South Korea fines Motorola's South Korean unit over police radio bid collusion
,----[ Quote ]
| South Korea's Fair Trade Commission said Monday it has levied a fine of 696
| million won, or $729,000, on Motorola Korea Inc. for helping three South
| Korean companies collude to get orders from government agencies.
`----
http://news.smh.com.au/south-korea-fines-motorolas-south-korean-unit-over-police-radio-bid-collusion/20080310-1yfs.html
In other news (mentioned earlier):
Microsoft tries to stop more ‘Vista-capable’ e-mails from going public
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is trying to put the kibosh on more of its internal (and
| embarassing) e-mail messages around its Vista marketing plans going public.
|
| [...]
|
| With every version of Windows, Microsoft has worked with hardware partners to
| find new ways to try to convince users they need more and more powerful
| machines to take advantage of more feature-rich software. If Microsoft and
| its partners were/are successful, it means more money in the PC makers’ and
| Microsoft’s coffers. With Vista, this pact really back-fired, as the already
| published e-mails around Vista-capable — and more, as-yet-unpublicized
| messages — will make evident.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1254
Microsoft challenges 'Vista Capable' class action
,----[ Quote ]
| If granted, the motion would also postpone any new disclosures of potentially
| embarrassing company e-mails.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9067400
They also tried to hide the exhibits from Iowa and stopped further disclosure
by settling quickly. This company still relies on hiding corruption.
They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.
,----[ Quote ]
| Act 1: In 2005, Microsoft plans to say that only PCs that are properly
| equipped to handle the heavy graphics demands of Vista are “Vista Ready.”
|
| Act 2: In early 2006, Microsoft decides to drop the graphics-related hardware
| requirement in order to avoid hurting Windows XP sales on low-end machines
| while Vista is readied. (A customer could reasonably conclude that Microsoft
| is saying, Buy Now, Upgrade Later.) A semantic adjustment is made: Instead of
| saying that a PC is “Vista Ready,” which might convey the idea that, well, it
| is ready to run Vista, a PC will be described as “Vista Capable,” which
| supposedly signals that no promises are made about which version of Vista
| will actually work.
|
| The decision to drop the original hardware requirements is accompanied by
| considerable internal protest. The minimum hardware configuration was set so
| low that “even a piece of junk will qualify,” Anantha Kancherla, a Microsoft
| program manager, said in an internal e-mail message among those recently
| unsealed, adding, “It will be a complete tragedy if we allowed it.”
|
| Act 3: In 2007, Vista is released in multiple versions, including “Home
| Basic,” which lacks Vista’s distinctive graphics. This placed Microsoft’s
| partners in an embarrassing position. Dell, which gave Microsoft a postmortem
| report that was also included among court documents, dryly
| remarked: “Customers did not understand what ‘Capable’ meant and expected
| more than could/would be delivered.”
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09digi.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
For each such leaked dirty trick, there must be many more that go with people
into the grave. Intel and Microsoft thriving in crime... another Enron and
WorldCom-like pair in the making? Microsoft is running low in terms of cash.
Related:
Microsoft knew of Vista shortcoming prior to release
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-vista-shortcoming-prior/story.aspx?guid=%7B75BE59C7%2DEFA1%2D48B5%2DB4A4%2D90F5E01A52A0%7D&siteid=yhoof
Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/
Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix
Has Vista lost all credibility?
http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility
E-mail: Microsoft 'botched' dealings with Intel, HP
,----[ Quote ]
| Internal Microsoft e-mails revealed through a federal class-action lawsuit
| arising from the troubled launch last year of the Windows Vista operating
| system have provided a provocative inside look at the software giant's
| machinations with Intel, HP and Dell.
|
| The e-mails include an exchange in which one senior Microsoft executive
| described dealings with computer makers as "really botched." Another manager
| complained Microsoft was "caving to Intel" and "really burning HP."
|
| The e-mails are included in 145 pages of documents unsealed by U.S. District
| Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle late Wednesday. They include internal
| reports and some handwritten notes that offer a rare look inside at the
| famed "Wintel" partnership, and touch upon the alliance's dealings with
| Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other computer makers.
`----
http://origin.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_8417811?nclick_check=1
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
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
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
|
|
