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2000 Caldera-Microsoft Settlement Surfaces in Novell v. Microsoft Antitrust
Lawsuit
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| Why? Because it is its theory, which it wants to do discovery to demonstrate,
| that Novell sold all its antitrust claims to Caldera, and that would kill off
| the two remaining claims Novell has brought against Microsoft in the
| antitrust case. Microsoft, not satisfied with what Novell produced or its
| reasons for refusing to produce some documents, brought a Motion to Compel
| Discovery [PDF] [Memorandum in Support (PDF)], and it has just been granted
| [PDF].
|
| In Novell's opposition [PDF] to the motion, it attached some exhibits, one of
| which is the settlement agreement [PDF] in the Caldera v. Microsoft
| litigation, as Exhibit K.
|
| Finally, we get to read it, all except the exact figure that Microsoft paid
| to Caldera. But Microsoft does say, in the memorandum in support, on page 9,
| that Novell got "tens of millions of dollars" from the settlement, and a
| transcript [PDF] of a hearing in the Caldera litigation hints strongly, on
| page 9, that Novell contracted to get 20% of any recovery, so you can get an
| idea of how large the settlement figure was that Canopy received. I know some
| of you have wondered if that success inspired Caldera to sue IBM to try to
| get lightning to strike twice. The exhibits are where all the history comes
| out.
|
| For example, we get to see Microsoft's 1997 subpoena [PDF] to Novell in the
| Caldera case. And we find pieces of the APA between Caldera and Novell quoted
| here and there, although the document itself is under seal, I gather.
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http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080906041139784
Old:
Did Bill Gates Invent Linux and Has He Erased the Evidence?
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| On October 1, 2004, at an appearance at the Computer History Museum in
| northern California, someone asked Bill Gates about a possible threat from
| Linux and Gates replied: "Microsoft has had competitors in the past. It's a
| good thing we have museums to document this stuff."
|
| But during the frantic days of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v.
| MICROSOFT CORPORATION, Defendant, Mr. Gate's employees at Microsoft
| corporation put together an argument for the court that made a tiny group of
| companies look like a threat - even a competitor.
|
| [...]
|
| Linux advocates believe Microsoft employees and contractors disrupt forums
| and discussion groups. They believe that Microsoft advocates use fictitious
| names to post unfavorable comments about Linux. They refer to people who may
| do that as "astroturfers".
|
| [...]
|
| Lord Acton, a British historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
| centuries made an observation that a person’s sense of morality lessens as
| his or her power increases. He's quoted as saying, "Power tends to corrupt;
| absolute power corrupts absolutely." Is that a true statement for all people
| or does it tend to generalize? I don't really know the answer. It somehow
| feels right.
|
| I have a lack of trust in our current Administration's ability to regulate
| Microsoft. In fact, I'm concerned that a lack of motivation and/or interest
| exists to protect us from Microsoft's monopolistic grip. I don't know from
| where the resources would come to investigate them in the civil sector.
| Microsoft just doesn't appear as a priority in the administration's agenda.
|
| I believe that the US has slipped technologically in the last five years as
| investment in start-ups has slowed and our technologist have migrated to
| other professions. I lay the blame on our government's inability to show the
| fortitude to stop monopolies from thwarting innovation. Hopefully this
| article will provide some incentive for someone to take a look at how one
| company could change the internal landscape of the Internet and distort
| history.
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http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/45935/index.html
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