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EU satisfied With Microsoft's Antitrust Plan
rcrc writes "According to Reuters, Microsoft's proposal to avoid paying a fine of $5 million a day has almost been approved by the European Union in a long-running antitrust case. The case deals with the interoperability between the Windows PC and servers. The next step is for the proposal to be "market tested" with other industry players before a final assessment is given by the EU."
With Apple hedging into Microsoft's PC market through the release of their x86 version of Mac OS X, will Microsoft still be able to maintain their monopoly? Not to mention that there are doubts as to whether or not Longhord will be completed within a reasonable time frame. But still, this is a point we must consider: by the time Microsoft is tried for their monopolistic behavior, will they still be a monopoly, or merely a player in the burgeoning oligopic personal computer market?
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
the EU as a whole, and EU member countries are far more forward thinking that the US ever will be. I think that the entire MS thing is crap. MS will never learn from any sanctions. MS knows that Linux is on the up and up. Every year more EU countries and even non-EU countries switch over to Linux. It's just a matter of time before MS is not even on the radar. I'm looking forward to that day.
I for one welcome our socialist computer overlords...
Microsoft's "proposal to avoid paying the fine"? How is anything other than complying with the court's decision acceptable?
If I steal a car and get a suspended sentence, then go out and steal another car, do I get to make a "proposal to avoid going to jail"?
Microsoft broke the law. Why are they not facing the consequences of their actions? Since when do criminals get to decide how they should be punished?
even though the sticky question of "open source" licenses was not fully resolved.
Right, it sure isn't resolved at all!
"..work group server developers interested in receiving interoperability information from Microsoft will be able to develop and sell their products on a global basis.."
Major problem with this: this is at cost, and with objectionable terms.
Sticky question indeed.
TODO: 753) write sig.
What's this almost stuff? I smell a stall tactic...
Content Management System: A pretentious way of saying "text editor."
I'm not trying to troll but I've not heard of this story and the article didn't offer much insight. How did this come about, why is Microsoft in court for not providing interoptability with some technologies? If someone could explain the situation that'd be great, thanks. :]
I guess it is pretty smart to get all of the Microsoft Antitrust issues worked out while the EU still exists in present form. Otherwise Microsoft's settlement may have to be made in half Lira, half Euro.
The next step is for the proposal to be "market tested" with other industry players before a final assessment is given by the EU.
(Some time in the future...)
^_^
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Will M$ have to make back payments for all of the days that they have done this?
If Carling made signatures they would be the best signatures in the world...
Look, we have them over a barrel, fine the bastards and get it over with.
Hell while we're at it lets take them to court over using IE inbuilt into the OS as proof of killing other browsers chances.
Even if they don't get done for it they will be forced to defend other browsers which would be great to see.
I like muppets.
extern warranty;
main()
{
(void)warranty;
}
- Gradually and systematically remove all your competitors from the market, except the open source ones.
- Gain freedom from regulators by agreeing to cooperate with your competitors, except the open source ones.
- ???
- Profit
The ???, in case you're wondering, stands for "artificial barriers to entry".I can only hope they count SUSE as an "industry peer"...
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
"I remain determined to ensure that all elements of the Decision are properly implemented. This includes the ability for developers of open source software to take advantage of the remedy." How much do you want to bet that this issue will slowly be pushed into the background and eventually disappear? Microsoft has always found a way out of such situations.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but your optimism is a bit premature. While the "no" to the constitutional treaty has thrown the EU into a crisis, the union will not, in all likelyhood, suddenly just "go away" because of that. For one, the previous treaties still hold, and because of that, the EU will keep on existing in its current state.
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
How is apple "hedgin into Microsoft's PC market"? Apple is switching their CPU...nothing else. Still gotta buy the Mac to run the OS X...this doesn't affect MS like you are trying to make it sound. +1 Interesting...hurm...good work mods!
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
Uh, huh. Those "industry peers" are likely still companies wedded to proprietary software. Microsoft loves to put out licenses that permit commercial implementations (even royalty-free) but are incompatible with open source. "Industry peers" are not the right group to ask--legislators need to think for themselves.
I am from Romania, a country scheduled for EU integration in 2007. I might see that my bitter-sweet joke wasn't interpreted as it should. We'd like to have a strong EU, but unfortunately the western europeans are scared by the integration problems ... on the short term, the Eastern-Europeans will invade their workplaces, and thus unemployment will be higher ... however, in the long term, a strong EU will help Europe compete with USA and China. Anyway - Romania will probably be delayed one year... We'll live and see.
