"Attempted infringement" appears in new House intellectual property bill
,----[ Quote ]
| Back in May, the Justice Department issued some proposed legislation to
| tighten US intellectual property laws and to criminalize some forms
| of "attempted infringement." Now, legislation based on the proposals has been
| introduced in Congress by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), complete with stiffer
| jail terms for violators and the controversial "attempted infringement"
| clause.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070730-attempted-infringment-appears-in-new-house-intellectual-property-bill.html
And look what Mr. "the Internet is made of tubes" is subjected to...
Federal agents raid Sen. Ted Stevens' Girdwood home
,----[ Quote ]
| Beyond what he said about being notified of the search, Stevens’ written
| statement Monday echoed what he’s said several times in recent months -- that
| he’s not commenting on the federal corruption investigation.
`----
http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/story/9179115p-9095789c.html
He also appears to be the one who stands for censorship and restrictions on the
Web.
Microsoft has its share of lobbyists as well, stherein lies some relevance
(resemblance).
Days ago:
Senate Panel Approves Currency Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| A Senate panel overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday that would give
| the United States additional tools to pressure China and other countries
| accused of manipulating the value of their currencies.
|
| [...]
|
| She wants the U.S. to press China to make legal reforms and improve its
| intellectual property protection, a key issue for Microsoft Corp., located in
| Redmond, Wash.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070726/currency_senate.html?.v=3
Related:
Bill Gates to address Senate panel
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is scheduled to descend on Capitol Hill
| next week to pepper a U.S. Senate committee with his suggestions for
| boosting American competitiveness.
`----
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6163930.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Microsoft Befriends Google's Foes
,----[ Quote ]
| After a government- and monopoly-inspired period in which Microsoft had
| to pretend to be a gentle force for global good, the company is being
| forced to return to its ruthless roots. Ironically, it is doing this
| in part by decrying the unfair practices of a competitor and
| shamelessly sucking up to the Establishment.
`----
http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/06/microsoft-google-blodget-tech-cx_hb_0306blodget.html?partner=yahootix
http://tinyurl.com/3bewws
News Analysis: Microsoft General Counsel on DoubleClick and Antitrust
,----[ Quote ]
| This raises a very important question - why didn't Microsoft match Google's
| $3.1 billion offer. Smith would not comment on this, but I can report from
| very good sources that in fact the company did offer to match it, and was
| willing to pay even more to insure that Google did not corner the online ad
| market. But for whatever reasons, the private equity firm that owned the
| majority of DoubleClick's shares decided to go with Google.
|
| [...]
|
| I asked Smith about the irony of Microsoft asking the government to
| support it on antitrust. His response was interesting.
`----
http://battellemedia.com/archives/003561.php
Software rivals say Microsoft's Vista illegal in Europe
,----[ Excerpt ]
| Software manufacturers, citing 2004 European Commission finding,
| contend the operating system violates server laws in Europe.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/26/news/international/bc.vista.microsoft.eu.reut/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
US politicians go to bat for Microsoft
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
,----[ Quote ]
| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu
Politicians in Microsoft's Pocket
,----[ Quote ]
| Continuing on the theme of which politicians are receiving money from
| who. Here is a list of candidates who took money from MSFT.
`----
http://www.fonz.net/blog/archives/2007/06/04/politicians-in-microsofts-pocket/
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
Feds seek formal extension of Microsoft antitrust deal
,----[ Quote ]
| The U.S. Department of Justice and Microsoft on Wednesday filed a
| formal application for a two-year extension of portions of their
| landmark antitrust settlement, with the possibility of stretching it
| until 2012.
