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[News] [Rival] Microsoft's Paid Shill in DOJ (Thomas Barnett) Comments on Yahoo-Google

  • Subject: [News] [Rival] Microsoft's Paid Shill in DOJ (Thomas Barnett) Comments on Yahoo-Google
  • From: Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:11:55 +0000
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • User-agent: KNode/0.10.9
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Ex-antitrust chief: Yahoo/Microsoft deal hard call

,----[ Quote ]
| Thomas Barnett, who led the investigation of Google's scrapped deal with 
| Yahoo when he headed the Justice Department's antitrust division, said tying 
| the lucrative search divisions of Yahoo with Microsoft could be a tough call 
| for regulators.   
| 
| "Any 'three to two merger' to my mind would require a significant 
| investigation," said Barnett, who stepped down in November after three years 
| as head of the division.  
`----

http://uk.reuters.com/article/gc04/idUKTRE51411S20090205

How low has US 'justice' sunk? These people should be banned.  Thomas Barnett
is a Microsoft crony, for a fact. He used to work for Microsoft.

Yahoo’s Bartz Vents as Exec Departs

,----[ Quote ]
| Carol Bartz has been CEO of Yahoo for only few weeks. But she’s already 
| working through a to-do list of changes to push. (Nothing yet about Microsoft 
| deals or asset sales or cost-cutting, we’re afraid.)  
| 
| In the most recent of what’s shaping up to be a weekly email to Yahoo 
| employees, the blunt Ms. Bartz laid down some mandates in a memo last Friday. 
| 
| First, cease the tardiness. “Let’s all work hard to start meetings on time,” 
| she wrote, according to people familiar with the email. 
| 
| She also implored the company to stop talking about “silos.” If she hears the 
| word “one more time I am going to think I am back on the farm in Wisconsin,” 
| she wrote.  
| 
| Lastly, plug the leaks. Referring to the fact that someone forwarded her 
| first company-wide email to some blogs, she wrote: “I hope whoever did it, 
| feels bad enough to come forward and resign.”  
`----

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/02/02/yahoos-bartz-vents-as-exec-departs/


Recent:

Vista Marketing Program Receives Big Complaints

,----[ Quote ]
| Government antitrust attorneys are reportedly still receiving complaints from
| hardware makers and other companies about Microsoft business practices, even
| as the software giant has stepped up its efforts to cooperate with those
| state and federal authorities overseeing its antitrust consent decree.
|
| In a recent court filing, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and numerous
| other states said complaints were received from several companies that
| manufacture and sell a variety of products that work with Windows. The
| department has been enforcing the consent decree for more than six years.
| (Source: usdoj.gov)
`----

http://www.itworld.com/windows/61942/vista-marketing-program-receives-big-complaints


With Yahoo-Google deal nixed, DoJ antitrust chief resigns

,----[ Quote ]
| It looks like presiding over the death of the Yahoo-Google ad deal will be
| one of the final acts of Thomas Barnett, the Assistant Attorney General who
| headed the Justice Department's Antitrust Division since June 2005.
|
| Barnett announced his resignation today, effective Nov. 19.
`----

http://blog.internetnews.com/kcorbin/2008/11/with-yahoogoogle-deal-nixed-do.html


Microsoft lobbies to fight Yahoo-Google pact

,----[ Quote ]
| In an article Tuesday, Roll Call quoted a "knowledgeable tech industry
| source" as saying:
|
| "Microsoft is pulling out every favor it's got ... It has a very close
| relationship with DOJ and the White House, and all of that pressure is being
| brought to bear."
`----

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/151528.asp?source=rss


Related:

Microsoft-DOJ Joint Status Report June 17, 2008

,----[ Quote ]
| How does that sound to you? Like a plan? Where is the goal post? I mean the
| final one? Of course, if Microsoft (oops!) keeps changing protocols, it will
| take longer even than this generous time frame.
|
| Same old, same old. Move the goal post. Vaporous promises. And that is what I
| fear they will continue to do with OOXML, if it's ever approved, because they
| can. Who will stop them? ISO? They seemed to fall into Stockholm Syndrome
| long ago, the few that were not replaced with Microsoft folks. What is the
| effect of Microsoft changing the protocols in the compliance work?
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080620164127151


Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in Justice Dept.

,----[ Quote ]
| Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark effort to break
| up Microsoft, the Bush administration has sharply changed course by
| repeatedly defending the company both in the United States and abroad
| against accusations of anticompetitive conduct, including the recent
| rejection of a complaint by Google.
|
| [...]
|
| In the most striking recent example of the policy shift, the top
| antitrust official at the Justice Department last month urged state
| prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by
| Google that is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's
| behavior. Google has accused Microsoft of designing its latest
| operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google's desktop
| search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
`----

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/10microsoft.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


US Justice Department objects to states' effort to extend Microsoft oversight
to 2012

,----[ Quote ]
| "There is no basis for the court to order a five-year extension of the final
| judgments," the Justice Department said in a court filing Friday, citing a
| lack of evidence provided by the states that such oversight is justified.
`----

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/10/business/NA-FIN-COM-US-Microsoft-Antitrust.php


