____/ nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on Monday 22 October 2007 15:15 : \____
> <Quote>
> [Microsoft will obey, won't appeal...] dropping a challenge of a
> European Commission order that found it guilty of monopoly abuse three
> years ago....
>
> Ms. Kroes said she regretted that it took so long for Microsoft to
> comply, because consumers suffered a lack of choice for years as
> rivals were held back from developing better software.
>
> If the software maker does not keep to the terms of the deal,
> competitors will be able to take the company to a British court to
> seek damages....
>
> The company will now charge a one-time fee of 10,000 euros ($14,310)
> for companies that want "complete and accurate" technical information
> to help them make software compatible with Microsoft's Windows desktop
> operating system.
>
> [Right, for $14,000 you get cut-and-paste of the London phone
> book...]
>
> It will also allow that data to go to open source systems such as
> Linux, and will cut the price it charges for worldwide licenses -
> including patents - to less than 7 percent of what Microsoft
> originally claimed.
>
> "The agreements will be enforceable before the High Court in London,
> and will provide for effective remedies, including damages, for third-
> party developers in the event that Microsoft breaches those
> agreements," the commission said.
>
> The European Union's executive arm said it would soon decide if the
> software maker violated European law by overcharging for
> interoperability information....
>
> Microsoft lost an appeal at the Court of First Instance on Sept. 17.
>
> Ms. Kroes promised that computer users would soon see real benefits.
>
> Microsoft controls some 95 percent of the software running on desktop
> computers in offices and homes and has a 70 percent chunk of work
> group server software that control how a group desktops access each
> others and transfer tasks to printers.
> </Quote>
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/22apsoft.html
Nest stop: Korea.
Microsoft dropped their appeal there last week. It's falling apart.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | $> sudo root; cd /; rm -rf *.doc
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
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