[diskussion] Ny Microsoft

[Jeremiah Foster]

On Sep 26, 2007, at 11:19 AM, Henrik Nordstrom wrote:

>> De kommer säkerligen, till att satsa än hårdare nu efter domen i EG.
>> Att försöka döda den konkurrensen, det kommer bara att te sig
>> annorlunda.
>
> Antagligen ännu hårdare på patentfronten om jag får gissa. Är ju bästa
> vapnet för att behålla tvångsgreppet om man tvingas att vara öppen.

Hopefully the patent reforms that are being done in the United States  
will prevent the worst abuse, however the United States government is  
largely under the control of corporations who often write the laws.  
Microsoft has a well funded lobbying arm and various organizations  
under its control (BSA for example) that it can use to manipulate the  
legal system. Microsoft survives largely because the legal system in  
the US is captive to the business community. Do not expect this to  
change any time soon.

We need to make sure that the EU does not allow patents on software,  
(it is not needed since software is already protected under  
copyright. Software would be the only thing in the world under  
copyright AND patent.)

However, the EU does have the competition committee and Neelie Kroes,  
so all is not lost. (Yet.) If companies like Phillips get their way  
however, patents and other onerous business practices will eventually  
erode the control over commerce in Europe as well. Let us not forget  
that it is large companies from the United States that have brought  
the complaint against Microsoft to the legal arena here in the EU. So  
while we benefit from legal action against MS, we allow other large  
companies to manipulate the legal system. This is an extremely  
dangerous threat to democracy in Europe.

	Jeremiah