U.S. Won't Extend Microsoft Antitrust Sanctions

.----[ Quote ]
| The U.S. Department of Justice said it will not seek to extend the
| restrictions placed on Microsoft Corp.'s business practices
| following its antitrust settlement with the U.S. government in 2002.
|
| Many of the restrictions are due to expire Nov. 12, and last week
| several U.S. states filed motions in favor of extending them for a
| further five years. Four of those states -- New York, Maryland,
| Louisiana and Florida -- had previously said they opposed an
| extension.
|
| The DOJ had also opposed the extension, and on Friday it made it
| clear that it would not be making a turnabout like the four U.S.
| states.
|
| [...]
|
| The DOJ didn't explain its decision Friday. In August it said it
| felt the judgment had been successful in preventing Microsoft from
| continuing its exclusionary behavior.
|
| The states who favor an extension disagree. They say operating
| systems haven't evolved as quickly as people thought they would in
| 2002, and that Microsoft could still use the dominance of Internet
| Explorer to choke competitors in the emerging Web 2.0 world.
|
| A status hearing that will likely address extending the
| restrictions is scheduled for Nov. 6 with District Court Judge
| Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
|
| The other states pushing for an extension are California,
| Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Massachusetts and the
| District of Columbia.
|
| Separately last month the DOJ raised hackles in Europe by
| criticizing the European Union's decision to reject Microsoft's
| appeal of its antitrust decision there.
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,138727-pg,1/article.html


Justice Department Cites Linux As Example of Successful Antitrust Enforcement

http://www.linuxelectrons.com/news/linux/11543/justice-department-cites-linux-example-successful-antitrust-enforcement


States seek more oversight of Microsoft

,----[ Quote ]
| A group of states led by California said in a court filing Thursday that
| ending oversight of Microsoft's business practices in November would not
| allow enough time to consider the antitrust implications of Windows Vista.
`----

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070830/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_antitrust_2


Kroes slams US criticism of EU Microsoft ruling

,----[ Quote ]
| Kroes said that it was "unacceptable" that a representative of the US
| judiciary should criticise a court of law outside his jurisdiction.
|
| “It is absolutely not done,” she told journalists on Wednesday.
|
| “The European commission does not pass judgement on US rulings and we should
| expect the same from the US.”
`----

http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200709/87884c7c-c721-49b1-b6f0-5ba4ece0897c.htm


Microsoft, The European Union, and the United States: A Statement by the AAI

,----[ Quote ]
| The AAI comments on the European Court of First Instance's upholding of the
| EC's Microsoft decision, taking the USDOJ to task for poor diplomacy and
| mistaken policy in its criticism of the EC.
`----

http://www.antitrustinstitute.org/Archives/miceu3.ashx


Microsoft sets spinners on court verdict

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft may have lost in court, but it quickly tried to win the war of
| media reaction via organisations like CompTIA, the Computing Technology
| Industry Association and ACT (the Association for Competitive Technology)
| which both intervened in court on its side.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/17/reaction_microsoft_verdict/


US politicians go to bat for Microsoft

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/


Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff

,----[ Quote ]
| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu


Politicians in Microsoft's Pocket

,----[ Quote ]
| Continuing on the theme of which politicians are receiving money from
| who. Here is a list of candidates who took money from MSFT.
`----

http://www.fonz.net/blog/archives/2007/06/04/politicians-in-microsofts-pocket/


US states slam Google, Firefox as no match for Microsoft

,----[ Quote ]
| Ten states and the District of Columbia made the unusual claim to try to show
| that the operating system and browser spaces had changed much more slowly
| than expected in 2002, when state regulators and the US Department of Justice
| brokered a deal with Microsoft in a long-running antitrust case against the
| company. The lack of change, they said, means that potential competitors need
| more time -- and judicial protection -- if they are to develop into real
| rivals to Microsoft.
`----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1733605800;fp;16;fpid;1


Politics and tech companies: follow the money

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
`----

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html


Microsoft Paid Lobbyist $160,000

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Paid Paid Bingham McCutchen $160,000 to Lobby Federal Gov't in
| First Half of 2007
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070905/microsoft_lobbying.html?.v=1


Microsoft's 'Men in Black' kill Florida open standards legislation

,----[  Quote
| It was just a bit of text advocating open data formats that was slipped into
| a Florida State Senate bill at the last minute with no fanfare, but within
| 24 hours three Microsoft-paid lobbyists, all wearing black suits, were
| pressuring members of the Senate Committee on Governmental Operations
| (COGO) to remove the words they didn't like from Senate bill 1974.
`----

http://enterprise.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/04/16/2019244&from=rss


Microsoft Looks for the Big Guns in OOXML In-Fighting

,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates has reportedly been making phone calls to the Secretary of Defense
| and the Secretary of Commerce to push the American National Standards
| Institute to ignore the votes of its advisory committees and vote "yes" on
| ISO standardizing Microsoft's Open Office XML (OOXML) format, the one in
| competition with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) pushed by IBM and Sun.
|
| Gates reportedly picked up the phone when the last INCITS ballot failed by
| one vote to support Microsoft.
`----

http://xml.sys-con.com/read/419573_p.htm
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