'Fuzzy' royalties policies challenge Microsoft's open API pledge
,----[ Quote ]
| Royalties charged by Microsoft on Windows APIs and protocols are the next
| hurdle the company must clear in its wooing of open source developers.
|
| Leading open source figures have questioned charges Microsoft makes on its
| protocols and APIs, with a call to clarify whether Windows server, client and
| application APIs and protocols that Microsoft has pledged to "open" will come
| free of charge, and how payments - if levied - would be collected.
`----
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/03/07/royalties_microsoft_apis/
That's just Ballmer et al going bananas and trying to 'tax' rivals because they
lose. Won't work for them...
"Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy. I’m going to fucking bury that guy, I
have done it before, and I will do it again. I’m going to fucking kill
Google."
--Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO
Also new:
[FSFE PR][EN] Petition calls for Open Standards in the European Parliament
,----[ Quote ]
| New petition calls for Open Standards in the European Parliament
|
| Brussels – 6 March 2008.
|
| At a time when the EU Commission investigates the anti-competitive
| behaviour of a market-dominant player, the European Parliament (EP)
| still imposes that same specific software choice on both the European
| Union's citizens and its own MEPs. OpenForum Europe, The European
| Software Market Association, and the Free Software Foundation Europe
| today launched a petition to call on the EP to use Open Standards so
| that all citizens can participate in the democratic process.
`----
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q1/000203.html
"Microsoft: still a bunch of gangsters."
-- Financial Times Writer, reaction to Microsoft 'open' pledge, 2008
http://fussnotes.typepad.com/plexnex/2008/02/wilcox-watch-bu.html
Related:
Red Hat was right, Novell was wrong
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's pledge to truly interoperate with the rest of the planet,
| including open-source developers (both commercial and community), leaves two
| clear victors in the Linux camp: Red Hat and Ubuntu. While Novell capitulated
| to Microsoft's early demands for a patent stooge, Red Hat and Ubuntu stood
| firm.
|
| [...]
|
| Well, Novell gained a few quarters of "coupon cash" from the deal (though my
| sources at Novell say that customers aren't renewing their subscriptions at a
| rate that Novell would like), but I hope it recognizes the value in standing
| firm for openness. What little wind it got puffed into its sails from its
| interoperability lock-up with Microsoft just dissipated.
`----
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9876061-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad
Microsoft tries to appease EU by sharing secrets
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft, reacting to the rejection of its antitrust appeal in Europe last
| year, said this morning that it's giving outside software developers new
| levels of access to its biggest programs.
|
| [...]
|
| Antitrust regulators in Europe were emboldened by last September's ruling
| against the company by the European Court of First Instance, opening two new
| antitrust investigations into Microsoft's activities last month.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/132369.asp?source=rss
EU skeptical on Microsoft sharing plan
,----[ Quote ]
| European Union regulators are expressing skepticism over Microsoft's latest
| offer to share more information about its products and technology.
`----
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080221/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_sharing
What Microsoft’s open APIs mean for open source
,----[ Quote ]
| It is worth noting that the new strategy will see Microsoft providing a list
| of the patents and patent applications that relate to the protocols and
| formats it uses for the named products. This should mean that open source
| developers are able to identify some of the 235 patents Microsoft previously
| claimed were infringed by free and open source software and will be able to
| license them (on RAND terms), attempt to develop around them, or challenge
| their legitimacy.
`----
http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2008/02/21/what-microsofts-open-apis-mean-for-open-source/
|
|
