Slashdot Mirror


Microsoft Sues US Customs For Allowing Imports of Banned Motorola Phones

SmartAboutThings writes "Microsoft filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing the United States Customs of secretly meeting with Google representatives to allow imports of Motorola devices that are infringing on Microsoft's ActiveSync technology and therefore should be banned." The article lists 18 (older) Android devices that are named in the complaint; Xoom owners just got some street cred.

18 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. NSA tipped them off? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    how did they find out?

    1. Re:NSA tipped them off? by Lisias · · Score: 2

      Probably one of the Balmer's (or Gate's) relatives brought one, and he noticed that on the last weekend's barbecue. =P

      --
      Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
    2. Re:NSA tipped them off? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

      Probably one of the Balmer's (or Gate's) relatives brought one, and he noticed that on the last weekend's barbecue. =P

      Sounds like an rpg: "Balmer's Gate"

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  2. Rogue Fed Departments? by Freshly+Exhumed · · Score: 4, Informative

    From a Bloomberg article: 'U.S. Customs and Border Protection, after having secret meetings with Google, continued to let the Motorola Mobility mobile phones enter the country even though Google has done nothing to remove the feature at the heart of the ITC case, Microsoft said in the complaint. The case illustrates what Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) and Lutron Electronics Co. in May called an “increasingly ineffective and unpredictable enforcement” of import bans imposed by the trade agency.'

    Employing bureaucratic shortcuts is apparently alive and well. Does this point to corruption, or is it simply a matter of poor information flow?

    --
    I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
    1. Re:Rogue Fed Departments? by Rockoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Does this point to corruption, or is it simply a matter of poor information flow?

      Yes.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    2. Re:Rogue Fed Departments? by geoskd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Two wrongs don't make a right.

      In this case, I'm pretty sure they do...

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    3. Re:Rogue Fed Departments? by Lisias · · Score: 2

      CIvil disobedience? From bureaucrats?

      Only on your dreams... (And mine too, by the way!)...

      --
      Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
    4. Re:Rogue Fed Departments? by Zemran · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If the phone is bought legally in another country, what right have customs got to stop someone bringing a legal product (legal where it was bought) into the country. Next think you know they will try to impose US laws in other countries... oh yeah, sorry, they are already doing that.

      --
      I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
  3. Imhofe by ISoldat53 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I guess Google's backing of James Imhofe paid off. And who is Microsoft to complain about secret meetings with government officials?

  4. Tell me about Activesync by tuppe666 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have never done any of this, but you have to wonder if this is a home goal twinned with what should be an antitrust case. Google have dropped activesync.http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413283,00.asp (Anyone else forgot how pro Microsoft PCmag was)

    The most ironic part of this Windows Phone users used to get gmail messages instantaneously...and now they don't...like Windows Phone was not already second class technology.

    Technology(sic) like this should be used to give additional benefits to Microsoft Users not used to attack competing companies(and its own customers) in markets where...lets be honest its product continues to fail after 3 years (I remember when they had 10% of the smart-phone market)

    Trying to Bullying companies as large...rich...popular...successful...like...Google is just stupid(Apple have behind closed doors agreement). Insane when their product occupies 75% of the market and yours occupies 3%.

    The bottom line is even if these product were banned...Windows Phone would have remained a failure, not its a little more likely to continue to be.

  5. We've been cutting funding for this stuff... by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    since the 80s. It always amazes me when people are surprised that laws aren't enforced when we've been slashing the budgets of these 'evil bureaucratic' for 30 years. Funny how the bureaucratic ain't evil when he's doing something you want done, ain't it? Buddy of mine is getting screwed over in the only job he could find. Starts life as an ardent anti-bureaucratic guy until he goes looking for the labor board to seek redress and finds out there isn't one.

    Sure kids. Have all the laws protecting you're rights you want. We control the purse strings, so we just won't fund enforcement.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:We've been cutting funding for this stuff... by interval1066 · · Score: 2

      ...we've been slashing the budgets of these 'evil bureaucratic' for 30 years...

      Yet the federal budget is the largest its EVER BEEN, and the defcit is now well over 16 billion dollars, the larget ever. Funny how that works. Also funny that Microsoft would sue the same org they've been working for.

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    2. Re:We've been cutting funding for this stuff... by Nemyst · · Score: 2

      It's definitely one of them. Here's a little piece of insight: most problems have more than one cause, and fixing one cause is better than not fixing any. Sometimes you can't fix all the causes, so your best bet is to fix the ones that you can.

      Over here, we've been having issues with public construction works. Due to budget slashing, more and more engineering is being outsourced to private firms. What this ended up doing is that at one point cities didn't have the internal knowledge and skills required to determine whether bids were realistic and weren't cutting corners or overcharging, which has led to a LOT of projects overrunning budgets (both time and money) dramatically or costing more than they should've. All of this to shave off what amounts to a few pennies in the grand scheme of things.

  6. If you're not invited, it's secret? by Overzeetop · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just because someone doesn't voluntarily invite you to a meeting does not mean that it's secret.

    I think, "United States Customs has met with Google representatives to allow imports of Motorola devices" is more accurate.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  7. Incomplete information by Anonymous+Psychopath · · Score: 4, Informative

    TFA fails to mention that the ITC ruling provides a 60-day review period, during which Moto posts a bond of $0.33 per device imported. That period expires Monday. So far they've not done anything wrong. They could simply stop importing those models prior to Monday, surrender the bond, and be in full compliance with the ITC order.

    --

    Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

    1. Re:Incomplete information by recoiledsnake · · Score: 2

      That period expired last year. Post anything anti-MS, get upvoted on Slashdot regardless of truth. This site is a joke.

      --
      This space for rent.
  8. Sue Microsoft by ikhider · · Score: 2

    For antitrust, spying on their users, putting back doors in their software and cloud products, forcing non-Windows uers to pay the Windows tax (Even though the EULA says we don't have to have it, they put the onus on manufacturers who do not honor the refund policy, thereby conveniently denying us our rights), giving kickbacks to manufacturers, for implementing insecureboot, for providing a substandard operating system, for inhibiting competition at every turn...this is just for starters,

    --
    "SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
  9. Re:does this mean... by interval1066 · · Score: 2

    We (US Citizens) should be claim sovreiegn immunity the next time the law comes knocking on our doors.

    --
    Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'