One minor correction - principal investigators on SBIR/STTR projects don't have to have Ph.D.s - they just have to have qualifications to head up the project. Qualifications can be other than educational credentials (e.g., experience).
Actually, he didn't make millions in oil -- his track record there is pretty bad (ever hear of Harken?). His substantial profit came on the sale of the Texas Rangers baseball team and associated stadium lease. Can't disagree that he's very warmly disposed to the energy biz, but that's probably more due to family ties (GHWB made his bones in oil), personal friendships (Ken Lay, et al), and politics (follow the campaign contributions).
Canon Inc.; France Télécom; Fujitsu Limited; Hitachi, Ltd.; Hyundai Curitel, Inc.; KDDI Corporation; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.; Microsoft Corporation; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.; Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.; Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha; Sony Corporation; Telenor AS; Toshiba Corporation; and Victor Company of Japan, Limited.
If it's possible to do so without being xenophobic, I find it interesting to note that the breakdown is: one U.S. company (Microsoft), three European companies (France Telecom, Philips, and Telenor), two Korean companies (Hyundai Curitel and Samsung), and eleven Japanese companies.
However, I bet that the U.S. dominated the list of law firms involved in drawing up the license terms, and will have even greater domination in any enforcement actions.
I noticed, in reviewing the reference materials, that under the proposed settlement, Microsoft gets to keep secret (no obligation to publish or document) anything having to do with security. As soon as I saw that, the recent Gates memo "redirecting" corporate efforts made more sense -- Bill's just herding the troops into a safe harbor sanctioned by the settlement, so they will not need to change their basic practices.
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One minor correction - principal investigators on SBIR/STTR projects don't have to have Ph.D.s - they just have to have qualifications to head up the project. Qualifications can be other than educational credentials (e.g., experience).
Actually, he didn't make millions in oil -- his track record there is pretty bad (ever hear of Harken?). His substantial profit came on the sale of the Texas Rangers baseball team and associated stadium lease. Can't disagree that he's very warmly disposed to the energy biz, but that's probably more due to family ties (GHWB made his bones in oil), personal friendships (Ken Lay, et al), and politics (follow the campaign contributions).
So, here's the list of technology contributors.
Canon Inc.; France Télécom; Fujitsu Limited; Hitachi, Ltd.; Hyundai Curitel, Inc.; KDDI Corporation; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.; Microsoft Corporation; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.; Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.; Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha; Sony Corporation; Telenor AS; Toshiba Corporation; and Victor Company of Japan, Limited.
If it's possible to do so without being xenophobic, I find it interesting to note that the breakdown is: one U.S. company (Microsoft), three European companies (France Telecom, Philips, and Telenor), two Korean companies (Hyundai Curitel and Samsung), and eleven Japanese companies.
However, I bet that the U.S. dominated the list of law firms involved in drawing up the license terms, and will have even greater domination in any enforcement actions.
I noticed, in reviewing the reference materials, that under the proposed settlement, Microsoft gets to keep secret (no obligation to publish or document) anything having to do with security. As soon as I saw that, the recent Gates memo "redirecting" corporate efforts made more sense -- Bill's just herding the troops into a safe harbor sanctioned by the settlement, so they will not need to change their basic practices.
Yeah, but it was EBITA - earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization. In other words, they didn't count a bunch of stuff.
In their defense, they said they hoped to have positive EBITA -- their projection was not (yet) for real earnings.