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More Details of MS/DOJ Deal
There are various news articles out at most major news sites, but they're all based on this press release from the Department of Justice. The actual terms of the settlement will probably become public shortly, so I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time trying to dissect this press release. Just read it for generalities. In sum: for this whole multi-year case, which you will recall started when Microsoft refused to obey its earlier behavior restrictions, we have more behavior restrictions, lasting only five years. And if MS doesn't obey those, they'll ... be in effect longer. Update: 11/02 15:07 GMT by M : Here are the promised terms of the settlement. Now you can dissect them. :) Update: 11/02 15:53 GMT by M : The states are refusing to sign on.
no posts - though this is gettign rettyold hat. THe gov't needs somethign more threatening to fines for corps. (remembering an old thread about applying the death penalty to corps. since they are legal entities)
-shpoffo
The worst terrorist attack in recorded history occurred in September, and now we're involved in a WAR against Islam and you people have the gall to be discussing the MS/DOJ deal???? My *god*, people, GET SOME PRIORITIES!
The bodies of the thousands of innocent civilians who died (and will die) in these unprecedented events could give a good god damn about predatory software monopolies, your childish Lego models, your nerf toy guns and whining about the lack of a "fun" workplace, your Everquest/Diablo/D&D fixation, the latest Cowboy Bebop rerun, or any of the other ways you are "getting on with your life" (here's a hint: watching Cowboy Bebop in your jammies and eating a bowl of Shreddies is *not* "getting on with your life"). The souls of the victims are watching in horror as you people squander your finite, precious time on this earth playing video games!
You people disgust me!
No, that could hurt. It's probably more equivalent to that so-called "Impeachment".
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
Thank you, sir!
May I have another?
- John Q. Public
Sque-e-e-e-e-e-l like a pig! Sque-e-e-e-e-e-el louder! Sque-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-l louder!
you get what you pay for.
The difference between Theory and Practice is greater in Practice than in Theory.
yeh... its a crime against hte united states to get a hummer...
come on...
Its a good thing to be president of the united states.
Its a good thing to get a hummer in your office by an young intern...
how does combining the two make it a bad thing?
... hi bingo
Yes folks, I'm tired. Getting modded up at 50 and getting nothing from it is such a bore. Bouncing around in the high 40s just isn't worth it anymore. In fact, you might even say I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE.
That's why I'm going to blow my Karma brains out, right here on national TV, err... um... international web... err.. whatever. You get the idea.
Heck, I might even go for negative karma. I mean, VA Linux, err... um... VA Software or VA Chicken Processing or whatever business they are in this week is going to fold soon anyway. What difference does it really make? So go ahead mods, do your worst.
==========
While I'm waiting for the submission timeout, let me take some time to remind you all of something. This is especially true for the young, impressionable people in the audience: Suicide is not the answer in real life. This is just an amusing Slashdot fantasy suicide. Real suicide is NEVER the answer. If you feel the least bit suicidal, talk to a parent, teacher, clergyman, or other trusted individual. If they make a grab for you, stop trusting them and talk to another trusted individual. If they all make a grab for you, and you are a chick, e-mail me because you must be really HOT!!!
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
What are you talking about? I thought hummer was some kind of American car?
Last I checked, Microsoft never killed anybody and Bill Gates has not called for any civilians to be mass murdered.
Yea, Windows is an atrocity much lie the 9/11 attacks.
You should be modded down for being so moronic, but some leftist moderator will probably prop you back up.
...talking about a certain act of hooverism...
you really think that lying about a blow-job ranks up there with other "high-crimes and misdemeanors" like treason, eh?
...
the president has explicit immunity from most laws
... hi bingo
Good lord! He dared to question the wisdom of the case against Microsoft!
Kill the heathen! Moderate him to hell! Kill the heathen! Moderate him to hell!
Yeah too bad no matter how much money you throw at it, the usability will always suck ass since it is designed by geeks.
Does this mean that the DPB is a troll once again? Could it be that the slashdot pricks have finally pushed you back over the edge with their this clearly shows that Dead Penis Bird is a troll posts?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Dressing up as a woman, like good old J. Edgar?
I have no idea what is being discussed now.
Have you noticed how often members of the press refer to Bush as "Mister Bush" and not "President Bush"? Happens all the time. And it cracks me up every time.
At least you don't find websites on MSN, Zone, Hotmail, etc that require a Microsoft Keyboard or Mouse.
Heh... "This site requires MS brain and eyeballs to view..."
