[ANSOL-geral]Fw: Michael's Minute: Gates at my Alma Mater
Lopo de Almeida
lopo.almeida arroba sitaar.com
Wed May 28 18:28:01 2003
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Lindows.com Michael's MinuteInteresting read about Mr. Gates. Altough he
(Michael) had personal interests the facts are the facts ;-)
Best,
Lopo
-----Mensagem Original-----
De: Michael Robertson
Para: linuxsales arroba sitaar.com
Enviada em: quarta-feira, 28 de Maio de 2003 17:37
Assunto: Michael's Minute: Gates at my Alma Mater
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Michael's Minute: Gates at my Alma Mater
This week Bill Gates came to my alma mater to speak. I have to
admit that I was less than thrilled to have UCSD roll out the red carpet for
him, but it's understandable since he is the richest man in the world and
runs the richest company in the world. I started to think about the young
people who would be in attendance though, and that they were in diapers when
Microsoft started. They've grown up in a Microsoft-only world, that's the
only thing they know and few have any perspective about how Microsoft came
to dominate the PC business. In the absence of information otherwise,
they'll assume that it was through healthy, free enterprise -- which I don't
believe is true.
Anyone who tracks the PC business, recognizes that Microsoft has
clearly been on a propaganda campaign for the last few years to clean up
their image. They have been spending big money in an effort to do so on TV,
in print and public appearances. They would like the world to think of
Microsoft as an innovative company and of Mr. Gates as a visionary and a
philanthropist. Mr. Gates is clearly very smart and Microsoft is a vicious
competitor, but I'm not so sure the facts indicate they are innovative or
visionary. So I've put together a two-page background on Mr. Gates and
Microsoft to add some historical perspective to the debate, which I passed
out to those in attendance. I hope you find it helpful to form your own
conclusions.
Fact Sheet On Bill Gates and the Microsoft Corporation
Q: Can you provide some background on Bill Gates?
A: Bill Gates was born in 1955 and founded the Microsoft
Corporation in 1975 with Paul Allen. Mr. Gates was CEO and Chairman of
Microsoft until 2000, when he gave up the CEO title to Steve Ballmer. During
that time, Microsoft became the largest and richest software company in the
world, with $46 billion in the bank and adding nearly one billion per month
to that total. It has made Bill Gates the richest man in the world with an
estimated wealth of $54.44 billion dollars or $187 for every man, woman and
child in the United States.
Q: Can you provide a brief history of Microsoft?
A: In the early 1980s, IBM asked Microsoft to produce an
operating system for their upcoming "personal computer." That product became
MS DOS and made billions for Microsoft. Microsoft followed that up with
Microsoft Windows and the components of Microsoft Office (Microsoft Word,
Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint).
Q: Doesn't that make Microsoft the most innovative PC
software company?
A: Virtually every successful Microsoft product was either
purchased from another company, or a direct copy of an existing company's
successful product. Microsoft's first major success, MS DOS, was purchased
from another company and renamed from QDOS. Microsoft Windows was a copy of
Apple's innovative Macintosh operating system. Microsoft Word (1983) was a
copy of Wordperfect (1982). Microsoft Excel (1985) was a copy of Lotus 1-2-3
(1983). Using revenue from their monopolies, Microsoft purchased PowerPoint
(from Forethought), Frontpage (Vermeer), and Visio (Shapewear).
Q: The history of PC software is made up of companies
borrowing ideas from others, so what is wrong with that?
A: To some degree, almost all technology companies build
on existing ideas. Microsoft, however, has often engaged in wholesale
copying without adding much. With many of the original companies gone or
withering, Microsoft is embarking on a calculated plan to rewrite history
and position themselves as the original innovator. For example, Microsoft
now claims that they are the sole inventor of "windows" and no other company
can use that term -- in spite of the fact that Microsoft Windows was such a
close copy of the Apple Macintosh that it triggered a lawsuit upon its
release (See http://law.richmond.edu/jolt/v1i1/myers.html).
Q: Even if they're not innovative, Microsoft's products
are used so widely that they must be making great products, which makes
Microsoft a great company, right?
A: Normally, when a company enjoys success it's a sign of
a good company serving their customers. While Microsoft employees have
surely worked hard, their success has been tainted by decades of illegal
actions by Microsoft's management to secure, maintain and extend their
monopoly position.
