I am extremely disappointed and quite uninspired by the Lindows / Linspire settlement with Microsoft. The past year has been filled with David vs. Goliath hype from Michael Robertson about taking Microsoft to court and turning them on their head with regards to their trademark of the generic “windows” term. Somehow I don’t see a SECRET SETTLEMENT helping any other little guy against Microsoft and what Michael Robertson used to say was an ill-gotten “windows” trademark.
Perhaps this means that Lindows, oops, I mean Linspire, may get a “free” ride when Microsoft squashes all opensource software (i.e., anything not Microsoft controlled). For reference, visit http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/linux.html – Wired’s story about SCO’s Darl McBride. Who knows. Hey Michael Moore, can we get a Fahrenheit 911 on the software industry? Maybe you can trace it back to Bin Laden too.
I wonder if Michael Robertson of MS Linspire gets to share the secret Microsoft vacation home with Scott McNealy of MS Sun Microsystems? When you’re changing your Lindows bookmarks to Linspire please note the correct usage of the “MS” as outlined in this paragraph. I hear “MS” is the new corporate equivalent of the silent “b” in “lamb” – or maybe the silent “g” in “slaughter”.
Reference:
From the http://www.linspire.com/lindows_news_pressreleases.php page announcing the Lindows / Microsoft settlement.
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Microsoft and Lindows Settle Trademark Case
REDMOND, Wash., and SAN DIEGO ? July 19, 2004 ? Lindows.com and Microsoft Corp. today jointly announced that a worldwide settlement has been reached in the trademark infringement cases between the two companies.
“This case was centered on the fundamentals of international trademark law and our necessary efforts to protect the Windows? trademark against infringement,” said Tom Burt, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft. “This settlement addresses those concerns, and we are pleased that Lindows will now compete in the marketplace with a name distinctly its own.”
“We are pleased to resolve this litigation on terms that make business sense for all parties,? said Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows, Inc. ?Over the next few months Lindows will cease using the term Lindows and transition to Linspire globally as our company name and primary identifier for our operating system product.”
The settlement agreement resolves all claims in this litigation, both in the United States and internationally. Terms of the settlement are confidential.
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