`---- ^^^^
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6111240.html
Google Vista concerns no surprise to Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| However, a person familiar with the matter said that Microsoft
| was made aware of Google's concerns about its desktop search via a
| telephone call from the Justice Department in early December,
| shortly after the commercial launch of Vista in late November.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-googles-desktop-search-issues/story.aspx?guid=%7B9B0D43AB%2D8227%2D40E6%2DA300%2D1CAECF5C2C86%7D&siteid=yhoof
Microsoft May Be Forced to Alter Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| Antitrust officials may demand that Microsoft Corp. change its
| Windows Vista operating system to address a complaint by Google
| that the program's design hurts competing software. Vista makes
| it impractical to turn off Microsoft's self-serving search index.
| Government officials are studying whether Microsoft violated the
| 2001 consent decree.
`----
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/0EE60406E44ED34C862572F8000CD63B?OpenDocument
Vista Limits Choices, Google Alleges
,----[ Quote ]
| Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said yesterday that
| officials from several states may decide by early next week whether
| they will ask the judge to force Microsoft to revise Windows Vista,
| the latest version of the company's operating system. "We've reached
| a critical juncture in our decision-making process," he said in an
| interview. "If Microsoft is misusing its market dominance with
| Vista to constrain competition or consumer choice, we will seek
| appropriate action from the court."
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/11/AR2007061102177.html?hpid=sec-tech
Antitrust: Google's statement on Windows Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft's current approach with Vista desktop search violates the
| consent decree and and limits consumer choice. The search boxes built
| throughout Vista are hard-wired to Microsoft's own desktop search
| product, with no way for users to choose an alternate provider from
| these visible search access points. Likewise, Vista makes it
| impractical to turn off Microsoft's search index."
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/Microsoft/archives/116476.asp
Google adjusts privacy policy -- slightly
,----[ Quote ]
| Google has decided to make the data it stores about end users
| anonymous in its server logs after 18 months, according to a
| blog posted Monday by the company's global privacy counsel.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=195129821&rid=-50
Microsoft May Be Forced to Alter Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| Antitrust officials may demand that Microsoft Corp. change its
| Windows Vista operating system to address a complaint by Google
| that the program's design hurts competing software. Vista makes
| it impractical to turn off Microsoft's self-serving search index.
| Government officials are studying whether Microsoft violated the
| 2001 consent decree.
`----
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/0EE60406E44ED34C862572F8000CD63B?OpenDocument
ECIS Accuses Microsoft of Plotting HTML Hijack
,----[ Quote ]
| An industry coalition that has represented competitors of Microsoft
| in European markets before the European Commission stepped up its
| public relations offensive this morning, this time accusing
| Microsoft of scheming to upset HTML's place in the fabric of
| the Internet with XAML, an XML-based layout lexicon for
| network applications.
`----
http://www.betanews.com/article/ECIS_Accuses_Microsoft_of_Plotting_HTML_Hijack/1169824569
Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in Justice Dept.
,----[ Quote ]
| Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark effort to break
| up Microsoft, the Bush administration has sharply changed course by
| repeatedly defending the company both in the United States and abroad
| against accusations of anticompetitive conduct, including the recent
| rejection of a complaint by Google.
|
| [...]
|
| In the most striking recent example of the policy shift, the top
| antitrust official at the Justice Department last month urged state
| prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by
| Google that is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's
| behavior. Google has accused Microsoft of designing its latest
| operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google's desktop
| search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/10microsoft.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Software rivals say Microsoft's Vista illegal in Europe (at CNNMoney.com)
,----[ Excerpt ]
| Software manufacturers, citing 2004 European Commission finding,
| contend the operating system violates server laws in Europe.
|
| [...]
|
| "Vista is the first step of Microsoft's strategy to extend its market
| dominance to the Internet," the ECIS statement said.
|
| It said Microsoft's XAML markup language was "positioned to replace HTML,"
| the industry standard for publishing documents on the Internet.
|
| Microsoft's own language would be dependent on Windows, and discriminatory
| against rival systems such as Linux, the group says.
|
| They said a so-called "open XML" platform file format, known as OOXML, is
| designed to run seamlessly only on the Microsoft Office platform.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/26/news/international/bc.vista.microsoft.eu.reut/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
|
|