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[News] Times Spills the Beans on Microsoft's and Intel's Criminal Behaviour

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Why Microsoft and Intel tried to kill the XO $100 laptop

,----[ Quote ]
| At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2005, Nicholas Negroponte, 
| supreme prophet of digital connectivity, revealed a strange tent-like object. 
| It was designed to change the world and to cost $100. It was a solar-powered 
| laptop. Millions would be distributed to children in the developing world, 
| bringing them connection, education, enlightenment and freedom of 
| information. The great, the good, the rich and the technocrats nodded in 
| solemn approval.      
| 
| And then some of them tried to kill it.
| 
| Microsoft, makers of most of the computer software in the world, tried to 
| kill it with words, and Intel, maker of most computer chips, tried to kill it 
| with dirty tricks. Of course, they don’t admit to being attempted murderers. 
| And when I introduce you to Intel’s lovely spokesperson, Agnes Kwan, you’ll 
| realise how far their denials go. But the truth is the two mightiest 
| high-tech companies in the world looked on Negroponte’s philanthropic scheme 
| and decided it had to die.       
| 
| Yet, 3½ years later, the laptop is clinging on to life. It costs around $190 
| rather than $100 and it is called the XO. It is no longer like a tent, but it 
| can still be solar-powered. It is a technological triumph. But only 370,000 
| are in use and another 250,000 ordered. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the 
| company formed to run the project, is still driven by the same old idealism, 
| geekery and technical brilliance. But Negroponte and his young staff are 
| older and wiser. They were stunned by the savagery of the competition they 
| faced – competition plainly intended to destroy a philanthropic idea. “I had 
| wildly underestimated,” says Negroponte, “the degree to which commercial 
| entities will go to disrupt a humanitarian project.”         
| 
| [...]
| 
| My Intel spokesperson, Agnes Kwan, seems to exist to evade the issue. I 
| played e-mail ping-pong with her over several days. She was trying to avoid 
| giving me any dates that would show the Classmate came after the XO. This 
| included sending me a bizarre and barely literate “ethnographic” study of  
| computing in the developed world. In the end, all she would say about the 
| timeline of the Classmate was: “It’s hard to pinpoint a start date with the 
| nature of ethnographic research in which ethnographers collect data over a 
| long period of time.” Sorry?      
`----

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4472654.ece

People should go to prison over this fiasco. But they are not in prison.


Related:

The OLPC XO laptop

,----[ Quote ]
| Originally known as the '$100 laptop' from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) 
| project, the XO laptop is now available through retail. I bought one under 
| the Give One, Get One program where for a $400 donation, OLPC would send one 
| XO to the donator, and another to a child. This is my story of working with 
| it for a couple of weeks.    
`----

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/17/review_xo_laptop_hands_on/page7.html


Laptop-Project Founder Faults Intel

,----[ Quote ]
| Oscar Becerra Tresierra, general director for educational technology at 
| Peru's Ministry of Education, says that after the country recently agreed to 
| buy 272,500 OLPC laptops for primary-school students, an Intel sales 
|                                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^
| representative tried "to scare us" by claiming the machines and their power 
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| adapters didn't work. "I don't feel very happy about it," he said. "We  
| wouldn't like the project to fail because somebody is spreading gossip about 
|                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| the machines that doesn't turn out to be true."     
`----

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119948070480568405.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


Laptop Project Blames Intel for Breakup

,----[ Quote ]
| Negroponte said Intel even tried to undo a deal One Laptop had already sealed 
| in Peru by citing flaws in the One Laptop "XO" machine and telling government 
| ministers "we ought to know, because we are on the board." Such hostile 
| comments were prohibited, Negroponte claimed, under the July peace treaty 
| that brought Intel into the One Laptop Per Child camp.    
| 
| "I want to say we tried, but it was never a partnership," Negroponte 
| said. "There's not one single thing in their contract or agreement that they 
| lived up to."   
`----

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXa0O9XLMsWfaqt-sI9FqFy2IewgD8TVAD7OA


