Microsoft, Ask join forces to beat up Google
,----[ Quote ]
| In a barely disguised attempt to show they're holier than the Great Whited
| Sepulchre Google, Ask and Microsoft have "called on the industry" to beef up
| search engine privacy controls.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41158
It's a recurring pattern. They also fought GooTube in this way.
Related:
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
|
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