-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
____/ High Plains Thumper on Tuesday 22 Sep 2009 01:56 : \____
> bbgruff wrote:
>
>> Not particularly Linux-centred, but an interesting insight
>> into how business is done by large corporations, and the sort
>> of thing that the E.C. tries to stamp out.
>>
>> In this case, documents now released by the E.C. in support of
>> the billion-dollar fine that it imposed on Intel:-
>>
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/technology/companies/22chip.html?_r=1
>>
>> I am of course quite sure that no similar agreements exist
>> between Software companies and OEMs ;-)
>
> Interesting find, BBG. Regarding similar agreements in software:
>
> [quote]
> II. MICROSOFTâS HISTORY OF ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCT
>
> This section reviews a number of Microsoftâs past actions to
> extinguish potential competitive threats. These include
> Microsoftâs: [...] (e) elimination of Word Perfect; [...] While
> not comprehensive, these examples of Microsoftâs past misconduct
> provide a clear illustration of the types of acts that
> Microsoft has taken to protect and extend its monopolies. [...]
>
> E. Microsoftâs Elimination Of Word Perfect
>
> âIf we own the key âfranchisesâ built on top of the operating
> system, we dramatically widen the âmoatâ that protects the
> operating system businessâ. We hope to make a lot of money off
> these franchises, but even more important is that they should
> protect our Windows royalty per PC.â
> âJeff Raikes, Microsoft President [43]
>
> âI have decided that we should not publish these [Windows 95
> user interface] extensions. We should wait until we have a way to
> do a high level of integration that will be harder for likes of
> Notes, WordPerfect to achieve, and which will give Office a real
> advantage.... We can't compete with Lotus and WordPerfect/Novell
> without this.â
> âBill Gates, Microsoft founder and then-CEO [44]
>
> Beginning in 1994, Microsoft launched an anticompetitive
> campaign to extinguish WordPerfect, an office productivity
> application owned by Novell and competing with Microsoftâs Office
> suite. Office productivity applications (including word
> processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications) are one
> of the most important groups of applications and contribute
> substantially to the applications barrier to entry protecting
> Microsoftâs operating system monopoly.
>
> When Microsoft began this campaign, WordPerfect enjoyed
> widespread popularity. In order to eliminate its competitor,
> Microsoft withheld crucial technical information about Windows,
> going so far as to extend the Windows API, the set of commands a
> program uses to communicate with the operating system, to ensure
> that WordPerfect did not work smoothly with Microsoftâs monopoly
> operating system. [45]
>
> Microsoft also used its monopoly power to control industry
> standards, thus requiring WordPerfect to implement proprietary
> technology or risk incompatibility with Windows. [46]
>
> And it excluded WordPerfect from the major channels of
> distribution for office productivity applications. [47]
>
> For example, Microsoft forbade OEMs from pre-installing Novell
> products and gave discounts for refusing to sell other
> developersâ office productivity applications. [48]
>
> As part of Microsoftâs strategy to eliminate Novell, â[a] top
> Microsoft executive wrote that Microsoft should âsmileâ at
> Novell, falsely signifying Microsoftâs willingness to help the
> two companiesâ common customers integrate their various products,
> while actually âpulling the triggerâ and killing Novell.â [49]
>
> Microsoftâs tactics were, again, extremely successful, as shown
> in the graphic below. [50]
>
> Microsoft extinguished WordPerfect and gained a monopoly in
> office productivity application suites, accomplishing its goal of
> âdramatically widen[ing] the moatâ protecting its lucrative
> Windows monopoly.
> [/quote]
>
> See article for footnotes [ ], which have links for further reading.
>
> http://www.ecis.eu/documents/Finalversion_Consumerchoicepaper.pdf
See the part about Microsoft organising boycotts against Intel as a form of blackmail.
- --
~~ Best of wishes
"An NT server can be run by an idiot, and usually is." -- Tom Holub, a.h.b-o-i
http://Schestowitz.com | Free as in Free Beer | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Cpu(s): 22.6%us, 5.0%sy, 0.1%ni, 70.6%id, 1.3%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.4%si, 0.0%st
http://iuron.com - semantic engine to gather information
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
iEYEARECAAYFAkq4h7MACgkQU4xAY3RXLo7SOwCcDiE6Nv3MiUqtOHxHPWHfW+Rq
OfUAn0usUvhvujfDEoa6pLR/4obsW3hk
=o2+r
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
|