After the success of MS DOS, a competing product emerged
called DR DOS, causing MS to lower their prices. Bill Gates wrote in an
e-mail, "I believe people underestimate the impact DR-DOS has had on us in
terms of pricing" (May 18, 1989). So Gates gave orders to executives at
Microsoft to purposely sabotage DR DOS. "Make sure it [DR DOS] has problems
running our software in the future." And where it didn't have problems,
programmers were instructed to create bogus error messages saying that it
did. The tactic worked and DR DOS was forced out of business, leaving the
Microsoft monopoly. Years later, MS paid more than $100 million to settle
this case -- long after DR DOS was no longer a threat (See
www.drdos.com/fullstory/factstat.html).
With the MS DOS monopoly as a foundation, Microsoft
continued a series of illegal actions designed to extend their monopoly to
additional products, including Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. For
example, they stifled competition by threatening and extorting computer
manufacturers to enter into licenses agreeing to only carry Microsoft
products. By the time the Justice Department caught up to them and filed two
antitrust cases for a wide range of unfair and anti-competitive actions
(1993, 1996), Microsoft had cemented a massive monopoly which gave them
hoards of cash to fight any company -- or even the government. Microsoft
settled the first case, agreeing to change its illegal marketing practices
and was found guilty in the second case (See
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/documents.htm).
Q: Isn't this just a case of the losing companies
complaining because they couldn't compete?
A: Over the last 20 years, it is difficult to find another
company which exhibits such a lengthy pattern of illegal behavior designed
to thwart competition. E-mail from a MS executive said it best, "It seems
clear that it will be very hard to increase browser share on the merits of
IE [Internet Explorer] 4 alone...It will be more important to leverage the
OS asset to make people use IE instead of Navigator" (2/24/97). There have
even been cases where Microsoft has stolen technology which has put
companies out of business, such as San Diego's Stac Electronics. A jury
found MS guilty and ordered them to pay $110 million (See
www.vaxxine.com/lawyers/articles/stac.html).
Q: Where does Microsoft make their money?
A: Microsoft makes money largely from two product lines:
operating system (Microsoft Windows XP) and office suite (Microsoft Office).
Virtually every other venture that Microsoft has embarked upon has not
generated a profit -- including WinCE, Xbox, MSN, WebTV, Sidewalk, MSNBC,
etc. (See http://biz.yahoo.com/e/l/m/msft.html).
Q: If most product lines lose money, how can they generate
such large profits?
A: Through illegal tactics, Microsoft has been able to
secure and keep a monopoly which allows them to charge very high rates for
their software. Enabled by the monopoly, Microsoft's profit margins are 5
times greater than the average from top 500 US companies. If Microsoft faced
meaningful competition, their profits would be more in line with the rest of
corporate America and software would cost 1/5 what it does today (See
http://research.businessweek.com/scoreboard.asp).
Q: Aren't all of these actions ancient history? Since
Microsoft has been under government scrutiny, haven't we seen improved
corporate behavior?
A: Microsoft's massive war chest and unchanged management
team means more corporate wrongdoing. This makes it extraordinarily
difficult for competition to emerge. Just last week, an e-mail was revealed
in which Microsoft executives disclosed a $180 million fund designed to
thwart Linux by giving away Microsoft software and services -- the same
successful strategy they used to put Netscape out of business (See
www.iht.com/articles/96369.html). In another example, over the past year,
Microsoft has spent millions in legal fees in an attempt to shutdown a San
Diego Linux company, Lindows.com (See www.lindows.com/opposition).
Q: But doesn't Microsoft do a lot of good?
A: The charitable giving that Microsoft advertises is
usually a business tactic, where they give away software in an attempt to
gain traction in a market, such as they do with schools. The software costs
them just pennies to reproduce, but they advertise the full retail value for
tax and PR reasons. Microsoft rarely gives actual cash (See:
www.nytimes.com/2003/05/26/technology/26SOFT.html).
Q: Hasn't Mr. Gates given away billions of dollars?
