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Feds to Publish Public Comments on MS Settlement

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the spam-forward dept.

Silas writes: "This AP Article notes that the government is going to be releasing the comments submitted by the public on the Microsoft anti-trust case. Highlight: 'Overall, the department said it received about 7,500 comments from people in favor of the settlement reached by the federal government and nine states, while 15,000 opposed it. Another 7,000 comments were dismissed as opinion, like "I hate Microsoft."' Apparently they have to publish and respond to each one." CNN is carrying the AP wire story as well.

5 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. Everybody gets it nowadays... by Hee+Hee+Hee · · Score: 3, Informative
    From the Report, regarding public comments:

    A small number of these submissions are simply advertisements or, in at least one case, pornography.

    It also said that all submitters of comments will have their names listed in the Federal Register.

    Cool! I'll be famous!

    I submitted a comment...did you?

    --
    - Bill
  2. This demonstrates strong progress in MS-Awareness by Omega · · Score: 4, Informative
    The 7,000 PRO; 15,000 AGAINST; and 7,000 opinion numbers reflect a definite change in how people communicate their displeasure with the anti-competitive and illegal business practices of Microsoft.

    Only 5 years ago, a great many people would have e-mailed flame after flame to the DOJ against Microsoft; founded not on evidence or logic, but on emotional, personal opinion. But thanks to PR awareness and education in the community, more people can cite specific evidence or examples of Microsoft's illegal behavior, and make rational, well-formed arguments on how Microsoft has damaged innovation, broken published protocols, APIs and standards and how they have illegally leveraged their market position to force out competitors.

    Gone, or at least greatly diminished, are the zealots who write "M$ SUCKS!" Instead, people are more educated on the issue and can express their comments with supporting evidence in a calm, rational manner.

    Despite these advances and compelling arguments, the US-DOJ still backed down on its position in the antitrust suit; but it can no longer be said that the majority of people who disapprove of Microsoft's business practices are "Anti-MS-Zealots."

  3. Re:That's it? (OT) by RickHunter · · Score: 3, Informative

    Hell, we even get frontpage stories about the latest anime DVDs to come out.

    Why should we boycott anime DVDs? Most of the publishers aren't members of the MPAA, and don't pay DVD CCA dues. (The exception being Manga, who generally carries only the really bad stuff anyway) Many anime DVDs don't even use macrovision or encryption, and the North American releases generally aren't region-coded.

    I'd say these are the kinds of DVDs we should be buying, to show that we're willing to support companies that don't place ludicrous restrictions on their "intellectual property".

  4. Doesn't anybody follow the links anymore? by Judebert · · Score: 3, Informative
    Approximately 1,250 comments are unrelated in substance to United States v. Microsoft or the RPFJ (though they were sent to the address for public comments and may or may not mention the RPFJ in their "subject" line).
    • A small number of these submissions are simply advertisements or, in at least one case, pornography. The United States proposes not to publish such submissions or to provide them as part of its filing to the Court.

    From the above link, http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f9900/9946.pdf (emphasis mine).

    --

    For geek dads: Contraction Timer

  5. Different report from AP by nvrrobx · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, according to this article:

    The gov't received over 30,000 emails, 2,900 were "substantive", 45 were "major", 2,800 were form letters.

    "Only about 10 percent had anything substantive to say, officials said, calling the volume unprecedented."