The Microsoft and EU settlement

[sicofante]

You probably heard it on the news. What's your opinion about the deal? How will this affect Ubuntu?

An opinion in Groklaw:

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071022114731199

[n3tfury]

You probably heard it on the news. What's your opinion about the deal? How will this affect Ubuntu?

An opinion in Groklaw:

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071022114731199

no, actually "heard" it here twice already.

[glupee]

This thing was broad casted to my dreams.. Not really a big deal IMO.

EDIT:just wish i didn't have to hear so much about it!

[happysmileman]

A company obeys a court order, doesn't sound like news at all...

But looking back at Microsofts previous losses (not being allowed to bundle IE or WMP) and how they ignored them it's a big step forward

[kamaboko]

MS could have sat on this for several more years, but wisdom lead to the understanding of greater profit and control. Sure companies can have access to MS code for interoperability, but they're going to have to pay for it.

Under the agreement, software developers must now pay only a one-time fee of €10,000, or $14,300, to gain access to Microsoft's communications protocols, which specify how to exchange data between Windows and rival products.

These protocols are trade secrets, not patents. If competitors want more information than those trade secrets, they must license Microsoft's patents, paying a royalty of 0.4 percent of the competing product's sales. Microsoft had originally demanded 5.95 percent of sales as royalties.

[sicofante]

I'm quite surprised that this is being despised as "just another court decision". This decision might pose serious issues to Ubuntu development and open source in general in Europe.

The EU seemed to understand that Microsoft was becoming a de facto monopoly and was going to stop it for good. It doesn't really look like that to me. This settlement looks terrible.

[curuxz]

I think its great news because it will allow for better intergration between outlook at kolab, openoffice and msoffice, windows login and linux ldap servers...

the list goes on, the important thing is not the media player issue but the opening up of protocalls.

[SunnyRabbiera]

yeh but that fee is stupid... might as well say MS won.... again....:mad::roll: