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Microsoft Settles More Lawsuits

Posted by timothy on from the biq-squeeze dept.

Ridgelift writes "Microsoft has settled with the state of Tennessee to the tune of $64 million dollars. This comes on the heels of more settlements with North and South Dakota, and will likely be similar to the settlement with North Carolina in issuing vouchers. Hopefully there will be more websites to help customers receive their refunds, or help donate their vouchers to help the Free Software Foundation."

16 comments

  1. Welcome to the land of the free by BlackCobra43 · · Score: 1

    Where you'll never be "bad" or "a criminal" if you have money.

    --
    I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
    1. Re:Welcome to the land of the free by zison · · Score: 1

      Tell MJ that.

  2. $64M is chump change. by zurkog · · Score: 1

    ...For Microsoft, that is. A quick google search indicates they have roughly $40 Billion in cash and short-term investments to draw upon if needed. That's analogous to your average person having $4,000 in their savings account, and getting hit with a $6.40 fine.

    Monty Burns: "Smithers, get my checkbook."

    That being said, maybe Microsoft will eventually die the death of a thousand paper cuts...

  3. Where... by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1

    Where do you want to go to court today???

  4. Metric of State AG Effectiveness by 4of12 · · Score: 1

    Between Microsoft and the tobacco company settlements, residents of states ought to evaluate the effectiveness of their government appointed watchdogs by dividing the settlement size by the number of residents in the state.

    Impoverished states like New Mexico caved early as Microsoft offered settlement terms that include attorney's fees.

    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
  5. yes, small potatoes for M$, big win for FSF by ciaran_o_riordan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > $65M is chump change for microsoft

    Certainly, but people only have to channel 1% of that to the FSF and we can almost double FSF's annual revenues. Microsoft may not do much with $65M, but FSF could rock their monopoly with it.

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    Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
    1. Re:yes, small potatoes for M$, big win for FSF by zurkog · · Score: 1

      > people only have to channel 1% of that to the FSF and we can almost double FSF's annual revenues

      Good point, admittedly one I hadn't thought of. Now if we can only convince Tennesseeans to "purchase" free software from FSF with their vouchers.

    2. Re:yes, small potatoes for M$, big win for FSF by tiger99 · · Score: 1
      Better to use half the money to set up a competitor to the FSF, so they don't get accused of being a monopoly! If some major application, not necessarily a kernel, "controlled" by the FSF was to gain dominance in the market, Bill would be very quick to complain. They already on numerous occasions eg in South America have made the spurious claim that the use of free software is anti-competitive. If two benevolent bodies each control a sizeable part of the market, I doubt that a monopoly could be alleged to exist, not by any rational person at least.

      One way forward, which will attract a lot of flames, is to suggest that the BSD world is the competitor to the FSF. I do not like that idea, BSD people are most welcome to do things their way, and we have all benefitted from their efforts, but the problem is that their work can be turned into closed source at any time, with no reward to the original contributors, who can't generally even get copies of the enhanced, proprietary code, based on their hard work. As an end user, I would willingly use BSD code, but as a developer, I would feel strongly disinclined to contribute, but fully respect the rights of others to do so.

      A better way might be to devise a new licence which does allow commercial exploitation in a controlled way, with a portion of the profits being distributed between the contributors. I can't immediately see a way to solve some of the complex issues this presents. Possibly the free version might lag behind the commercial version by a year or so, but the commercial version would still come with source, and any end user who did useful modifications and fed them back would then be eligible for some of the funding as a contributor. It would only be fair if contributors (I am not one, so I don't have a financial interest personally at the moment) did get some reward. The idea is to give strong commercial incentives to drive development forward, while allowing those who can't pay, or who might only use the program on rare occasions and not get value for money otherwise, to benefit also, and of course to retain visibility of source code so future generations of programmers can see how things work.

  6. Enough Settlements. Let's Convict by Confessed+Geek · · Score: 2, Insightful


    It's probably just selfish on my part, but I wish the states would stop setteling and go for the throat and get a conviction so we can start setting up some precedents here. Wouldn't puntative damages come to more than these settlements?

  7. others? by Uma+Thurman · · Score: 1

    What other states might be getting vouchers in the future? I could use some new equipment.

    --
    This is America, damnit. Speak Spanish!
    1. Re:others? by traulevelu · · Score: 1

      just trying

  8. does anyone know how to file a claim? by eljasbo · · Score: 1

    I live in Tennessee and would love to take advantage of this for myself and my company. However, i see nowhere in the article about how to see if I am elegible or the procedure to file a claim. Does anyone have more information?

    1. Re:does anyone know how to file a claim? by welshsocialist · · Score: 2, Informative

      I couldn't find anything on Google on the settlement. Try contacting the Tennessee AG.

      --
      Support the Chagossians
  9. How 'bout EFF? by siskbc · · Score: 1

    If the goal is really fighting rights abuses, EFF sounds like the better recipient.

    --

    -Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat

  10. Microsoft's Lesson #2 by Zw5 · · Score: 1

    Hopefully the next round of lawsuits will come, esp. since Microsoft is still a bully and needs another lesson.

    3dinfo@maficstudios.com