A: Nearly 20 years after starting Microsoft and only after
antitrust issues emerged, Mr. Gates created a foundation and moved billions
of dollars of stock, tax free, into this new organization, which he controls
as the sole trustee. Mr. Gates' PR folks have convinced major publications
to carry as many as 5 stories in 3 days about the multi-billion dollar
foundation in an attempt to bolster Mr. Gates' image (See
http://theregister.co.uk/content/4/28039.html). By repeatedly trumpeting the
formation of the foundation, then announcing individual initiatives and
finally announcing individual grants, readers are left with the impression
that billions of dollars are routinely dispersed, but that is simply not
true. In 2001, the Gates Foundation collected more money in interest from
their holdings than they dispersed in grants (See: www.fdncenter.org).
More troublesome, Mr. Gates has used monies from the
foundation he controls, in concert with Microsoft's corporate goals. In an
attempt to sway Cox Communications to use Microsoft software, Microsoft
agreed to financially back them in November, 2001. Two months later Mr.
Gates purchased $500 million dollars of Cox stock using $200 million of
funds from his non-profit foundation (See
www.eureka-boston.org/readings/gates_foundation.htm). In another example, MS
gave hundreds of millions to thwart Linux growth in the Indian government,
while also making funds available from the Gates foundation to Indian
government initiatives (See http://news.com.com/2100-1001-965378.html).
Q: What can we expect Mr. Gates to talk about?
A: Mr. Gates will likely spend some time speaking about
the importance of innovation and open standards. However those are just
platitudes, since their actions achieve exactly the opposite. Their monopoly
is built upon proprietary formats that they have no intention of publishing
(e.g. Microsoft Office file format specifications), because that would allow
competition. Furthermore, they have attempted to squash any standard which
they believe threatens their stranglehold -- such as MP3, HTML and Java. An
internal MS document entitled "Strategic Objective" had this to say about
Java: "[Lets] Kill cross-platform Java by growing the polluted Java market."
In spite of the conciliatory comments Mr. Gates conveyed,
Microsoft will continue to use their monopoly powers to destroy other
companies - which limits competition and innovation and keeps software
prices high. "Do we have a clear plan on what we want Apple to do to
undermine Sun?" (Bill Gates e-mail 8/8/97) A series of recent leaked
internal memos reveal an ongoing attempt by Microsoft to discredit and
derail the latest perceived threat - Linux. (See
www.opensource.org/halloween/)
Microsoft is engaging in a calculated and comprehensive effort
to rewrite history. In doing so, they position themselves as an innovative
company and Mr. Gates as a visionary and philanthropist. Please research
those claims for yourself on the Net, use the sources listed in this
document to determine for yourself, the veracity of their claims.
-- Michael
Please visit support.lindows.com to answers questions you may
have about LindowsOS or Lindows.com.
Bringing Choice to Your Computer!
About Lindows.com, Inc.
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software to computer users. Lindows.com, Inc. was started by Michael
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mm65
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#000080 size=3D2>Interesting read about =
Mr. Gates.=20
Altough he (Michael) had personal interests the facts are the facts=20
;-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#000080 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#000080 size=3D2>Best,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#000080 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#000080 size=3D2>Lopo</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">-----Mensagem Original-----=20
<DIV style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>De:</B> <A=20
title=3Dmailer arroba mailer.lindows.com =
href=3D"mailto:mailer arroba mailer.lindows.com">Michael=20
Robertson</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Para:</B> <A title=3Dlinuxsales arroba sitaar.com=20
href=3D"mailto:linuxsales arroba sitaar.com">linuxsales arroba sitaar.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Enviada em:</B> quarta-feira, 28 de Maio de 2003 17:37</DIV>
<DIV><B>Assunto:</B> Michael's Minute: Gates at my Alma =
Mater</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
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<DIV align=3Dcenter></DIV>
