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Antitrust policy has rich history
,----[ Quote ]
| From busting up John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust in 1911 to going
| after Microsoft's use of its Windows monopoly, antitrust policy has been an
| important element of the U.S. regulatory landscape.
|
| Now, in tough times, the Obama administration is swinging back the pendulum,
| maintaining that lax enforcement in the past decade has worsened economic
| woes and hurt consumers by failing to protect business competition.
|
| Many observers are watching closely to see how the government handles its
| antitrust investigation of Intel Corp. Last week, European regulators hit
| Intel with a $1.5 billion fine for anti-competitive practices.
|
| [...]
|
| Q: Besides Standard Oil, what were some other big cases?
|
| A: Despite the nation's antitrust policies, breaking up is, in some cases,
| hard to do.
|
| In 2000, a federal judge ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp. into two
| companies after labeling it a monopoly over the Windows-browser bundling
| issue. The Supreme Court refused to hear Microsoft's appeal of the judge's
| decision, sending the case to a federal appeals court. By 2001, Justice was
| no longer seeking the breakup and reached a tentative deal with the company
| to settle the antitrust case.
|
| The European Union did fine Microsoft a record $613 million in 2004.
|
| A landmark breakup came in 1984, when the Bell System — which had been a
| government-approved monopoly — was splintered into eight regional telephone
| companies and one supplying long-distance service and equipment, AT&T Inc.
| Deregulation of the industry under a 1996 law has enabled the reconsolidation
| of phone companies.
`----
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/05/17/0517antitrust.html
Microsoft lost its bottle? with “soft” being the operative word?
,----[ Quote ]
| So what does this mean for Microsoft? Well under normal circumstances (ie
| not a recession) I would say a fine could be easily swallowed by Microsoft.
| But today? Weve seen the Microsoft layoff reports, the cancelling of a bar
| at Redmond and shock of shocks, the Microsoft summer picnic has had a BSOD
| aswel. Poor old Microsoft. Maybe they should have “played nicely” with
| others from the start? It appears to me that just as MS will attempt to suck
| what it can from anyone frightened of its patent portfolio (IMO) there are
| many companies lining up to take a shot at the Redmond firm. Outside of
| Redmond and those reliant on it for a living, I dont think there are many
| tears shed for the woes of Microsoft.
|
| I wonder where this will leave the alleged “gifted” bloggers? I wonder if
| they will still shower the praise when the genie refuses to grant wishes no
| matter how many times they rub the lamp?
`----
http://openbytes.wordpress.com/2009/05/23/microsoft-lost-its-bottle-with-soft-being-the-operative-word/
Related:
PR spinner insists Vista kernel is secure
,----[ Quote ]
| IT IS NOT OFTEN that anyone at Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's pet public
| relations firm, writes to The INQUIRER. Read on, and we think you'll soon
| understand why that's the case.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/12/04/vista-kernel-secure-insists
Microsoft hires InfoWorld hack
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, Udell is far from being the first journalist to sign on
| for Big Green. In fact, Microsoft UK made a series of hires in
| 1996 from the BBC and elsewhere when it populated its MSN site
| with original news and other content.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36256
'Legitimate concerns' - a non-correction
,----[ Quote ]
| I just noticed that Microsoft's director of corporate standards,
| Jason Matusow, has published a clarification of a recent story I
| wrote about Open XML's route through the ISO standardization process.
`----
http://www.businessreviewonline.com/os/archives/2007/03/legitimate_conc.html
ComputerWorld Employs Ignorant Journalists
,----[ Quote ]
| Giving you a brief overview what the article from ComputerWorld says:
| Open Source supporters build fortresses around them that make them
| unapproachable and have infinite animosity toward Microsoft. Yep, that
| about sums it up.
|
| [...]
|
| In closing, I just thought the article wasn't even worth the pixels used
| to display it...but I'm sure its been seen by a wide variety of people.
| So, instead of giving them one side of the story, perhaps my little rant
| will give them the other side of things. Sure we can all get along...as
| long as we speak the truth to one another. And that's something both
| journalists and Microsoft have historically [1] [2] had trouble doing.
