The music industry and Microsoft: A sign of bad things to come?
,----[ Quote ]
| As Mark Shuttleworth once noted, the difference between $0.00 and $0.01 for
| Microsoft is huge. Microsoft is particularly susceptible to open source's
| business-model innovation, given its heavy reliance on license fees.
|
| Again, does the music industry's strangling of its young cousins portend
| Microsoft's own future with open source? It's very possible. It could be that
| Microsoft is just trying to get a fair return on its patent portfolio. But it
| remains an oddity in threatening open source. IBM, Oracle, and others also
| have huge patent portfolios - some much larger than Microsoft's - and yet
| they haven't staged a patent offensive against open source.
|
| True, they have much to gain from open source. But then, so does Microsoft.
`----
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9836455-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad
Yahoo! spanked over copyright in China
,----[ Quote ]
| Yahoo! were found guilty of mass copyright infringement by a Chinese court,
| for offering a search that linked directly to illegal MP3s.
`----
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/12/yahoo_spanked_o.html
So all music on the Web is assumed to be "crime" and "piracy" as the RIAA calls
it?
In Vista, Microsoft shows how close it has become to the MPAA and RIAA. More
below.
Related:
Microsoft expands Office ‘pay-as-you-go’ rental program
,----[ Quote ]
| Via the pay-as-you-go program, users can choose three- or six-month
| subscriptions to Office Professional 2007 and pay a monthly fee to use the
| product.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=955
Microsoft patent hints at pay-as-you-go OS
,----[ Quote ]
| A Microsoft patent application from June 2005, published only today,
| titled "System and method for delivery of a modular operating system"
| may signal a fundamental change for what an operating systems stands
| for and how it is sold.
`----
http://www.istartedsomething.com.nyud.net:8080/20061215/pay-as-you-go-os-patent/
Intel, Microsoft for Pay-As-You-Go PCs
,----[ Quote ]
| The pay-as-you-go model enabled by FlexGo makes PCs more accessible
| by reducing the initial cost and enabling customers to pay for
| computers through subscriptions or as they use them, through the
| purchase of prepaid activation cards or tokens.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060522/20060521005039.html?.v=1
,----[ Quote ]
| Want to write a Word document? Pay a few pennies. Want to download
| some digital photos? Pay a few more.
|
| Under the idea, which Microsoft is introducing this week, people would
| be able to get a PC for their home with a mechanism that charges them
| depending on how much computing they use. Consumers would pay for about
| half of the PC upfront and then, say, 50 cents or 75 cents per hour of
| use. After several hundred hours of paid use, they would then own the
| PC outright.
`----
http://news.com.com/2100-1003_3-6074589.html?part=rss&tag=6074589&subj=news
Microsoft selling hobbled software to poor countries
,----[ Quote ]
| Surprisingly, no-one seems to have told Microsoft that it is not good
| marketing strategy to treat your customers as if they are stupid. Which
| is exactly what the company is doing with the release in Africa of the
| stripped-down operating system it calls Windows XP Starter Edition.
|
| Microsoft South Africa launched Windows XP Starter Edition (XPSE) into
| the African market last week with very little fanfare and market hype.
|
| Which is not surprising considering how the product was received by other
| media on its intial launch in 2004. Known for its straight talking, The
| Register labelled XPSE "crippleware". Analysts Gartner said the product
| had "good intent, poor execution".
`----
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=983
Exstream Soft to provide Microsoft applications for rent
,----[ Quote ]
| The company will aim to provide Microsoft applications to domestic users and
| small and medium businesses on a monthly rental basis.
`----
http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=B964332D-CAB4-4491-BB39-673A5E3A4216
An Oregon Woman's Lawsuit against the RIAA, Alleging Racketeering and Malicious
Prosecution
,----[ Quote ]
| however, that the RIAA is, at a minimum, very foolish to press suits
| for purported file-sharing against unlikely defendants like Andersen -
| who alleges that she came forward with solid proof of her innocence.
`----
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/ramasastry/20070628.html
Grandmother targets RIAA ‘investigators’
,----[ Quote ]
| Taking a page out of Tanya Andersen’s book, Hurricane Rita survivor
| Rhonda Crain is also targeting the RIAA practice of using
| unlicensed ‘investigators’ in its bizarre sue ‘em all marketing
| campaign.
