How Linux Passion Sometimes Beats Windows Preloads
,----[ Quote ]
| Hmmm. The VAR Guy can’t help but wonder how many Windows evangelists would
| spend their weekend trying to install Vista on aging hardware for school
| kids. Even on new PCs with a full gig of memory, we all know Vista doesn’t
| earn passing grades.
|
| In stark contrast, Fife notes, Ubuntu Linux offers a great user experience —
| even on legacy hardware. The InstallFest systems will also gain FireFox,
| OpenOffice and Untangle’s security software to shield school kids from the
| Web’s darker side.
`----
http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/02/26/how-linux-passion-sometimes-beats-windows-preloads/
Bad news to Intel and Microsoft:
World gov'ts more aggressive on bribe probes-study
,----[ Quote ]
| Companies under investigation for violations of U.S. bribery laws will likely
| face heightened scrutiny from law enforcement officials all over the world as
| probes widen and spill across borders, a study found.
`----
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN2524801420080225?rpc=44
Recent (days ago):
Intel overwhelmed by EU complaints
,----[ Quote ]
| So many charges, so little time.
|
| Intel Chairman Craig Barrett appears overwhelmed by a European Union
| investigation into the company's actions. Earlier this month, European
| Competition Commission officials busted open Intel offices in Munich, hunting
| for documents related to alleged price fixing with retailers. That raid added
| to an existing EC investigation into Intel's business practices.
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/02/22/intel_barrett_eu_gripe/
,----[ Quote ]
| He alleges that the company has engaged in monopolistic conduct in the CPU
| market by “threatening, coercing, and bribing customers to refrain from
| dealing with Intel’s major competitor, Advanced Micro Devices”.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/21/inquirer-named-intel-writ
Related:
Microsoft, Intel and Dell: The Tech Love Triangle
,----[ Quote ]
| It is becoming well known that Microsoft have achieved their current market
| share status by making major computer manufacturers sign licensing deals, so
| as to distribute a copy of Windows with every computer sold. What many people
| don't realise, is how difficult it is to get a computer from the
| manufacturers without Windows.
|
| [...]
|
| This is first-hand experience of the power of Microsoft's monopolistic
| practices, and it really does annoy me. It seems not so long ago that I
| praised Dell for their support, but along with Microsoft, they have now lost
| a customer entirely.
|
| Needless to say, we are now looking to buy a system from a local shop with no
| OS.
`----
http://blog.raisingwaves.com/index.php?entry=entry071120-003039
http://edge-op.org/iowa/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/2000/PX02663.pdf
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
U.S. DOJ joins lawsuit against HP, Sun, Accenture
,----[ Quote ]
| Suit alleges that the three companies formed an alliance with vendors
| and have been giving each other kickbacks on government contracts
| since the late 1990s.
`----
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/04/19/HNdojjoinshpsunlawsuit_1.html
Lenovo got financial help from Intel, claim
,----[ Quote ]
| Journalists on the title said Lenovo is being paid a "pretty
| penny" from Intel to use its chips.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37670
At Dell, Windows XP Home is $19 less than worthless
,----[ Quote ]
| Latitude D520N Duo (with FreeDOS): $984
|
| Latitude D520 Dual Core (with Windows XP Home Edition SP2): $965
`----
http://danpritchard.com/blog/2007/02/21/dell-winxphome-19-less-than-worthless/
Microsoft Shuts Down Linux 10 Years Ago Says Iowa Attorne
,----[ Quote ]
| Going back now to as early as 1998, Microsoft starts to realize that
| Linux might pose a possible threat, and Vinod Valloppillil, who is
| a program manager at Microsoft, is asked by Mr. Allchin, Jim Allchin,
| to analyze potential strategies for combatting open-source software,
| and specifically Linux.
| His memos are leaked to the press in April -- I beg your pardon --
| in October of 1998 and become known as the Halloween documents.
| And the evidence will be that Microsoft uses its influence in the
| OEM channel, the computer manufacture channel, to make sure that
| end users have a difficult time buying PCs with Linux preinstalled.
`----
http://www.linuxelectrons.com/News/RoundUp/Microsoft_Shuts_Down_Linux_10_Years_Ago_Says_Iowa_Attorney
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
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.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061201/microsoft_trial.html?.v=1
Did Microsoft want to 'whack' Dell over its Linux dealings?
http://news.com.com/Did+Microsoft+want+to+whack+Dell+over+its+Linux+dealings/2100-1014_3-6153904.html
Dell's secret Linux fling [sabotaged by Microsoft]
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/09/dell_linux_china/
Microsoft 'killed Dell Linux' - States
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/19/microsoft_killed_dell_linux_states/
Ecuador Tax Agency Closes Microsoft Branch Offices For 7 Days
,----[ Quote ]
| "We have twice requested balances, payment reports and complete tax
| information, but the company hasn't given it to us, so in accordance with our
| laws we have proceeded with the closure," the SRI official in charge of the
| proceeding said.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200710041610DOWJONESDJONLINE000810_FORTUNE5.htm
Microsoft Office raid in Hungary
,----[ Quote ]
| "Such behavior could lead to the exclusion of competitive products from
| the market and violate European Union rules, according to the authority
| known as the GVH."
`----
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/26/ap3957835.html
Lessig: Required Reading: the next 10 years
,----[ Quote ]
| Yet governments continue to push ahead with this idiot idea -- both Britain
| and Japan for example are considering extending existing terms. Why?
|
| The answer is a kind of corruption of the political process. Or better,
| a "corruption" of the political process. I don't mean corruption in the
| simple sense of bribery. I mean "corruption" in the sense that the
| system is so queered by the influence of money that it can't even get
| an issue as simple and clear as term extension right.
`----
http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003800.shtml#003800
BBC Corrupted
,----[ Quote ]
| Today the BBC made it official -- they have been corrupted by Microsoft. With
| today's launch of the iPlayer, the BBC Trust has failed in its most basic of
| duties and handed over to Microsoft sole control of the on-line distribution
| of BBC programming. From today, you will need to own a Microsoft operating
| system to view BBC programming on the web. This is akin to saying you must
| own a Sony TV set to watch BBC TV. And you must accept the Digital
| Restrictions Management (DRM) that the iPlayer imposes. You simply cannot be
| allowed to be in control of your computer according to the BBC.
`----
http://defectivebydesign.org/blog/BBCcorrupted
Kickback Case: Retired Lawyer Sentenced
,----[ Quote ]
| The law firm, previously known as Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, paid
| $11.3 million in kickbacks to people who became plaintiffs in class-action
| lawsuits against companies such as AT&T Inc., Lucent, WorldCom, Microsoft
| Corp. and Prudential Insurance, prosecutors said.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080128/lawsuit_kickbacks.html?.v=7
|
|
