http://www.groklaw.net/newsitems.php
[PJ: Hahahahaha. Hey, is this sue-your-competitor-by-proxy-thing getting more
and more transparent, or is it just me that finds it hard to believe a
consumer wants her music protected Microsoft's way enough to sue over it ...
bit of a stretch, no? That reminds me: Microsoft's Silverlight uses Windows
Media Video:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/%0Dpress/2007/apr07/04-15WPFEPR.mspx
"We depend on Microsoft Windows Media technologies, and we’re excited about
Microsoft Silverlight as a platform to enable instant watching of great
content for all our members, on multiple platforms.”
"Silverlight customers will also enjoy compatibility with the broad ecosystem
of Windows Media-enabled tools and solutions, and the proven scalability and
reliability of the Emmy Award-winning Windows Media technologies. At the
discretion of content providers, Silverlight will also deliver digital rights
management support built on the recently announced Microsoft PlayReady™
content access technology — with feature parity on Windows and Mac....
Microsoft Expression Media Encoder, which will be a feature of Microsoft
Expression Media, enables rapid import, compression and Web publishing of
digital video imported from a variety of popular formats, including AVI and
QuickTime, into WMV."
So, anyone see a possible tie-in to this litigation? Microsoft might want to
clear that up right away. I'm guessing that Microsoft wants to own the
Internet. And I'm sure we can all trust *them* to do the right thing with
it.
Further, in reference to another item:
http://www.groklaw.net/newsitems.php
If this is Stacie Lynn Somers, the attorney, then go to PACER and plug in her
name, and you'll find there is some class action history there, including a
reference to Lerach Coughlin, in an entry in an earlier case against Nextel
that reads, "FAX number for Attorneys Theodore J Pintar, Stacie Lynn Somers,
John J Stoia Jr with the Law Firm of Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia and Robbins is
[redacted]."
The firm is no longer associated with William Lerach who pled guilty last
September to kickback schemes regarding getting plaintiffs for class action
lawsuits. I don't see Ms. Somers listed at Coughlin Stoia now. But here's what
the firm is doing including another Apple antitrust case: "The Apple iPod
iTunes Antitrust Litig. Case No. C-05-00037-JW (N.D. Cal.). Coughlin Stoia is
one of two firms appointed lead counsel for the proposed iPod direct-purchaser
class – a class of several million people. Plaintiffs assert that Apple
illegally tied the purchase of digital music and video files from its iTunes
Store to the purchase of an iPod by making it impossible to play music and
video purchased on iTunes using other portable players, and unlawfully
monopolized the market for portable digital music players." Probably just a
coincidence.
Let's repeat again what we've seen in recent weeks:
* Google gets under attacks while Microsoft urged publishers to sue Google and
used lobbyists to intercept a deal
* Possibly IBM a(antitrust case in Europe from a Microsoft partner
* Possibly LANCOR/OLPC (convicted felon, shortly after a Microsoft bribery in
Nigeria)
* SCO - Goldfarb's declaration confirms that Microsoft fuelled SCO financially
* Possibly Acacia... made out of former Microsoft employees and now suing Linux
companies
Links and proof is easily available for all the above, but there's plenty.
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