`----
http://linux-blog.org/index.php?/archives/165-ComputerWorld-Employs-Ignorant-Journalists.html#extended
Praising Microsoft - and attacked by wolves
,----[ Snippets ]
| "That you can use the word 'virtue' in the same sentence as 'Microsoft'
| is clear indication that you haven't a clue. Then again, you do write
| for Fortune, so your alliance no doubt leans toward corporations and
| shareholders rather than users," wrote Walter Bazzini, whose Web
| site, perhaps revealingly, is entitled "Misanthrope Manor."
|
| "You sound as if you're suffering from 'Stockholm Syndrome,'" wrote
| Ken Davies. "Microsoft has actually set all of us back by years and
| possibly by decades."
|
| "Your painfully revisionist history makes you sound like one of
| the 20-something journalists who wasn't actually around since the 80s,"
| wrote Norman Gilmore, who really knows how to hurt a guy.
|
| Some of the letters were not only passionate but extremely well written
| and thoughtful. Here's more, for example, from Gilmore, who neatly
| summarizes the objections of quite a few writers:
|
| "Gee, I thought ARPA funded the research leading to TCP/IP, Tim
| Berners-Lee invented the Web, and Marc Andreessen led the creation of
| the graphical browser at [the University of Illinois]. I thought Apple
| started the personal computing revolution, Xerox invented graphical
| interfaces and IBM invented the PC. Microsoft BASIC - oh yeah, a
| language invented at Dartmouth by Kemeny and Kurtz. MS-DOS? Tim
| Patterson wrote what became MS-DOS, itself a CP/M clone.
|
| "And THEN Bill Gates wrote his famous memo, which summarized as -
| 'WHOOPS - THE INTERNET - OH NO! WE'RE BEHIND!' "
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/hftn/060901/090106_fastforward_microsoft_fortune.html?.v=1
Murdoch promises 'journalistic integrity' at The Wall Street Journal
,----[ Quote ]
| In a letter sent over the weekend to members of the Bancroft family
| that owns the company, Murdoch asked to meet with the family and
| company officials.
`----
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9719062-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
http://tinyurl.com/yulfpx
What happened to the guts?
,----[ Quote ]
| Of one thing I am fairly certain. Microsoft all but eliminated
| mainstream software competition. As a result, Microsoft became
| the primary source of advertising revenue for mainstream publications.
| You don't bite the hand that feeds you. So instead of publishing
| issues calling for a worldwide boycott of Vista because it focuses
| more on what you can't do than what you can do, you see special
| editions praising Vista as the greatest advancement in computing
| since Windows 95. Granted we all know that Windows 95 was a dog
| from day one, but by the 90s, the mainstream press had already
| become rampant with Microsoft sycophants and they pushed Windows
| 95 like it was the second coming.
|
| [...]
|
| In short, I'd love to see a mainstream publication become an
| advocate for the consumer once again.
|
| As noted above, there are exceptions, including Linux Journal,
| most other FOSS-centered publications and even The Register.
| But we're the little guys.
`----
http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000173
http://slated.org/bbc_microsoft_bias
Bill Gates lends cash to buy newspapers
$350 million to MediaNews
,----[ Quote ]
| Gates involvement has been very behind the scenes. In fact many of
| those involved in the deal didn'teven know he was one of the investors.
| It was carried out through the Gates Foundation, the world's largest
| philanthropy outfit.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33849
Beeb slammed for 'fawning' to Bill Gates
,----[ Quote ]
| BBC viewers have flooded the corporation with complaints over how it
| covered the launch of Microsoft Vista earlier this week.
|
| In one cringingly servile interview worthy of Uriah Heep, the
| Beeb's news presenter Hugh Edwards even thanked Gates at the
| end of it, presumably in appreciation at being allowed to give
| the Vole vast coverage for free.
|
| In other TV news items presenters excitedly explained how Vistac
| ould be obtained and installed - details courtesy of the BBC's
| website.
|
| But British viewers, currently forced to pay a £131.50 licence
| fee to maintain the BBC's "impartiality", were less than impressed.
|
| Scores got in touch to complain that so much was Auntie up Bill's
| bum that you could barely see her corset.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37411
Brits! Act now to save the BBC from Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| The BBC are holding an open consultation regarding how they're
| going to delivery on-demand content, they want answers to
| questions like: "How important is it that the proposed seven-day
| catch-up service over the internet is available to consumers who
| are not using Microsoft software?"