What, the Coalition forces have taken over the oil for food racket? Now that truly is a scandal.
At that rate Microsoft will run out of cash in 2037! Sell! Sell!
What would you think if some big company asked you to "licence" the right to talk English, or French, or Chineese ?
Well, this is what Microsoft is doing. You want to talk with Microsoft ? then you have to "licence".
Even better similarity. A Company creates a new language and slowly have half of the world speak it. For the other half of the world you have to "licence" the fact that you can talk that new language.
You know it's not fair if Microsoft proposed it.
*DrugCheese rants*
Clever EU. To monitor, with other industry players, the compliance. Unlike in the US where it was pretty much business as usual once everyone left the court house.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
How, exactly, do you conclude this? If opening the specs doesn't do irremediable harm, and letting people write code to the specs doesn't do irremediable harm, and letting them sell the software they write (or, for that matter, give it away) doesn't do irremediable harm, how exactly does the release of said code under a F/OS licence do additional irremediable harm?
Surely you aren't claiming the GPL is so viral that it would somehow climb back up the chain of derivation and taint Microsoft?
--MarkusQ
I guess it is pretty smart to get all of the Microsoft Antitrust issues worked out while the EU still exists in present form. Otherwise Microsoft's settlement may have to be made in half Lira, half Euro.
The European Monetary Union is totally unaffected by all the EU constitution process. The only possible impact is in countries proposed for inclusion, namely Turkey. So, the entire fallout from this is that nothing changed except people who live there said "Slow Down!".
Don't believe the FUD.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
There is a danger the EU may crash down, and I'm not happy writing this. France was an important player in the EU. And this important player has just shown the middle finger to the rest of the gang. After all, this Constitutional Treaty has been already shaped in a lot of aspects so as to please the French. It was a compromise. Yet the French decided they want all or nothing. It's not fair to the rest of nations in the EU.
"Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead." (John Maynard Keynes)
No, they are showing the middle finger to the eurocrats who think that the citizents exists to serve them and not the other way around.
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
Didn't Microsoft already miss the second deadline given by the EU commission? How many more chances are they given? This is unbelievable!
The problem is not the integration. The problem is what you (I mean all who lives in the soon EU countries) get paid for your work. The problem is that this piece of sh1t that they call a treaty has only 4 pages about social rights in a 350 pages book. What most of us (Western European) would like to see is an integration where not only the market is integrated but the people is too integrated. What we like is that you come here and get paid the same that we are paid, not less, and work just as much as we do, not more. Or if you like it another way: we want you to get paid as many euro/hour as we are. Then it will be no problem in expanding the EU to any other country.
What would you think of your politics if they changed your laws to allow kids to substitute adults being paid with toys? much less expensive than paing an adult, isn't it? Would you say "hey, let kids work and let's make a party while we get fired!". I don't think so.
The REAL problem are not the workers. The real problem are those bastards that only watch their wallets and don't give a sh1t about people. And this treaty gives power to those bastards.
And I know you are as good as we to make the same jobs (given the same training). So, why we have to say yes to "same job, less money"?
The article title is too funny!
Compare that to other news sites:
TheReg/Tom's: MS and EU inch towards agreement
InternetNews: Microsoft And Europe Getting Closer
Groklaw: Microsoft is still sparring with the EU Commission
Does that sound like the EU is satisfied?
[IRONY] What kinda pro-MS rag is this?! [/IRONY]
- Distribute half of it directly to a variety of free software projects that will benefit all of Europe.
- Use the other half to buy enormous advertising campaigns all over the world in favor of free software and against proprietary software in general and Microsoft software specifically.
That would be an acceptable alternative.They would up and tell the EU to piss off and no longer sell or support or manufacture their products there.
I'd give the EU about 3 days to come crying back to Bill's door.
1- there are several reasons for the french vote, and they go from distrust in their president to nacionalistic issues
but one of the worst thing about the constitution is that no one understand it, no one can explain it, its everything but clear and simple, and this, specially in hard/hot times isnt the best way to go...
people right now already thing that the EU administrative organization too complicated, too independent, unmonitored, uncontroled, lobby infected, unrepresentative of what people think and with all this, also powerfull
this constituion would give even more powers to then, although it gives more powers to the EU parlament, this body still feels too distant from the ordinary people
people want a clear, transparent, open EU, not something that happends without even listen our opinion
its not just the french that are unhappy, lot of countries and people are, they were the first to public show it.
