Microsoft Antitrust Update

You can't help but know that Microsoft and the Department of Justice (plus several of the states that joined in the suit) are attempting to settle their antitrust dispute. The rest of the states are holding out for a settlement with more teeth, or a continuation of the case. A few links from the past few days: The LA Times looks at the states still opposing Microsoft. Microsoft defended the settlement before a Senate committee, which was crippled by political maneuvering (see also the NYT story). The speech given by the CEO of Red Hat is online. Microsoft filed a brief with the court, unsurprisingly urging the court to accept the settlement. The Register has a story on the proposed settlement, which is available at the DOJ Antitrust website. Linuxplanet has some advice for people who want to comment on the settlement - you've got 60 days from November 28. Finally, Microsoft has named two people to help it comply with the proposed settlement.

Comments

Compliance Officers?

[srw]

I don't understand. Microsoft is going to pay some people to tell them when they're not in compliance?
Does this sound like it's really going to work?
Shouldn't a "Compliance Officer" be appointed by the DOJ or some other agency?

Re:Compliance Officers?

[hawk]

>- One chosen by Microsoft

One officer to rule them all,

>- One chosen by the DOJ/US Government

One officer to bind them,

>- One chosen by the above two people

One officer found by them, and in the darknes blinded . . .

:)

hawk

To the point

[Migrant Programmer]

There's a great stress relief tool relating to the settlement now available from Nitrozac and Snaggy at The Joy of Tech!

Enjoy!

Move on folks

[Ars-Fartsica]

Microsoft won this round. What you are hearing now is the death-rattle of the NOISE (Netscape, Oracle, IBM, Sun and Everyone but Microsoft) lobbying effort, the members of which have independently moved on even if their hot air continues to plod forward through the government.

The government isn't turning off Microsoft. Microsoft isn't turning off linux, and AOL owns everything else. There is your new reality. Lets move on.

Re:Move on folks

[Linux_ho]

Is NOISE associated with the FMC? (F* Microsoft Consortium). I'm a card-carrying member of the FMC, but I haven't heard of NOISE before.

anti-microsoft

[mhandlon]

I used to be hardcore anti-Microsoft only Linux. But, visual c++ 6.0 is really a good compiler and I like the interface so I have to be Microsoft-passive now.

...and the compliance officers are:

[Anonymous Coward]

O.J. Simpson and former Lt. Col. Oliver North

Justice for the Rich

[darkov]

Dear Judge,
I understand that you have found me guilty of this crime and I am willing to make a mends. I promise not to do the same crime again, or at least in the same way, and I'll also stop doing other bad things, well at least the ones you've caught me doing. I even agree to make sure that I don't do exactly the same crime by hiring a couple of people who will be very strict with me and spank me most serverly if I do it again.
Regards...

Re:Justice for the Rich

[4of12]

They can only snitch to the DOJ.

But you neglect to emphasize just how critically important this will be to an effective remedy.

Consider a "Use Case" - I'm using an advanced internet/computer/software term here - to illustrate the effectiveness of this part of the remedy.

Aggrieved small software supplier: "Hey! MS told me they would work with me so my exciting new application could be brought out in Windows SX, but they changed the API and released a competitive product that, while technically inferior to mine, will swallow the marketplace whole due to preinstalled base on new Windows SX computers!"

DOJ:"API? What? Microsoft changing their Private Investigator? I didn't think they had one! At least, not the last few months that we've been working closely with them to help restore innovation in America."

"Excuse me, are you of Middle Eastern descent?"

Best soundbyte from Bill Lockyer

[Queuetue]

CA's attourney statement that "It's a little like Big Tobacco being found guilty of selling cigarettes to minors, and the remedy is for them to agree to give them free cigarettes."

Re:Dear Santa

[Anonymous Coward]

Taliban uses BSD,

Taliban is dying,

Therefore BSD is .....

Re:let sleeping dogs die

[cavemanf16]

all this trouble going into knocking down the giant could be avoided if people just waited until after it had cut it's ownlegs off.

They don't have time for that kind of nonsense. They're too busy hacking the limbs off their competitors, as their falsified videotapes in court showed us all.