<DIV align=3Dcenter><I><BIG><BIG><B>Michael's Minute: =
Gates at=20
my Alma Mater </B></BIG></BIG></I><BR></DIV>
<P align=3Dleft>This week Bill Gates came to my alma mater =
to speak. I=20
have to admit that I was less than thrilled to have UCSD =
roll out=20
the red carpet for him, but it's understandable since he is =
the=20
richest man in the world and runs the richest company in the =
world.=20
I started to think about the young people who would be in =
attendance=20
though, and that they were in diapers when Microsoft =
started.=20
They've grown up in a Microsoft-only world, that's the only =
thing=20
they know and few have any perspective about how Microsoft =
came to=20
dominate the PC business. In the absence of information =
otherwise,=20
they'll assume that it was through healthy, free enterprise =
-- which=20
I don't believe is true. <BR><BR>Anyone who tracks the PC =
business,=20
recognizes that Microsoft has clearly been on a propaganda =
campaign=20
for the last few years to clean up their image. They have =
been=20
spending big money in an effort to do so on TV, in print and =
public=20
appearances. They would like the world to think of Microsoft =
as an=20
innovative company and of Mr. Gates as a visionary and a=20
philanthropist. Mr. Gates is clearly very smart and =
Microsoft is a=20
vicious competitor, but I'm not so sure the facts indicate =
they are=20
innovative or visionary. So I've put together a two-page =
background=20
on Mr. Gates and Microsoft to add some historical =
perspective to the=20
debate, which I passed out to those in attendance. I hope =
you find=20
it helpful to form your own conclusions. </P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D2 cellPadding=3D2 width=3D"98%" =
align=3Dcenter=20
border=3D1>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=3Dtop>
<DIV align=3Dcenter><B>Fact Sheet On Bill Gates and =
the=20
Microsoft Corporation </B><BR></DIV><B><SMALL><BR>Q: =
Can you=20
provide some background on Bill =
Gates?</SMALL></B><BR>A: Bill=20
Gates was born in 1955 and founded the Microsoft =
Corporation=20
in 1975 with Paul Allen. Mr. Gates was CEO and =
Chairman of=20
Microsoft until 2000, when he gave up the CEO title to =
Steve=20
Ballmer. During that time, Microsoft became the =
largest and=20
richest software company in the world, with $46 =
billion in the=20
bank and adding nearly one billion per month to that =
total. It=20
has made Bill Gates the richest man in the world with =
an=20
estimated wealth of $54.44 billion dollars or $187 for =
every=20
man, woman and child in the United States.=20
<BR><B><SMALL><BR>Q: Can you provide a brief history =
of=20
Microsoft?</SMALL></B><BR>A: In the early 1980s, IBM =
asked=20
Microsoft to produce an operating system for their =
upcoming=20
"personal computer." That product became MS DOS and =
made=20
billions for Microsoft. Microsoft followed that up =
with=20
Microsoft Windows and the components of Microsoft =
Office=20
(Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft =
PowerPoint).=20
<BR><B><SMALL><BR>Q: Doesn't that make Microsoft the =
most=20
innovative PC software company?</SMALL></B><BR>A: =
Virtually=20
every successful Microsoft product was either =
purchased from=20
another company, or a direct copy of an existing =
company's=20
successful product. Microsoft's first major success, =
MS DOS,=20
was purchased from another company and renamed from =
QDOS.=20
Microsoft Windows was a copy of Apple's innovative =
Macintosh=20
operating system. Microsoft Word (1983) was a copy of=20
Wordperfect (1982). Microsoft Excel (1985) was a copy =
of Lotus=20
1-2-3 (1983). Using revenue from their monopolies, =
Microsoft=20
purchased PowerPoint (from Forethought), Frontpage =
(Vermeer),=20
and Visio (Shapewear).<BR><BR><SMALL><B>Q: The history =
of PC=20
software is </B></SMALL><SMALL><B>made up=20
of</B></SMALL><SMALL><B> companies borrowing ideas =
from=20
others, so what is wrong with that?</B></SMALL><BR>A: =
To some=20
degree, almost all technology companies build on =
existing=20
ideas. Microsoft, however, has often engaged in =
wholesale=20
copying without adding much. With many of the original =
companies gone or withering, Microsoft is embarking on =
a=20
calculated plan to rewrite history and position =
themselves as=20
the original innovator. For example, Microsoft now =
claims that=20
they are the sole inventor of "windows" and no other =
company=20
can use that term -- in spite of the fact that =
Microsoft=20
Windows was such a close copy of the Apple Macintosh =
that it=20
triggered a lawsuit upon its release (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://law.richmond.edu/jolt/v1i1/myers.html">http://law.richmond=