i'm not french, i'm portuguese, and i was a pro-europe guy... now i'm divided, i still want it, but i dont like how is being ruled and organized, it doesnt seen like a democracy, more a a "concilium" of powerfull politics and powerfull lobies
2 - voting no to the constitution doesnt mean that they want to abandon europe... yes, nacionalistic partys want you to think that, but that isnt true
almost all people know that europe can only survive united, even if things look bad, none (except maybe the UK, but many of then still think they have some kind of empire ) want to exit the europe
3 - It was a compromise
this was why it was so obscure and useless... it tried to be all, do all...
what people want is a democraty and SIMPLE, EASY to understand EU politic organization and interact with it
i blame both the EU politics, but also each country governement and leaders, that were more interested in defending their diferent values instead of finding the common ones
people want first a simples constitution that everyone can agree (not something that everyone have doubt in some place)
it must be simple and should not mess with the politic organization (at least, not yet, it will be the base for it, and this shouldnt be inside the constitution)
the constitution should be something that unites the people, not divides then, and it will the rock where all EU will be build, so its better that people understand it, not ignores it
Higuita
Anybody have some thoughts on this what might mean for projects like Samba and Samba-tng? It seems like the article made a subtle reference to them in noting Microsoft's aversion to the code they make available ending up in open source projects. I've got a lot win2k3 servers I'd like to replace with Samba if they ever become fully functional as domain controllers within Active Directory. Does this improve the chance of that happening?
...who would drop MS-Windows etc like a smoking potato globally if they couldn't keep their European branches updated, and the companies headquartered in Europe who would require their outliers to follow suit.
That happy thought should sustain me through the day.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
i wonder how many more deadlines the EU wants to give Microsoft. they already missed two before just to get another extension. if the EU continues this games nobody takes them serious anymore. enough is enough!
So you're saying Microsoft...
..
gasp
expects to be PAID for their work?
That's so COMMUNIST of them!..
wait...
I am the maverick of Slashdot
Microsoft broke the law. Why are they not facing the consequences of their actions? Since when do criminals get to decide how they should be punished?
Maybe they (EU) were nice to them because they feared their legal copies of Windows XP would void EULA and be destroyed. But my bet is on the minesweeper...
No more I say.
I see. So Microsoft is willing to graciously accept the court's ruling and open its APIs, provided that people don't learn to use them, or do anything that would allow other to learn to use them.
Personally, I'd call that non-complience.
--MarkusQ
And how will the "Non" change it? The constitution would bring a little more democracy in the EU. Instead, we will gain nothing, because there won't be any "Constitution -- Reloaded" for the next 10 years or so.
"Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead." (John Maynard Keynes)
but one of the worst thing about the constitution is that no one understand it, no one can explain it, its everything but clear and simple, and this, specially in hard/hot times isnt the best way to go...
So we're now left with the Nice treaty, which is obviously so simple and clear that the French preferred it over the Constitution.
people right now already thing that the EU administrative organization too complicated, too independent, unmonitored, uncontroled, lobby infected, unrepresentative of what people think and with all this, also powerfull
And by rejecting the Constitution we will change it? How?
3 - "It was a compromise"
this was why it was so obscure and useless... it tried to be all, do all...
i blame both the EU politics, but also each country governement and leaders, that were more interested in defending their diferent values instead of finding the common ones
But that's what compromise is for! It's not like the governments have different values, the nations of Europe have different values. The French are social, the British are liberal, the Poles catholic and the Dutch atheistic. This Constitution had to be a compromise, a dirty, tiring, messy compromise. This is how treaties are written, for God's sake. What kind of dreamworld do you live in, if you think we could come up with a treaty which would be 100% satisfying to everyone?
"Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead." (John Maynard Keynes)
IN SOVIET RUSSIA, Microsoft satisfies eYOU.
whats wrong in having just a few lines that everyone agrees... and then extend it and correct it with time? isnt like that in the USA?
-everyone is equal.
-you are inocent until provem guilty
-union laws will supercede national laws
-no new laws will apply to things older than its aproval
-no more veto power for many things, still veto power for others (things like war, new members, etc
-etc, etc
this kind of things is what should exist in a constintution, not too specific things...
yes, some will be also a little compromise, but with so many diferent ideas, we need to have a solid commom base to start talking in some new compromise on hot issues (taxes, foreign politcs, agricuture and fishes control, etc,etc)
again, compromises are needed, but people have to understand then and need something that guarantees that their opinion is important (ie: a more open to the public EU than the actual "hidden agenda" and "too important" EU organization)
nothing will ever make 100% happy everyone, but right now, only 1% of the people really know something usefull about the EU and the constitution and how to fight for their rights, so how the hell can they have any opinion
Higuita