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Massachusetts Probing Microsoft Settlement Gripes

Posted by timothy on from the imagine-that dept.

tassii writes "In this article from Reuters, Massachusetts' DA's office told the judge in the Microsoft Anti-trust trial that it was looking into Microsoft settlement complaints. Among complaints being examined by Massachusetts was whether Microsoft had violated portions of the settlement prohibiting pacts requiring exclusive support of Microsoft software. Massachusetts was also examining whether the company had properly offered communications protocols allowing non-Microsoft software to work well with Windows." An Associated Press article covers the same story; the non-Microsoft software mentioned in both stories is Linux, but it's not clear which company's promotion of Linux is drawing the attention.

15 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by Aadain2001 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You mean there is actually someone out there trying to inforce the MS penalties?!?!?!?! I thought everyone knew they were all just a big joke and it was back to business as usually for Microsoft.

    --
    Space for rent, inquire within
    1. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You mean there is actually someone out there trying to inforce the MS penalties?!?!?!?!

      It's not like America was running out of bored lawyers.

    2. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well Massachusetts has weird laws, for instance:

      ATHOL, MA This northern Massachusetts town legally allows "horses, cats and/or dogs to enter into local taverns for a sip of sarsaparilla or any other unidentifiable beverage; or act in relation thereto."

    3. Re:Wow by Aadain2001 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I did use my brain. But I'm still using the 3.4 beta release, so it doesn't catch everything. I'm waiting for service pack 4 before I upgrade my brain to the new 5.0 kernel. ;P

      --
      Space for rent, inquire within
  2. Another Troll by tarquin_fim_bim · · Score: 5, Funny

    "whether the company had properly offered communications protocols allowing non-Microsoft software to work well with Windows"

    Jeez, give 'em a break they're still trying to make Microsoft software to work well with Windows.

  3. In other news... by GillBates0 · · Score: 5, Funny
    The konsent dekree approved by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in November inkludes provisions aimed at giving komputer makers more freedom to feature non-Mikrosoft software on the machines they sell.

    Microsoft promised to change it's brandname to Mikrosoft provided Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled in their favor.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  4. MS got away with a slap on their wrists.... by hashish · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now it turns out that they have yet to have the slap on the wrist yet.

    1. Re:MS got away with a slap on their wrists.... by Aadain2001 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I could think of a few choice places I'd like to slap them :)

      --
      Space for rent, inquire within
  5. MS is in violation... by CySurflex · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...whether Microsoft had violated portions of the settlement prohibiting pacts requiring exclusive support of Microsoft software

    They're also in violation of their restraining order against me, they're not supposed to come within 100 yards the judge said. But they're righ here, on my computer. GET AWAY! GET AWAY!

  6. Re:Would it really surprise anyone? by Angry+Pixie · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't think Microsoft sucks. I just don't trust the company or agree with a lot of their practices.

    Oh wait...

  7. Re:Massachusetts Attorney General Complaint Form by 3seas · · Score: 2, Funny

    " If you or your business have a complaint about Microsoft's business behavior or practices, please ......"

    Switch to Linux.....

  8. Top Website by tds67 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Massachusetts also told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that it will establish a Web site to solicit complaints about Microsoft's behavior...

    ...thereby replacing donotcall.gov as the hottest new website around.

  9. Re: Thank goodness by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Funny


    > If they are charging so little to OEMs but so much to consumers, they could probably drop the consumer price down to $50 for XP Pro and find the piracy rate dropping! Who here wouldn't buy a legal copy of XP Pro for $50? And wouldn't you not mind the bugs as much, concidering how much you had payed for it?

    The market value of an operating system these days is $0.00 plus the bandwidth of a big download. A $50 OS is overpriced by approximately $50.

    Or maybe by more than $50, since Microsoft appears willing to pay governments to use their OS whenever another option is getting serious consideration.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  10. Enforcement path? by Col.+Klink+(retired) · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...Massachusetts said that none of the allegations had been resolved and it would "move forward on an enforcement path should its investigations identify provable violations."
    Can anyone fill me in on this "enforcement path"? As I recall, the only penalty MicroSoft will suffer if they ignore the terms will be that they will have to ignore the settlement for 7 years rather than 5.
    --

    -- Don't Tase me, bro!

  11. MIT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    but it's not clear which company's promotion of Linux is drawing the attention

    Isn't RMS based in or near MIT?