.edu/jolt/v1i1/myers.html</A>).<BR><BR><B><SMALL>Q:=20
Even if they're not innovative, Microsoft's products =
are used=20
so widely that they must be making great products, =
which makes=20
Microsoft a great company, right?</SMALL></B><BR>A: =
Normally,=20
when a company enjoys success it's a sign of a good =
company=20
serving their customers. While Microsoft employees =
have surely=20
worked hard, their success has been tainted by decades =
of=20
illegal actions by Microsoft's management to secure, =
maintain=20
and extend their monopoly position. <BR><BR>After the =
success=20
of MS DOS, a competing product emerged called DR DOS, =
causing=20
MS to lower their prices. Bill Gates wrote in an =
e-mail, "I=20
believe people underestimate the impact DR-DOS has had =
on us=20
in terms of pricing" (May 18, 1989). So Gates gave =
orders to=20
executives at Microsoft to purposely sabotage DR DOS. =
"Make=20
sure it [DR DOS] has problems running our software in =
the=20
future." And where it didn't have problems, =
programmers were=20
instructed to create bogus error messages saying that =
it did.=20
The tactic worked and DR DOS was forced out of =
business,=20
leaving the Microsoft monopoly. Years later, MS paid =
more than=20
$100 million to settle this case -- long after DR DOS =
was no=20
longer a threat (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.drdos.com/fullstory/factstat.html">www.drdos.com/fulls=
tory/factstat.html</A>).=20
<BR><BR>With the MS DOS monopoly as a foundation, =
Microsoft=20
continued a series of illegal actions designed to =
extend their=20
monopoly to additional products, including Microsoft =
Windows=20
and Microsoft Office. For example, they stifled =
competition by=20
threatening and extorting computer manufacturers to =
enter into=20
licenses agreeing to only carry Microsoft products. By =
the=20
time the Justice Department caught up to them and =
filed two=20
antitrust cases for a wide range of unfair and=20
anti-competitive actions (1993, 1996), Microsoft had =
cemented=20
a massive monopoly which gave them hoards of cash to =
fight any=20
company -- or even the government. Microsoft settled =
the first=20
case, agreeing to change its illegal marketing =
practices and=20
was found guilty in the second case (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/=
documents.htm">www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/=
documents.htm</A>).=20
<BR><BR><SMALL><B>Q: Isn't this just a case of the =
losing=20
companies complaining because they couldn't=20
compete?</B></SMALL> <BR>A: Over the last 20 years, it =
is=20
difficult to find another company which exhibits such =
a=20
lengthy pattern of illegal behavior designed to thwart =
competition. E-mail from a MS executive said it best, =
"It=20
seems clear that it will be very hard to increase =
browser=20
share on the merits of IE [Internet Explorer] 4 =
alone...It=20
will be more important to leverage the OS asset to =
make people=20
use IE instead of Navigator" (2/24/97). There have =
even been=20
cases where Microsoft has stolen technology which has =
put=20
companies out of business, such as San Diego's Stac=20
Electronics. A jury found MS guilty and ordered them =
to pay=20
$110 million (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.vaxxine.com/lawyers/articles/stac.html">www.vaxxine.co=
m/lawyers/articles/stac.html</A>).=20
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=3Dtop><B><SMALL><BR>Q: Where does Microsoft =
make=20
their money?</SMALL></B><BR>A: Microsoft makes money =
largely=20
from two product lines: operating system (Microsoft =
Windows=20
XP) and office suite (Microsoft Office). Virtually =
every other=20
venture that Microsoft has embarked upon has not =
generated a=20
profit -- including WinCE, Xbox, MSN, WebTV, Sidewalk, =
MSNBC,=20
etc. (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://biz.yahoo.com/e/l/m/msft.html">http://biz.yahoo.com/e/l/m/=
msft.html</A>).=20
<BR><BR><B><SMALL>Q: If most product lines lose money, =
how can=20
they generate such large profits? </SMALL></B><BR>A: =
Through=20
illegal tactics, Microsoft has been able to secure and =
keep a=20
monopoly which allows them to charge very high rates =
for their=20
software. Enabled by the monopoly, Microsoft's profit =
margins=20
are 5 times greater than the average from top 500 US=20
companies. If Microsoft faced meaningful competition, =
their=20
profits would be more in line with the rest of =
corporate=20
America and software would cost 1/5 what it does today =
(See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://research.businessweek.com/scoreboard.asp">http://research.=