`----
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/12674
Record Industry Woes Aggravated by Years of Bad PR
,----[ Quote ]
| They say no publicity is bad publicity, but that's not true. Ask Atlanta
| Falcon quarterback Michael Vick whose alleged involvement in a dog fighting
| ring just got him banned from training camp by the NFL, a move that alone may
| end his career even if the courts never convict him.
|
| [...]
|
| The lingering after effects of several player strikes showed the major sports
| franchises what can happen when the fan becomes dissatisfied. Today many
| music fans are unhappy. Can anyone honestly say that poor goodwill has had no
| affect on CD sales? Can anyone say that the examples above have had no affect
| on this goodwill?
`----
http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/7002/record-industry-pr.html
Sun exec accuses Microsoft of 'patent terrorism'
,----[ Quote ]
| The efforts of Microsoft to pressure the Linux community over alleged and
| unspecified patents is akin to "patent terrorism", according to a local
| executive for Sun Microsystems.
`----
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Sun-exec-accuses-Microsoft-of-patent-terrorism-/0,130061733,339280437,00.htm
Microsoft, the art of Corporate Terrorism.
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft, no longer the technological leader in the Computer Desktop
| market, is taking on a terrorist role in its attempt remain in power
| at all costs. (see the link to the CNN story below)
|
| The tactic is intended to frighten current, and would be, free
| software users away from products that Microsoft just can't compete
| with. It's not a new tactic, but for the first time desperation is
| beginning to show.
`----
http://sweetcomputing.com/index.php?wiki=Microsoft_Terrorism
Convicted Monopolist Terrorizes Software Industry
,----[ Quote ]
| That headline is designed to grab your attention. Sensationalistic as
| it may be, it also happens to be true, if what you mean by 'terrorize'
| is to provoke fear.
|
| If you've been following the presidential race in the United States,
| you know the present crop of candidates have been exploiting the fear
| of the American people as they never have before in the history of
| the country.
`----
http://www.linux.org/news/opinion/ms_threats.html
Microsoft director out to 'debunk mythology around open source'
,----[ Quote ]
| "The Free Software movement is dead. Linux doesn't exist in 2007. Even
| Linus has got a job today." Controversial statements from the head
| of Microsoft's Linux Labs, Bill Hilf.
|
| [...]
|
| Hilf accused his former employers, IBM, of starting a standards war
| simply because they wanted a part of the Office market. People do
| not want ODF (Open Document Format), but they want a way to control
| the information they create, he claimed.
`----
http://www.bangkokpost.com/090507_Database/09May2007_data05.php
,----[ Quote ]
| "We would like to strike similar patent deals with all the Linux
| vendors, but we had to start somewhere," said Bill Hilf.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2064986,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594
What Will Change at Microsoft with Regard to F/OSS Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| Hilf’s response was... priceless. “I get a lot of e-mail.” “People like to
| subscribe me to crazy newsletters and spam.”
`----
http://www.oreillynet.com/linux/blog/2007/07/what_will_change_at_microsoft.html
Music industry meeting could change the Zune
,----[ Quote ]
| Bryan Lee, corporate vice present for Microsoft's entertainment
| business, told me today that the meeting was set up as part of the
| deal struck between Microsoft and music business honchos, who are
| always wary of piracy... The meeting was supposed to take place "some
| time after the holidays," he said. It also talks about the future
| of the zune.
`----
http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2007/01/music_industry_meeting_could_change_the_zune.html
Microsoft may pay Zune tax twice
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's private deal with Universal Music to pay the record
| label a voluntary royalty of $1 for every Zune player it sells
| has raised eyebrows across both the technology and music
| industries. But it might not be the last payment Redmond owes
| from Zune, we've discovered.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/14/microsoft_zune_royalties/
Universal to seek money for each iPod sold
,----[ Quote ]
| "It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too
| far. I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe not in the
| same way," Morris said. His "same way" comment is a reference tot
| he Zune, which Universal already gets $1 from after signing a deal
| with Microsoft.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061128-8309.html
A Legitimate Reason to Hate the Zune (And Microsoft Too)
,----[ Quote ]
| Here's the situation: Microsoft has agreed to pay a portion of
| the profits from the sales of the Zune to a record company
| (Universal) because the Zune will undoubtedly be used to
| store unpurchased songs.
|
| [...]
|
| Here it is important to remember a few simple things. The
| money goes to the Universal, not to the artists.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft's move sets a bad precedent and turns all consumers into
| thieves without evidence.
`----
http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/a-legitimate-reason-to-hate-the-zune-and-microsoft-too/
|
|
