MS to Implement Some DoJ Settlement Terms Preemptively

lysurgon writes: "The New York Times (free registration, blah blah blah) is reporting that Microsoft will today announce it is taking some steps in implementing parts of the original DoJ settlement, a settlement which is still under review and not yet official. It's seen as a tactic to influence Judge Kollar-Kotelly's deliberation on the more stringent restrictions asked for by nine states attorneys general. Looks like MS wants to get off making some cosmetic changes (no surprise there), but given their rather stormy relationship with the judge, it could backfire. The other interesting thing is that at this stage, without an official ruling, no matter what they do or why they say they're doing it it's legally voluntary." Update: 08/05 17:00 GMT by T : HeUnique adds a link to another story on ZDnet which tosses in a few numbers while remaining fairly vague on what exactly will be released and under what terms.

Comments

Re:Sure They will Change a few Icons

[God! Awful]

While I will undoubtedly get modded down for stating my opinion, I still find it ironic that a group of people can whine and moan about Microsoft's monopoly, and all the while they are promoting a product license that is itself monopolistic. In the glorious sysadmin's paradise in which everyone is using Linux, the fact that you can "buy" the one true OS from multiple companies hardly makes it less of a monopoly.

-a

Re:This makes no sense

[God! Awful]

Products don't have monopolies. Companies do.

A collusion among multiple companies to fix the price of a product (even at $0) is a monopolistic practice. Predatory pricing (e.g. selling a product at a loss to gain leverage) is also a monopolistic practice.

-a