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/31/brits_act_now_to_sav.html
The real question: How to keep Microsoft on the transparency track
,----[ Quote ]
| Some media members are simply shocked that Microsoft's PR team keeps
| dossiers on the reporters and bloggers who cover the company. That's
| old news, folks. And not even very interesting news.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=353
Wrong Yesterday Wrong Today Wrong Tomorrow
,----[ Quote ]
| I just got through watching a segment on the Today Show on NBC
| highlighting the launch of the Microsoft Zune.
|
| First of all, I thought journalists were suppose to reveal their
| affiliations with any product if such an affiliation exists.
| Microsoft owns a stake in NBC ie MSNBC News Network.
|
| [...]
|
| Second, all the side by side product comparisons showed 4th Gen iPods
| with monochrome screens with no song selected or playing, while the
| Zune was playing a video.
|
| [...]
|
| This isn't the first time NBC has misled its morning viewers with
| puff pieces about the Zune.
`----
http://fixyourthinking.com/2006/11/wrong-yesterday-wrong-today-wrong.html
Should MSNBC really be "reviewing" (Microsoft's) Gears of War?
,----[ Quote ]
| MSNBC recently reviewed Gears of War, calling it the Xbox 360's first
| killer app.... Nowhere on the page is any indication of the possible
| ethical issue MSNBC is "Microsoft-NBC", and the site is hosted as a
| subdomain of msn.com (a major Microsoft portal). Is this really balanced
| journalism?
`----
http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/should_msnbc_really_be__quot_reviewing_quot__gears_of_war_
PC World Editor Resigns When Ordered Not to Criticize Advertisers
,----[ Quote ]
| Apparently he also told the staff that product reviews had to be
| nicer to vendors who advertise in the magazine. The sad thing is
| that given the economics of publishing in this day and age, I
| doubt anything even comes of this even tho it essentially
| confirms that PC World reviews should be thought of as no
| more than press releases. I know that's how I will consider
| links from them in the future. But congratulations to anyone
| willing to stick to their guns on such matters.
`----
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/03/1810239&from=rss
Dan Rather: Journalism has 'lost its guts'
,----[ Quote ]
| To longtime CBS broadcaster Dan Rather, American journalism in recent
| years "has in some ways lost its guts."
|
| [...]
|
| I do not exclude myself from this criticism... By and large, so
| many journalists--there are notable exceptions--have adopted
| the go-along-to-get-along (attitude)," he said.
|
| [...]
|
| "In many ways," said Rather to loud applause, "what we in journalism
| need is a spine transplant."
`----
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6166528.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Mercury News writer accuses Microsoft of Bribery
http://www.1pstart.com/mercury-news-writer-accuses-microsoft-of-bribery/
Bribing Bloggers
,----[ Quote ]
| It's a bribe. Period. You say nice things about us, you get nice
| things from us. Heck, just say neutral things about us-we'll give
| you a killer new laptop and we know that you'll be inclined to say
| better things about us.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2077596,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K0000616
Microsoft Sent A Free Laptop With Windows Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| I'm not sure how I was selected to be one of the people receiving this
| (I'm assuming there are others, but I haven't come across any yet).
| It could be that they are reaching out to bloggers who are Mac users
| (I switched to a Mac back when OS X came out) or it might just be that
| people I know who work for Microsoft or other influential bloggers
| recommended me
`----
http://laughingsquid.com/microsoft-sent-a-free-laptop-with-windows-vista/
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