Bush Lies Watch
The one thing we know for sure is that if Alice Gore had taken either his (Tennesee) or Clinton's (Arkansas) home state in the election, the Florida votes would not have mattered.
Gore lost in his own home state, not in Florida.
Can we PLEASE get over the election fiasco.
Dear Al,
Yesterday, we found some more votes from the election. Congratulations, you won! When do you want to take over?
Sincerely,
Dubya
Bush Lies Watch
God damnit. What liberal moron is still pissed about the election to Offtopic mod my post?
Let me spell it out for you.
Clinton Impeachment = Taxpayers money wasted to learn the truth about blowjobs, with no punishment.
Microsoft Settlement = Taxpayers money wasted to disclose the truth about leveraging a monopoly, with no punishment.
I think there needs to be an age restriction for moderators.
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
Personally, I think that that affair was responsible for extending the economic expansion for several years. It happened just as the world was going down in economic flames. Asia is going down the toilet, Europe is slumping, but who the hell cares? The president is getting nookie in the Oval Office and the Republicans are going to try to nail his hide the wall because of it.
It had dramatic plot twists, juicy revelations, nasty rumors, villains galore. How about those press jackals for starters? I loved reading the insights of a friend of a roomate of one of her college chums into her character (she was a slob who didn't pick up her room, apparently). It was fun to abhor, on one hand, the reporters who dredged up these ripe tidbits, and on the other the nebbishes desperate for the notoriety that having a little inside "information" would give them. I loved the pop sociologists swarming out of the woodworks to tell us about the post-gen-X attitudes toward fellatio. You could feel superior while salaciously lapping up all the steaming fetid garbage the press could supply.
I loved the impeachment process with its air of arcane ceremony ceremony and the seething, cathartic enmity underneath. It was like watching a druidic exorcism ritual in which some person might be burned to death in a wicker basket (only no real people or animals would be hurt in the production -- just politicians).
Now the old show has folded up, and the new one isn't nearly as fun (despite a promising start with the FL fiasco -- Bush should have found a much more visible role in his administration for Ms. Harris). The new star isn't nearly as charismatic or compelling; you can't really love to love or love to hate him. He'd be OK in a supporting comic role (like Mr. Quayle of yore), but he is no Clinton, Reagan, Nixon or Kennedy. People are leaving the theater and looking around in the bright sunlight, and finding that things don't look so good. Reality has hit us like a hangover, and Mr. Bin-Laden hasn't contributed much to restoring our former joie de vivre.
Only a year has gone by, and already I am nostalgic for that smarmy, but oddly compelling charisma of Mr. Clinton. Alas, his alloted two terms are gone.
But there is one potential bright spot:
Jobs in 2004!
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
My point was that, in the US, most people's only interaction with the police is the act of receiving a ticket. Regardless of how nice the police are in such a case, this creates an antagonistic relationship between the citizens and the police. This is not good. Throw in the concept of speed traps (these are really idiotic, in my opinion), and you create a system where the police are *against* the public, and vice-versa.
In the UK, you almost never get pulled over by a police officer, at least for speeding. There are speed cameras everywhere. They are usually pretty well marked. You know they're coming in enough time to slow down (there are signs usually about 1 mile before the cameras). They aren't desinged to catch speeders in the act; instead, they're designed to prevent speeding in the first place. And they are pretty effective, too.
In the end, you end up with a photo of your license plate sent to your house (yes, I know--with moving violations in the States, you must be able to connect the driver with the car--that's not a problem here). This means that in such cases you aren't faced with a situation between law enforcement and citizens that often leads towards an antagonistic relationship between the two. This simply doesn't happen in the UK. If you have an antagonistic first-person relationship with the police, it's for other reasons (such as your race or religion... hehehe... just kidding).
This is the case in Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, or Houston. It is an inevitable outcome of a situation where citizens' primary contact with law enforcement is through the writing of speed tickets.
--Be human.
This person is right on target. PLEASE MODERATE IT UP!
Thousands of people die everyday. No one says anything about these people. People are murdered every day, people are raped every day no one says anything about these people. I am willing to bet that one person dies every day in either Israel or Palastine yet I have seen any sympathy for these people. Maybe I am just a little cold hearted but when I die I don't want people wallowing in sorrow and making their already hard lives that much worse.
Spelled entirely in lower case, no longer a proper noun, utterly disassociated from the Beast of Redmond, the common name for the device that we all love so much will have become "microsoft"
In whatever form it will evolve into, physically, in the general vernacular it'll be called a "microsoft"
Sad..
t_t_b
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?