[KLUG Advocacy] Microsoft: WE Invented the Internet!

[Rusty Yonkers]

They are not that stupid, they are that smart.  They know that there
is an opening to possibly put down a foothold.  This is where the
other side (us) needs to make sure to put aside differences and come
together to fight this clearly and decisively.  

I still think that one of the biggest ways here in Michigan that we
can start to fight this is to put a proposal on the ballot that all
governmental institutions must create data in formats that are fully
open and documented standards and are royalty-free.  Thus unless
Microsoft wanted to publish the standard for say the Word document
format and make that format completely royalty-free the state could
not use that format to create word processing documents.  This would
effectively level the playing field better than any other method that
has been used in the past for competition of application software.

I am sure that if we were to start something like this M$ would spend
millions to try to stop it.  I think it could get passed though and I
would hope that people like EFF would help fund and support that
effort.  

I think tomorrow that I am going to email EFF and try to start the
ball rolling.  Just think, no one could say after this that "we have
to use Word because that is the format that everyone uses and it is
too hard to have a truly compatable file in something else". 
Hehehehe!!! This would affect Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Visio,
and Publisher to mention just the biggies.  Can anyone say
StarOffice/OpenOffice here we come?  Hmmm, and I suppose that there
should be language in it that would prevent web pages from using
ActiveX or other technologies that only work in M$ IE browsers too!
We cannot control the private sector but we can the government.  And
if we get it passed in Michigan then we can help others do the same
in their states!!!  

--- Adam Tauno Williams <adam at morrison-ind.com> wrote:

> > > > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1714680,00.asp
> > > The page cannot be found
> > Worked for me.  It's an article about the M$ intellectual
> property
> > claims over many of the Internet's basic protocols.  (as recently
> 
> > seen on slashdot and elsewhere)
> 
> Yep, it worked for mee too, after a couple of tries.  I REALLY want
> to
> see they try and lay copyright claim to something like "TCP";  of
> course, the're just not that stupid - it is all just a
> "misunderstanding".
> 
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> 


=====
Russell C. Yonkers Jr. 
CNE, MCP, A+, CCNA, Linux+, Server+, Network+ certified
-----------------------------------------
Currently using SuSE 9, Mac OS X, Windows 2000, and WinXP 
And yes I run a network at home with Linux and Windows servers
See my personal website http://www.geocities.com/therustycook
Or my consulting site at http://www.atomicsupergeek.com