From: "Rich Gauszka" 


"mike"  wrote in message
news:9sjf43d3vgal08ic7u7nrk72k2fm26g8bg{at}4ax.com...
> Microsoft was the first to complain when companies used the courts
> instead of the marketplace to compete.   Now, it appears, that Microsoft
> is finding those same courts to be useful.
>
>
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/
>
> ===
> Microsoft takes on the free world
>

http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2007/05/making_sense_of.html
Because here's what happens the day Microsoft sues Red Hat, Ford Motor
Company, or whomever:

  1.. If Microsoft sues a customer, it will see its market share start to
erode. Immediately. In every product category. I find it hard to imagine
that anyone will buy from a bully if they have any choice in the matter.
People tend to like Microsoft products; they tend to despise the company's
strong-armed business tactics. Enough of the latter and the former will
peter out.

  2.. IBM, Oracle, OIN, and others will file counter lawsuits to protect
their interests in open source. Bill Hilf said it best: there are a lot of
commercial interests tied up in open source. The day that Microsoft wages a
war against open source, it will find that it's up against the entire
industry. That industry includes Sun, IBM, and Oracle, all of which have
major stakes in the outcome, with patent portfolios that make Microsoft's
look puny.
  (Ironically, much as I dislike Oracle's Unbreakable Linux strategy, I kind
of like the thought of Larry Ellison mixing it up with Ballmer. Ellison is
not going to see his applications and database businesses held hostage by
Microsoft. In fact, arguably Unbreakable Linux is all about breaking
Microsoft's stranglehold.)


  3.. Microsoft's patents - many of them, anyway - will likely be held to be
invalid. The Supreme Court recently handed down two judgments that will go
a long way toward diminishing Microsoft's patent threat. At least, when it
finally gets around to launching it in earnest. I would like nothing more
than to see a large majority of its patents go down in flames. So bring it
on, Microsoft. I actually respect intellectual property and don't believe
it is right/ethical/just to misuse someone else's copyrights or patents.
But the way that Microsoft is trying to shore up its business model is
shameful and shows just how vulnerable it really is.

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