businessweek.com/scoreboard.asp</A>).=20
<BR><BR><B><SMALL>Q: Aren't all of these actions =
ancient=20
history? Since Microsoft has been under government =
scrutiny,=20
haven't we seen improved corporate =
behavior?</SMALL></B><BR>A:=20
Microsoft's massive war chest and unchanged management =
team=20
means more corporate wrongdoing. This makes it =
extraordinarily=20
difficult for competition to emerge. Just last week, =
an e-mail=20
was revealed in which Microsoft executives disclosed a =
$180=20
million fund designed to thwart Linux by giving away =
Microsoft=20
software and services -- the same successful strategy =
they=20
used to put Netscape out of business (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.iht.com/articles/96369.html">www.iht.com/articles/9636=
9.html</A>).=20
In another example, over the past year, Microsoft has =
spent=20
millions in legal fees in an attempt to shutdown a San =
Diego=20
Linux company, Lindows.com (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.lindows.com/opposition">www.lindows.com/opposition</A>=
).=20
<BR><BR><B><SMALL>Q: But doesn't Microsoft do a lot of =
good?=20
</SMALL></B><BR>A: The charitable giving that =
Microsoft=20
advertises is usually a business tactic, where they =
give away=20
software in an attempt to gain traction in a market, =
such as=20
they do with schools. The software costs them just =
pennies to=20
reproduce, but they advertise the full retail value =
for tax=20
and PR reasons. Microsoft rarely gives actual cash =
(See: <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/26/technology/26SOFT.html">www.nyt=
imes.com/2003/05/26/technology/26SOFT.html</A>).=20
<BR><BR><B><SMALL>Q: Hasn't Mr. Gates given away =
billions of=20
dollars?</SMALL></B> <BR>A: Nearly 20 years after =
starting=20
Microsoft and only after antitrust issues emerged, Mr. =
Gates=20
created a foundation and moved billions of dollars of =
stock,=20
tax free, into this new organization, which he =
controls as the=20
sole trustee. Mr. Gates' PR folks have convinced major =
publications to carry as many as 5 stories in 3 days =
about the=20
multi-billion dollar foundation in an attempt to =
bolster Mr.=20
Gates' image (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://theregister.co.uk/content/4/28039.html">http://theregister=
.co.uk/content/4/28039.html</A>).=20
By repeatedly trumpeting the formation of the =
foundation, then=20
announcing individual initiatives and finally =
announcing=20
individual grants, readers are left with the =
impression that=20
billions of dollars are routinely dispersed, but that =
is=20
simply not true. In 2001, the Gates Foundation =
collected more=20
money in interest from their holdings than they =
dispersed in=20
grants (See: <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.fdncenter.org">www.fdncenter.org</A>).=20
<BR><BR>More troublesome, Mr. Gates has used monies =
from the=20
foundation he controls, in concert with Microsoft's =
corporate=20
goals. In an attempt to sway Cox Communications to use =
Microsoft software, Microsoft agreed to financially =
back them=20
in November, 2001. Two months later Mr. Gates =
purchased $500=20
million dollars of Cox stock using $200 million of =
funds from=20
his non-profit foundation (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.eureka-boston.org/readings/gates_foundation.htm">www.e=
ureka-boston.org/readings/gates_foundation.htm</A>).=20
In another example, MS gave hundreds of millions to =
thwart=20
Linux growth in the Indian government, while also =
making funds=20
available from the Gates foundation to Indian =
government=20
initiatives (See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://news.com.com/2100-1001-965378.html">http://news.com.com/21=
00-1001-965378.html</A>).=20
<BR><BR><SMALL><B>Q: What can we expect Mr. Gates to =
talk=20
about? </B></SMALL><BR>A: Mr. Gates will likely spend =
some=20
time speaking about the importance of innovation and =
open=20
standards. However those are just platitudes, since =
their=20
actions achieve exactly the opposite. Their monopoly =
is built=20
upon proprietary formats that they have no intention =
of=20
publishing (e.g. Microsoft Office file format =
specifications),=20
because that would allow competition. Furthermore, =
they have=20
attempted to squash any standard which they believe =
threatens=20
their stranglehold -- such as MP3, HTML and Java. An =
internal=20
MS document entitled "Strategic Objective" had this to =
say=20
about Java: "[Lets] Kill cross-platform Java by =
growing the=20
polluted Java market." <BR><BR>In spite of the =
conciliatory=20
