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EC Suspends Microsoft Sanctions Due to Appeal
An anonymous reader writes "The European Commission has suspended sanctions against Microsoft stemming from a ruling that the group had abused its dominant market position."
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Hello,
The EC voted for patenting software. Why should we be impressed by this new decision?
Kisses
--
You'd stumble in my footsteps (Depeche Mode, "Walking in my shoes")
The appeal will probably take around 5 years. In the meantime ...
Given that even CERT is now warning against teh use of some MS components I hope that the rest of the platform gets the thumbs down it richly deserves.
Anyone involved in risk management shoudl by now have woken up to the fact that the MS platform combines high cost with high risk. Does it surprise anyone that people choose alternatives that combine low risk with low cost?
The law is too slow - let the market decide.
I agree. When you're thrown in jail for being convicted of a crime, they don't let you go just because you're put in for an appeal. They throw your ass in jail and you can wait there.
The same should be true for monitary punishments. Pay up, and if you win, you can have it back. It's still better then jail time, because they can't give you back lost time.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
I don't think the European court system will tolerate the delaying tctics US courts allow. In most other countries SCO would have been over 6 months ago.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Screw the code.
Screw the money.
Screw "business remedies".
All of these could be said to "excessively hurt Microsoft", and most importantly *do not reduce barriers to entry* (with the possible partial exception of the code).
What competitors *really* need is Microsoft forced to open their file formats and network protocols, so that they can fully interoperate.
Microsoft got where they were by bundling products together and keeping them from interoperating with competitors' products. Fining Microsoft and then letting them continue doing what they were doing may help out the EU, but doesn't do a whole lot to solve the problem.
There are *very* few arguments Microsoft can make against opening file formats and network protocols. There is minimal IP value in each -- it doesn't take a smegging horde of PhDs years of research to create the Word file format. It does nothing but help the consumer, and helps mean that Microsoft always needs to compete.
without the EU entirely understanding what it means, the court has asked for "software codes" to be released. what i _intended_ them to ask for - specifically - was for all of microsoft's internal RFCs to be made public, plus all of their IDL files, and any other internal documentation (such as it is in some cases!!) relating to "interfaces".
i cannot _quite_ understand how microsoft's lawyer believes, unless they are admitting that by releasing details of "interfaces" that somehow extra viruses will be written to target them, that "damage will be done to other software development companies".
The thing to remember is that if a law is unjust, you should break it. That's the way europeans normally work anyway, but computer geeks are often a bit different.
The WORST thing that could happen is for computer geeks to interpret the law as some sort of declarative computer code like a makefile rule, and suddenly stop coding patent-infringing code if patents are legitimised in europe. If anything, we should go out of our way to write as much code as possible. Most laws only have as much power over you as you grant them, particularly such laws concerning total intangibles like ownership of ideas. DO NOT LIVE ACCORDING TO A LAW YOU FEEL IS UNJUST!
I may not be the biggest fan of Microsoft, but it does seem unfair to force a company to remove software from it's offerings. It's not their fault that people don't look for a better media player, there are plenty out there. True that by bundling Windows Media player in Windows does cause a monopoly to form, but that doesn't mean some commission can up and say that they don't like that and Microsoft has to take it out and publish one without it. Shame on you EC!
swpat game is not yet over nl parl might revoke the minister's vote Even after that there's second reading, but it's better to stop at this stage. (Doing the same as the dutch in your country might help ;)
I knew that one existed. But can you imagine the amount of money it would take to administer such a beast. Can you also imagine when the Press put out that it was just to protect Microsoft's profits from competition? Sure, Microsoft literally gets away with Corporate Murder now, and the government fumbles idly by, but that's a little different than active complicity.
Actually, IMHO when the government publishes data in a MS encumbered format, such as the Windows Media Player stuff on NASA, they're aiding and abetting a convicted criminal. They shouldn't put out public data in ANY encumbered format or protocol, but Microsoft has EARNED a special place with their conduct.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.