Evidence Surfaces That MS Violated 2002 Judgement 204
whoever57 writes "In the Comes Vs. Microsoft case, the plaintiffs believe they have found evidence that Microsoft has failed to fully disclose APIs to competitors. If true, this would mean that Microsoft has violated the 2002 judgement. This information has become available since the plaintiffs have obtained an order allowing them to disclose Microsoft's alleged misbehavior to the DOJ ('appropriate enforcement and compliance authorities')."
Re:Does this suprise anyone? (Score:5, Informative)
If those functions would really exist, but could be only interfaced to using an "internal" API, then Microsoft products could have faster "on screen" viewing compared to the competition.
Re:Does this suprise anyone? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:MS wont change till users change (Score:5, Informative)
I'm amazed how many American vehicle owners have never heard of this puppy, y'all should read it sometime. And the next time your new car salesman says anything about the warranty, you'll know where you can tell him to stick his head.
Title is wrong (Score:5, Informative)
Read The Fucking Article, Slashdot editors.
Re:So what will really happen? (Score:1, Informative)
According to the Office of Fair Trading http://www.oft.gov.uk/ [oft.gov.uk]
"The maximum penalty for contempt of a county court order is two years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine"
So a simple way to calculate a fine would be to calculate how much money MS has (including financial assests) and double it, if they don't pay up send the baliffs in.
When they still don't pay up hold them for contempt of that, and then imprison whoever was responsible for a couple of years.
Unfortunaltely the legal system has a problem with coruption. If you have money you are allowed to break laws it would seem.
Still if they laugh at fines, let then laugh at it from inside a prison cell.
I think slashdot agrees with me, the CAPTCHA word is "detain"
Re:So... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:So... (Score:2, Informative)
However, the right to vote and a parking ticket you get in a foreign country have as much in common as a patent and the API for an operating system (not much).
Re:If it weren't Microsoft...? (Score:2, Informative)
I don't
One processor architecture (x86) is better than four completely different
I disagree
and one computer platform (PC) is better than many (even Apple understood that.. and effectively sells shiny PC-s loaded with OSX right now)
I don't agree here either.
You will, if you have to develop software targeting multiple OS/CPU vs one (and I don't mean making a web page in Python or PHP, but actual programming, say C++).
No, having interoperability and standards is better than one major OS in my opinion.
Have you heard of why "design by committee" is bad? It's slow? It's the least common denominator of all benefits? The option that won't "offend" anyone?
Re:Does this suprise anyone? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Hm. (Score:3, Informative)
For example, a judge can request you your hand-written journal if you are prosecuted for something, and he thinks this will help to reach a correct verdict. However, the content of your journal can not be used by anybody else, even if it was made public in court.
Also, there are some things (client data by example) which a corporation is forbidden to publish
(but all of those are just some hand-waving examples)
Re:Does this suprise anyone? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:So what will really happen? (Score:3, Informative)
Do you even remember why the original senatance was overturned?
The appeals court ruled that Judge Jackson had an appearance of bias, because of his media statements. In the media, Judge Jackson made a series of statements, that I, personally, loved. Here's a quote for you:
"Following the trial's conclusion last June, Jackson's statements began appearing in news stories and books about the case. His views on Microsoft executives and the metaphors he used to describe the case troubled the appeals judges.
Among the examples, in the Jan. 8 issue of The New Yorker, Jackson said Microsoft founder Bill Gates "has a Napoleonic concept of himself and his company, an arrogance that derives from power and unalloyed success, with no leavening hard experience, no reverses." He added that company executives "don't act like grown-ups!"
Also in that book, Auletta writes that Jackson likened Microsoft's "proclamation of innocence to those of four members of the Newton Street Crew convicting in a racketeering, drug-dealing and murder trial he had presided over five years before."
Such sentiments drew the wrath of the appeals judges Tuesday.
"There are lots of things we think and feel about" the parties during a proceeding, said Chief Judge Harry Edwards. "The system would be a sham if all the judges were doing this."
The problem was the he got TOO angry. He basically "flipped out" legally, and Microsoft started to play nice, at least during appeals. If he had just kept his mouth shut, the judgment would have stood. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-253250.html [com.com]
The appeals court overturned, "Judge Jackson's rulings against Microsoft on browser tying and attempted monopolization on grounds, that he gave off-the-record, but nevertheless disclosed, interviews to the news media during the case, and that Judge Jackson having opinions about the defendant was improper. "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Mi
In that sense, you might say that Microsoft's defense against contempt of court was shooting the moon. And it seemed to have worked out, in the short term. Here's what Jackson had to say, "Judge Jackson's response to this was that Microsoft's conduct itself was the cause of any "perceived bias"; Microsoft executives had "proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false.
Keep in mind that the appeals court did maintain Judge Jackson's findings of fact; that Microsoft did seek to misuse it's monopoly power to drastically damage the market for computer software.
Re:this occurred 10 years BEFORE the settlement! (Score:2, Informative)