comments Mr. Gates conveyed, Microsoft will continue =
to use=20
their monopoly powers to destroy other companies - =
which=20
limits competition and innovation and keeps software =
prices=20
high. "Do we have a clear plan on what we want Apple =
to do to=20
undermine Sun?" (Bill Gates e-mail 8/8/97) A series of =
recent=20
leaked internal memos reveal an ongoing attempt by =
Microsoft=20
to discredit and derail the latest perceived threat - =
Linux.=20
(See <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.opensource.org/halloween/">www.opensource.org/hallowee=
n/</A>)=20
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>Microsoft is engaging in a =
calculated=20
and comprehensive effort to rewrite history. In doing so, =
they=20
position themselves as an innovative company and Mr. Gates =
as a=20
visionary and philanthropist. Please research those claims =
for=20
yourself on the Net, use the sources listed in this document =
to=20
determine for yourself, the veracity of their claims. =
<BR><BR>--=20
Michael <BR><BR></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD width=3D"100%">
<P align=3Dcenter><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, =
sans-serif"=20
color=3D#000099><A href=3D"http://lindows.com/order" =
target=3Dblank><IMG=20
height=3D60 alt=3D""=20
=
src=3D"http://info.lindows.com/mailers/michaelsminute/banner-49.gif"=20
width=3D468 border=3D0> </A></FONT></P><FONT =
class=3DBodyText1></FONT>
<P align=3Dleft><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"=20
size=3D2>Please visit <A =
href=3D"http://support.lindows.com/"=20
target=3D_blank><FONT =
color=3D#000099>support.lindows.com</FONT></A> to=20
answers questions you may have about LindowsOS or=20
Lindows.com.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Dleft><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, =
sans-serif"><I>Bringing=20
Choice to Your Computer!</I></FONT></P>
<P align=3Dleft><FONT class=3DBodyText1=20
face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>About=20
Lindows.com, Inc.</B><BR><BR>Lindows.com is a consumer =
company that=20
is bringing affordable software to computer users. =
Lindows.com, Inc.=20
was started by Michael Robertson, founder and former CEO of =
MP3.com.=20
LindowsOS is a modern, affordable and easy-to-use operating =
system=20
that allows users access to hundreds of applications via the =
Click-N-Run (TM) Warehouse. All applications in the =
Click-N-Run=20
Warehouse (<A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.lindows.com/warehouse">www.lindows.com/warehouse</A>) =
are licensed on a lifetime, per-person or family basis and =
can be=20
downloaded, installed and run with just one-mouse click. =
LindowsOS=20
is presently available on LindowsOS Certified Computers (<A=20
href=3D"http://www.lindows.com/pc">www.lindows.com/pc</A>) =
including a=20
$799 laptop (<A=20
href=3D"http://www.lindows.com/799">www.lindows.com/799</A>) =
being=20
offered from Lindows.com Builder partners <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.lindows.com/builder">www.lindows.com/builder</A>.=20
LindowsOS can be ordered on CD and/or downloaded at <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.lindows.com/order">www.lindows.com/order</A>.=20
Lindows.com offers a safe computing environment for =
family=92s and=20
businesses, learn more by visiting <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.lindows.com/family">www.lindows.com/family</A>.=20
</FONT></FONT><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, =
sans-serif"><FONT=20
class=3DBodyText1 size=3D1><BR></FONT><FONT =
size=3D1><BR>LindowsOS and=20
Lindows.com are trademarks of Lindows.com, Inc. Linux=AE is =
a=20
registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Microsoft=AE Windows =
operating=20
system is a registered trademark or service mark of the =
Microsoft=20
Corporation.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P align=3Dleft><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"=20
=
size=3D1>mm65</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></DIV></TD></TR><=
/TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV></DIV>
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<P align=3Dcenter><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"=20
size=3D2>__________________________________________________________<BR>Pl=
ease do=20
not reply to this email. To contact Lindows.com, please visit <A=20
href=3D"http://support.lindows.com/" target=3D_blank><FONT=20
color=3D#000099>support.lindows.com</FONT></A>.<BR>To unsubscribe or =
change your=20
mailing list options please go to <A =
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