Computer consultant to face charges over kickback allegations
,----[ Quote ]
| Federal authorities said Kim, while a computer consultant for the
| state WCB from November 2004 through May 2005, conspired with two
| others to steer a contract worth nearly $1 million to their
| preferred bidder. The contract involved converting WCB computers
| from a Novell Inc. system to one provided by Microsoft Corp.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/070207/1414353.html?.v=1
Related:
Investors sue Dell on payments from Intel: WSJ
,----[ Quote ]
| An investor lawsuit seeking class-action status accuses Dell Inc. of
| improper accounting in its relationship with chip giant Intel,
| according to a media report published Thursday evening.
|
| [...]
|
| The suit alleges that Dell received at times as much as $1 billion
| a year in "secret and likely illegal" kickbacks in the form of
| "e-Cap" or "exception to corporate average pricing" payments"
| from Intel to ensure that Dell used no other chip supplier,
| according to The Journal.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/investors-sue-dell-payments-intel/story.aspx?guid=%7B400315B0%2DE375%2D4920%2DB300%2D784220BEFE35%7D&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo
Dell's secret Linux fling
,----[ Quote ]
| Dell's love affair with Linux is a clandestine affair these days,
| conducted in secret, away from disapproving eyes. But now the pair
| have been spotted in China.
|
| When Michael Dell first saw the web-footed beauty, he fell head over
| heels. Six years ago Dell pledged a series of strategic investments
| in Linux companies, including Eazel and Red Hat. The romance
| attracted the disapproval of Microsoft however, and barely lasted
| weeks. Very quietly, Dell dumped the bird.
|
| It later emerged that Microsoft's OEM enforcer Joachim Kempin had
| promised Steve Ballmer that he'd be putting the screws on PCb
| uilders, or "hitting the OEMs harder" in his words.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/09/dell_linux_china/
Comes v. MS Antitrust Trial Begins in Iowa
,----[ Quote ]
| Here's part of what Allchin said about how to deal with the competitive
| threat from Novell then:
|
| "We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger....If you're
| going to kill someone, there isn't much reason to get all worked up
| about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Any discussions
| beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while
| we pull the trigger."
|
| [...]
|
| Conlin used a variety of computer-generated illustrations,
| including one that showed 15 icons, each representing what she
| said was an illegal action taken by Microsoft in pursuit of its
| bid to become and remain a monopoly. The icons had titles like
| "exclusionary contract," "technical sabotage," "buying out the
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| competitition"...
`----
Jury Hears Microsoft Competition Suit
,----[ Quote ]
| A judge on Friday told jurors they must accept as fact that a
| federal court found in 1999 that Microsoft holds a monopoly over
| computer operating systems and that it restricted computer
| manufacturers' ability to use competing systems.
|
| [...]
|
| She said she'll show that the company used its monopoly power
| to exclude competition and control prices and that it conspired with
| other companies to restrain trade, maintaining what she called a
| chokehold on software competitors and computer manufacturers.
|
| "It isn't illegal to be successful," Conlin said in opening
| remarks. "We applaud that. ... But you can't freeze out competitors
| and punish and retaliate against people who cooperate with
| competitors. Microsoft did all that and more."
|
| Conlin warned jurors that she would say some unflattering things
| about Microsoft and its billionaire founder Bill Gates, who
| serves as company chairman.
|
| [...]
|
| Conlin's first 3 1/2 hours of opening arguments delved deeply into
| computer industry history and how Microsoft fought off competitors
| attempting to design rival software.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061201/microsoft_trial.html?.v=1
Microsoft's Dirty OEM-Secret
,----[ Quote ]
| They are, in short the secret to Microsoft's success. And the word
| secret is to be taken quite literally: No OEM may talk about the
| contents of his contract, or he will lose his license, and (assumption)
| likely be sued for breach of contract as well.
