Open Letter to DOJ re Microsoft Settlement

[Bernhard Rosenkraenzer]

On Tue, 22 Jan 2002, Dan Kegel wrote:

> I've drafted an open letter to the Department of Justice to explain why
> the proposed settlement should not be accepted; it's at
>      http://www.kegel.com/remedy/letter.html

Just read it - I like it, but IMO it's missing a couple of important 
points:

* Opening the APIs and some file formats will not help at all if they are 
  protected by restrictive patents. It is vital that Microsoft must be
  prevented from using those patents against potential competitors.
  This applies in particular to the "ASF" format Microsoft is pushing as
  a standard format for video distribution, but preventing anyone else
  from using through patent #6,041,345.

* Microsoft uses OEM deals that prevent OEMs from shipping computers
  pre-loaded with a "dual boot" configuration that would allow users to 
  use both Windows and a competing operating system, such as Linux.

If you think having a non-US citizen signing the letter, feel free to add 
me (Software Developer, Red Hat, Inc.).

LLaP
bero

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