Intel: doing the dirty on OLPC

,----[ Quote ] 
| Intel’s agreement with the OLPC Foundation included a ‘non disparagement’ 
| clause, under which Intel and One Laptop promised not to criticize each 
| other, according to Nicholas Negroponte in the latest article in the Wall 
| Street Journal.   
| 
| Still Intel tactics have violated that repeatedly to kill OLPC efforts in 
| Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan, India, China and Intel is also still trying to pull 
| those tactics in Mexico, Brazil.  
| This is simply disgracefull of Intel, scandalous.
| 
| But Negroponte has signed an agreement saying that he is not allowed to 
| criticize Intel, so he is not allowed to talk about these shameless tactics 
| even though Intel is the one violating the agreement.  
| 
| So only independant voices on the Internet can get those messages of truth 
| out about Intels tactics. 
| 
| In Nigeria, Intel came and donated 3000 laptops to counter OLPC efforts, then 
| sells 17 thousand Classmates to Nigeria at a loss. 
| 
| Then Microsoft corrupted Nigerian officials with 400 thousand dollars to 
| install Windows XP on those instead of Mandriva Linux. 
`----

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14124


Poor Kids' Laptop Cranks Up

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates earlier this year told the Microsoft
| Government Leaders Forum, "Geez, get a decent computer where you can
| actually read the text and you?re not sitting there cranking the thing
| while you're trying to type" (see Bill Gates Mocks $100 Laptop).
`----

http://www.redherring.com/article.aspx?a=17302 


One Laptop Per Child - Production Delays Caused By Microsoft, Intel?

,----[ Quote ]
| I sincerely hope that no matter what the people who are running the
| OLPC project decide, that their project will continue and not get
| bogged down in a play of corporate greed and ambitions.
`----

http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/2007/04/28/one-laptop-per-child-production-delays-caused-by-microsoft-intel/


Negroponte says Intel should be "ashamed of itself" 

,----[ Quote ]
| He is furious that Intel's CEO Craig Barrett called the One Laptop a
| gadget. The Negroponte initiative is caught in the middle of a vicious 
| fight between AMD and Intel, he said.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39733


,----[ Quote ]
| That software effort does not have the support of Mr. Otellini, who
| is concerned about incurring Microsoft's wrath, the executive said.
| The two companies have a long history of tension over who controls
| the hardware and software direction of the "Wintel standard." Intel
| has said it is supporting both operating systems.
`----

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/technology/16chip.html?ex=1177560000&en=2ef52cee6b1fb0e3&ei=5099&partner=TOPIXNEWS


Lessons from Africa: How to Kill Your Own FUD

,----[ Quote ]
| So, even as Microsoft claims superior quality over Linux, they act as if they 
| don't even buy their own FUD. If they really believed that Windows was 
| superior to Linux, they wouldn't have to bribe people with “marketing help” 
| to get them to choose Windows.   
`----

http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-11-09-030-26-OP-MD-MS


Linux wins Nigerian school desktops back from Microsoft

,----[ Quote ]
| "We are sticking with that platform," said the official, who would not give
| his name.
`----

http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/government-law/public-sector/news/index.cfm?newsid=6124
http://tinyurl.com/27ycq9



[Mandriva CEO:] An open letter to Steve Ballmer

,----[ Quote ]
| Wow! I’m impressed, Steve! What have you done for these guys to change their
| mind like this? It’s pretty clear to me, and it will be clear to everyone.
| How do you call what you just did Steve, in the place where you live? In my
| place, they give it various names, I’m sure you know them.  
|
| Hey Steve, how do you feel looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning?
|
| Of course, I will keep fighting this one and the next one, and the next one.
| You have the money, the power, and maybe we have a different sense of ethics
| you and I, but I believe that hard work, good technology and ethics can win
| too.  
`----

http://blog.mandriva.com/2007/10/31/an-open-letter-to-steve-ballmer/


Not Such a Harsh Toke, Actually

,----[ Quote ]
| This is socially, economically, politically and otherwise innovative. It is 
| good for democracy too in some of the few remaining places that good thing is 
| having trouble getting hold. We regard that thing too lightly, I fear.  
| 
| The Gates | Otellini axis directly hurts us deeply. To me, it is a 
| particularly American shame. 
`----