`----
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/10/23/13219/110
Microsoft 'killed Dell Linux' - States
,----[ Quote ]
| The States' remedy hearing opened in DC yesterday, and States attorney
| Steven Kuney produced a devastating memo from Kempin, then in charge of
| Microsoft's OEM business, written after Judge Jackson had ordered his
| break-up of the company. Kempin raises the possibility of threatening
| Dell and other PC builders which promote Linux.
|
| "I'm thinking of hitting the OEMs harder than in the past with anti-Linux.
| ... they should do a delicate dance," Kempin wrote to Ballmer, in what is
| sure to be a memorable addition to the phrases ("knife the baby", "cut off
| the air supply") with which Microsoft enriched the English language in the
| first trial. Unlike those two, this is not contested.
|
| [...]
|
| Earlier memos described that it was "untenable" that a key Microsoft
| partner was promoting Linux. Kuney revealed that Dell disbanded its Linux
| business unit in early 2001. Dell quietly pulled Linux from its desktop PCs
| in the summer of 2001, IDG's Ashlee Vance discovered subsequently, six
| months after we heard Michael Dell declare his love of Linux on the desktop
| the previous winter.
|
| Compaq was also mentioned in other memos, with Microsoft taking the line
| that OEMs should "meet demand but not help create demand" for Linux.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/19/microsoft_killed_dell_linux_states/
E.U. investigators want formal charge against Intel: report
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7bC96B4158-E6F5-47DB-8164-A9E9141F7C5F%7d&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo
EU antitrust experts seek charges vs Intel-source
,----[ Quote ]
| The Commission has been investigating chip-maker Intel for six years
| to see if it acts unfairly to keep its dominance over rival Advanced
| Micro Devices.
`----
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20070117:MTFH01539_2007-01-17_10-23-02_BRU005303&type=comktNews&rpc=44
Intel profit down 39% as price cuts, spending crimp margins
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel Corp. late Tuesday reported fourth-quarter profit dropped 39% as
| the world's largest chipmaker cut prices and boosted investment as it
| attempts to beat back a challenge from smaller rival Advanced Micro
| Devices Inc.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/intel-profit-drops-39-price/story.aspx?guid=%7BF022C863%2D1C0B%2D4F8B%2DB0C5%2D1695AFFC6810%7D&dist=morenews
http://tinyurl.com/322onq
Henri Richard: AMD's bad guy
,----[ Quote ]
| At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Richard, at a
| breakfast meeting, did his duty again. He said the Intel Inside
| program and other marketing promotions Intel has used over the
| years have killed profitability for PC makers.
|
| "The industry was saddled with a very successful marketing
| program that sucked all of the profit out of the industry," he
| said. In China, PC makers can avoid these programs and "not
| become a hostage."
`----
http://news.com.com/2061-13053_3-6148717.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
http://tinyurl.com/yf475k
AMD spells out what it wants from Intel
,----[ Quote ]
| The two companies sessions have "defined the universe in dispute".
| Intel has declined to produce documents that could show
| limitations on customers to buy chips from AMD, quotas for
| chip buying, and "other coercion, including threats of
| retaliation or retribution, for doing business with AMD
| (or not doing sufficient business with Intel)."
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36736
AMD claims key victory in Intel antitrust suit
,----[ Quote ]
| AMD filed suit against Intel in June 2005, charging Intel with
| employing anticompetitive practices in the sale of PC chips.
| Intel has denied the charges.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7b4FC79547-9443-4262-BF1E-5AFC9FCDB046%7d&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo
http://tinyurl.com/ynfnkz
AMD says court seeks data from Intel in antitrust case
,----[ Quote ]
| Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said a U.S.
| federal court had overruled Intel Corp.'s
| objections in an ongoing antitrust litigation.
|
| The court has ordered Intel to produce documents and other
| evidence bearing upon its "exclusionary conduct" outside
| United States, AMD said in a statement.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/061228/amd_lawsuit_intel.html?.v=1
Court tells Intel to hand over foreign documents in antitrust case
,----[ Quote ]
| In June 2005, AMD filed a massive antitrust lawsuit against Intel, accusing
| the larger CPU maker of abusing its dominant position in the worldwide PC
| market to prevent AMD's CPUs from making significant inroads. The suit
| alleges that Intel customers like Toshiba, Gateway, Dell, Hitachi, and
| others agreed to exclusive deals with Intel in exchange for "cash payments,
| discriminatory pricing or marketing subsidies conditioned on the exclusion
| of AMD."
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061217-8436.html
|
|
