted like they were part of the MS PR Dept. I've always been glad that Slashdot was here, to deflate some of that - not just from MS, but from any large company.


    I alwayd find posts like these funny. Being someone who likes MS (no, I don't agree with everything they've done, but I also don't think they are evil and the spawn of satan) and someone who has tried Linux and thinks it could be good given time to mature and if companies port software to it, I guess I am an MS FUD spreader. People seem to think the point of /. is to bash Ms and support OSS, and I'm not sure where they got that idea. /. was created to basically give an outlet for people to express "unpopular" opinions (yes, at the time it was mostly OSS people, but it wasn't created to praise OSS). Now people seem to think that it was built for them to praise OSS and bash MS and anything else deemed "unworthy" of the praise of the open source community, thus thrusting us into the reverse of the original situation. People who don't want to see MS destroyed are now the "unpopular" opinion being held down be the OSS masses. Just because someone doesn't think MS is evil and must be destroyed by any means nessasary doesn't make them part of the "MS PR department" anymore than liking Linux makes you an automatic "Linux zealot". /. is not for OSS discussion, it is for discussion, period.

    --

    "Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
  2. I've got a secret minature document by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5
    With much poking around, I was able to uncover some of the 30 still sealed documents. Though government ninja SEALs came into my house before I could make copies, I did manage to make a note of some of the titles. This is what I found:
    1. MS-Empire Beta specs
    2. Prostitutes in the Pacific-Northwest
    3. MS-Cheese: a proposal
    4. The Satanic Bible
    5. Hop on Pop
    6. H4X0R YR m0m
    7. O'Reily's Evil in a Nutshell
    8. Clinton's Porn Bookmarks
    9. Trolling /. for Dummies
    10. The Neiman-Marcus Cookie archives
    11. Natalie Portman: a proposal
    12. Mein Kampf for Dummies
    13. e-mail Subject: let's see DR-DOS heal THIS one!!!!
    14. The Victoria's Secret fall catalogue
    15. Aug 22, 1989 New York Times
    16. A guide to burning socks
    17. Visual Masturbation Studio: a proposal
    18. Advanced Petrification

    hopefully this will shed a little light on the state of affairs . . .
  3. Will the internet change companies? by bons · · Score: 5
    Let us look at a few cases: Microsoft, eToys, DeCSS, Amazon, Doubleclick...

    All of these companies have performed action that worked well in the file and forget media of the past. The actions of any of these companies would be forgotten a year from now if they were reported on TV, radio, newspapers, or even Time.

    But that doesn't happen anymore. Now the articles tend to remain. Older article's can be stored in search engines, links to them persist. In the case of eToys, the personal "boycott eToys" web pages will probably be around for awhile.

    I predict that the days companies can afford to overreact are limited. These actions by Microsoft will be remembered. Doubleclick's "please pull your article" blunder only increases the unfavorable press about them. DeCSS is now easier to find than Linux installation instructions.

    The internet is different from conventional media in three ways: the target audience is larger, the speed of communication is faster, and the memory is more persistant.

    Companies that want to survive in the long term will have to take this into account in the future. At $16 1/16 per share (down from $65, IPO @ $20), the lesson of eToys will need to be learned by everyone else. I expect to see "ads not provided by DoubleClick" messages under adspaces soon, especially with links pointed to news articles or /. stories. (not a bad idea for Andover)

    And that kind of damage can last a long time.

    -----

    --

    No Zen is good zen

  4. Oversealing is a steganographic strategy by Effugas · · Score: 5

    It should be obvious why anyone overseals documents--say you don't want 100 documents from being released. Rather than seal those 100--and thus making obvious which ones *you* consider the most damaging, seal 2000. If you lose the case, and all the documents need to be unsealed, you haven't told the press or your enemies which 100 to look into for damaging information. You prevent leakage of information by hiding content in plain sight.

    Yours Truly,

    Dan Kaminsky
    DoxPara Research
    http://www.doxpara.com