http://fussnotes.typepad.com/plexnex/2007/11/not-such-a-hars.html


Intel slapped with new antitrust investigation

,----[ Quote ]
| New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched an antitrust 
| investigation of Intel, after his office served a wide-ranging subpoena on 
| the chip giant.  
| 
| Cuomo is investigating whether Intel violated state and federal antitrust 
| laws by coercing customers to exclude its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices 
| (AMD), from the worldwide market for PC central processing units (CPUs), 
| Cuomo said in a news release.   
| 
| The subpoena seeks information on Intel's pricing practices and possible 
| attempts to exclude competitors through its market power, Cuomo's office 
| said.   
`----

http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?newsID=11099&pagtype=all


US antitrust group urges Intel investigation

,----[ Quote ]
| The American Antitrust Institute (AAI), a Washington DC lobby group, has 
| written an open letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging an 
| investigation of Intel's allegedly monopolistic business practices.  
|
| [...]
|
| AAI say its insistence of an investigation is based on allegations by AMD in 
| a private case and information obtained by the EC's complaint, which have not 
| been made public  
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/30/aai_wants_intel_probe_expansion/


Intel urged to give more data on flash unit deal

,----[ Quote ]
| ...U.S. Federal Trade Commission has requested additional information on the 
| company's deal with STMicroelectronics... 
`----

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKWNAS317820070830?rpc=44


The Fight for Fair and Open Competition

,----[ Quote ]
| AMD is an undisputed technology and innovation leader.
| 
| However, Intel's abusive, illegal monopolistic behavior is preventing 
| businesses and consumers alike from choosing freely between AMD and Intel  
| products. 
`----

http://breakfree.amd.com/en-us/antitrust.aspx


EC says Intel influenced bids for computer projects

,----[ Quote ]
| The third type of allegation, however, was new, and sounded like a variety of 
| predatory pricing. “In the context of bids against AMD-based products for 
| strategic customers in the server segment of the market,” the commission 
| press release said, “Intel has offered CPUs on average below cost.”   
`----

http://legalpad.blogs.fortune.com/2007/08/03/ec-says-intel-influenced-bids-for-computer-projects/


Negroponte says Intel should be "ashamed of itself" 

,----[ Quote ]
| He is furious that Intel's CEO Craig Barrett called the One Laptop a
| gadget. The Negroponte initiative is caught in the middle of a vicious 
| fight between AMD and Intel, he said.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39733


AMD chief condemns Intel 'abuses'

,----[ Quote ]
| In 2005, after the Japan Fair Trade Commission found Intel guilty of 
| offering illegal rebates to Japanese PC makers, AMD filed an anti-trust 
| suit against its competitor in the U.S. District Court in Delaware. The 
| case has not been decided.
`----

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/06/21/amd_ceo_condemns_intel_abuses/


AMD: Intel Destroyed Evidence in Antitrust Case

,----[ Quote ]
| In an unpublished statement to the U.S. District Court of Delaware,
| AMD alleges Intel allowed the destruction of evidence in pending
| antitrust litigation.
`----

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6352


Video: Henri Richard comes out swinging at Intel during AMD press conference

,----[ Quote ]
| [AMD's Henri Richard:] "I am sick and tired of being pushed around
| by a competitor that doesn't respect the rules of fair and open
| competition."
`----

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=363


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


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


,----[ Quote ]
| In 2005, a unit of Shenzhen Donjin countersued, saying Intel engaged
| in monopolistic practices.
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070514/china_intel_settlement.html?.v=7


Intel's anti-trust memos started vanishing from the top

,----[ Quote ]
| Chairman Craig Barrett, CEO Paul Otellini and sales chief Sean Maloney
| have appeared on a list of Intel employees thought to have deleted 
| e-mails possibly relevant to AMD's anti-trust lawsuit against its
| larger rival. The missing e-mails have thrust a livid state of mind
| onto AMD's lawyers who have very serious problems with Intel's
| rather lax document retention policy.
| 
| [...]
| 
| CEO Otellini appears to have been one of these troublesome employees.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/11/intel_tortellini_episode/
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