sounds familiar
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| henke54 Feb 28, 2006 8:07 AM EDT |
quote : "Do you know what else Tangent claims? That Microsoft entered into restrictive agreements with OEMs and system builders that limit or eliminate their ability to feature non-Microsoft products. The company filed an antitrust lawsuit in US District Court Feb. 14 against Microsoft, alleging anticompetitive behavior in several areas (digital rights management (DRM), server software, and others). Hmmm ..." |
| tadelste Feb 28, 2006 8:25 AM EDT |
Really. |
| Skapare Feb 28, 2006 9:58 AM EDT |
A lawsuit that focuses primarily on pricing is going to be much harder to win. There's no real standard to base a comparison on. Tangent could go to, say, Novell, and get a license to put SUSE Linux on their machines certainly at a much lower cost. But Microsoft can defend that by arguing (remember, this is arguing to a court, not to a community of geeks that know better) that there is a lot more that goes into Windows than into Linux (and arguably, they could be right, too ... it is a bloated monster). And if Tangent wins a fight on price, what does that gain for Linux? Nothing, really. OTOH, what if Microsoft were to double all their OEM pricing today? That would actually be a win for Linux, as it would push a few more OEMs to get at least some Linux offerings in place, if not outright abandon Microsoft. The good fight is the one that henke54 points out. It's the restrictive agreements that limit competing products. Mere success isn't, and shouldn't, be an issue. But abuse of the success, and more importantly, abuses to achieve the success, are. And this isn't even about price fixing practices of the late 1800's that led to the Sherman Anti-trust Act, unless someone can show Microsoft colluding with Linux resellers set higher than normal pricing for both. The issue is about the deals Microsoft is not just making, but also forcing, OEMs to make to lock out Linux altogether. So just what all does this lawsuit say? I need to find a copy of the filing, but haven't found a link to it, yet. In the mean time, visit your local restaurant with your partner tonight. Have one of you order a fountain Coke, while the other orders a fountain Pepsi? Good luck. |
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