Ok! This is piss me off!

Yep. It is clearly another slap on Microsoft's collective wrist, and since the donation is largely software, it doesn't really cost them anywhere near $1B. COG (cost of goods) on software, including Microsoft's own, is a fraction of the retail cost (think <10%), so they can appear to give away tons of software when in reality it is the cheapest PR stunt they've pulled all year.

This will, of course, make it very difficult for competitors to get/remain in the education market(s), which is just so like Microsoft to do.

Of course, the bright spot in all of this is that they're not really fooling everyone. From the article:

Nancy Hudnall, an accountant from Rolla, Mo., faulted the terms of the proposed deal.

"Settlement of this case as proposed is a slap in the face of all consumers, as well as free trade," she said. "By allowing Microsoft to remedy their anti-competitive actions by infiltrating our schools, the consumer and Microsoft are in a 'lose-win' situation."

Hudnall emphasized that she is a user of Microsoft products and has no grudges against the company. "However, I do feel that our legal system is not acting in the public's best interest," she said. "The need of schools should be addressed in another manner, not as a means to alleviate our judicial system's inability to deal with Microsoft's unethical business dealings."
Click to expand...
 
WTF :mad: !!!!!!!
Who do you think this benefits ?
M$ of course because they get to root themselves deeper than they already have!

Who TF is running this F* country ???
DO we have a whole bunch of idiotic bastards running our government ?


Admiral
 
I've heard from people that our founding fathers purposely elected to have a representative democracy (as opposed to a direct democracy) because in a direct democracy once people realize that they can vote money for themselves things fall appart.

The WTF is simple: We the people live under a representative democracy, corporations live under a direct democracy.

MS never bothered with a significant lobbying effort until the anti-trust trial. What you see now is the ROI on money used to purchase a little direct democracy.

In the last election I remember a campaign finance reform web site (sorry, no link) that had a very lenghty tounge-in-cheek article touting the benefits of campaign donations. The article listed companies/industries, menitoned how much they gave to certain key politicians, mentioned the legislation under question, mentioned the value of subsidies/tax incentives/etc. gained when favorable legislation passed and they would say something like "That's an amazing 65,000% ROI!" in big, bold text! - Yes, 65,000% was one of the highest figures.

People still can't vote money for themselves, but corporations sure figured it out. MS certainly got with the program in a hurry.
 
The reason I post the message is Microsoft have "You MUST use Windows, and you can't use Macintosh for ANY reasons!" attitude.
They are trying to take Mac away from schools...Even though schools have no computer at all.
In my town, bussiness and schools is strong PC user, winch piss me off, also.
Well this time, Microsoft wins...But not yet....Lucky Compusa and Voelker Research (Local computer store) still selling Macs. These are the ONLY 2 stores sell Macs. Of course there is many PC stores in my town.
That makes me wonder...Ummm, what would people in my town use Mac for? Play games?
 
you know... this might crash the ecomony...but...
a strong PC virus is always an option :p
(Of course the person who does it will go to jail if caught)


Admiral
 
Wasn't this all about Microsoft having unfair monopolistics practices, well if they have more software out there doesn't that strengthen thier monopoly, this is so crappy, thats what you get for having a baboon for president who appoints a moron for attorneys general!
 
"Hello, there... this is Bill Gates speaking. I, in accordance to the DoJ and other overpaid lawyers, have agreed to settle and to semi-admit fault in the antitrust lawsuit brought against my company.

"In order to rectify this situation, I will donate a bunch of my overpriced software to many institutions, including the education market -- thereby expanding my market share and 'lawfully' going about my monopolistic practices."

Isn't the point of this court case to bring back competition? How is Microsoft giving away it's software going to increase competition? People, mainly the ones involved in education, are going to increase their licenses for Microsoft software... for free... huh? Ever heard the slogan, "Pick on someone your own size?" Sheesh! Microsoft is getting bigger and bigger, and I see them gaining more market share and convincing people, without basis, to convert to their line of products... HOW in the world is that rectifying their monopolistic business practices?
 
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