M$ in court

The Register heeft weer wat info over de gang van zaken met de rechtszaak tegen Mikroschoft.

Het Amerikaanse miniterie van Justitie heeft een aantal document vrijgegeven met leuke info over de handelspraktijken van Bill en zijn kornuiten.

Hier wat stuff over hoe Mikroschoft OEMs chanteerde als zij afweken bij het invullen van de boot-up sequence:

The text of a Microsoft Agreement that prevents OEMs from modifying the boot-up procedure was given in an exhibit. It was hardly surprising that the DoJ was so hot under the collar about the anticompetitive measures that Microsoft had included in such agreements.

Microsoft would not allow any interference by the OEM from switching on the PC until the desktop screen was displayed. If Microsoft found any OEM not following the Agreement (as happened notably with Compaq), apart from remedies such as refusing to license Windows 95, Microsoft also reserved the right to charge "an additional royalty equal to 30 percent of the highest royalty for the product(s)."

This is confidential, so don't tell anyone: Microsoft charged AST $35 per system for the English version of Windows NT Workstation Upgrade Version 4.0, and an additional $6 for non-English versions. These gems are in an addendum to AST's agreement, dated 9 July 1996. [GX1035]