Microsoft fined $1.3 Billion by European Union

all I have to say is wow...regardless of how rich Microsoft may be, $1.3 Billion is a substantial hit...your thoughts?

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/27/technology/eu_microsoft.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008022706

well this isn't the first time. I believe this is the second $1billion dollar fine they had to deal with from the EU and the third overall. They haven't done anything after those, so I think Microsoft keeps reserves for punishments like these.

well this isn't the first time. I believe this is the second $1billion dollar fine they had to deal with from the EU and the third overall. They haven't done anything after those, so I think Microsoft keeps reserves for punishments like these.

_Pedro_

[QUOTE="_Pedro_"]

well this isn't the first time. I believe this is the second $1billion dollar fine they had to deal with from the EU and the third overall. They haven't done anything after those, so I think Microsoft keeps reserves for punishments like these.

kaos-hero

Why did they get fined?EPaul

Why did they get fined?EPaul

[QUOTE="kaos-hero"][QUOTE="_Pedro_"]

well this isn't the first time. I believe this is the second $1billion dollar fine they had to deal with from the EU and the third overall. They haven't done anything after those, so I think Microsoft keeps reserves for punishments like these.

C_BozkurT_C

Not really, Heres Microsofts last quarter results.

"In the three months ending December 31, 2007, Microsoft pulled in some $16.37 billion in revenue and $6.48 billion in operating income, which translated to 30-percent and 87-percent growth in each area, respectively.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/24/microsoft-trumpets-record-second-quarter-results/

I dont think they're too worried.

[QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?kaos-hero

This is about windows, not the 360. How is this relevent to system wars?Steakdinner

PC is a system war part too. I like to bash the 360 for not having so many exclusives due to some games hitting PC like Bioshock. But people will argue, OH its Windows based so MS still wins. So this is System Wars related. Since it is Windows based.

On a 2nd Note, I hate the European Union. To many Bible prophecies match the creation of it for the end times. The one world order. Which European Union is looking to be.

[QUOTE="Steakdinner"]This is about windows, not the 360. How is this relevent to system wars?caseypayne69

PC is a system war part too. I like to bash the 360 for not having so many exclusives due to some games hitting PC like Bioshock. But people will argue, OH its Windows based so MS still wins. So this is System Wars related. Since it is Windows based.

On a 2nd Note, I hate the European Union. To many Bible prophecies match the creation of it for the end times. The one world order. Which European Union is looking to be.

Well then..By all means continue!

They were fined because they were charging too much money to the developers who wanted develop software for Windows. So effectively they were pricing companies out of the software market and monopolising the market.

These charges are from back in 2004 though, it just takes forever to go through all the process. Microsoft say they have changed practices since then and work closely with other companies now. :question:

all I have to say is wow...regardless of how rich Microsoft may be, $1.3 Billion is a substantial hit...your thoughts?

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/27/technology/eu_microsoft.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008022706

C_BozkurT_C

Not really 1.3 billion dollers is about 520million pounds,a guy spends more then thatbuying a couple of football players

On a 2nd Note, I hate the European Union. To many Bible prophecies match the creation of it for the end times. The one world order. Which European Union is looking to be.caseypayne69

what a bs if there is a state or a union of states that tries to colinize the world it's us the USA but we don't show it we use the backdoor, we place "freinds" in key positions in other countries after we "helped" them either with a putch or a simply a war....

[QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?kaos-hero

I hope open source programs are not the future. Most are terrible programs. Open Office is beat by MS Office in almost every way (People belly-aching about the GUI change in 2007 not withstanding), Linux is sub-par to Windows or Mac OS in terms of compatability and ease of use, Visual Studios in broad terms is more developer friendly to programs like Dev C++ or Bloodshed, etc. (IMHO, and I don't want to get in depth discussing the pros/cons of each)

Some open source programs are great. Firefox trumps IE7 in almost every way, VLC Player or Media Player C.lassic are much more system friendly than Quicktime or Windows Media Player 11, etc.

A mix is most likely the future, since closed programs obviously have places where they excel, and some places where they show their limitations.

They are getting sued for not sharing their their source code. How does anyone make profit with an Open source policy. You might as well make piracy legal.

[QUOTE="kaos-hero"][QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?subrosian

[QUOTE="kaos-hero"][QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?farrell2k

LOL. Open source is not the future. Adopting an open source point of view would put 90% of the world's software companies out of business. Giving the source away for free is the same as giving your prosuct away for free. If your products are free, open source is great. If you want to make money, you need to protect your source.

[QUOTE="Steakdinner"]This is about windows, not the 360. How is this relevent to system wars?caseypayne69

PC is a system war part too. I like to bash the 360 for not having so many exclusives due to some games hitting PC like Bioshock. But people will argue, OH its Windows based so MS still wins. So this is System Wars related. Since it is Windows based.

On a 2nd Note, I hate the European Union. To many Bible prophecies match the creation of it for the end times. The one world order. Which European Union is looking to be.

First point, this is still completely unrelated to games. And the second point... GOOD GOD :|

The EU is a legal council made up of representatives from all countries involved and they don't force people to join in fact it very difficult to join.

Unlike America which gets involved in everyone elses business and probably uses religion for decisions scarily. I mean they call their enemies the freakin "axis of evil". Who does that.

The EU is far fairer and democratic then the US. Republicans are some scary ass Conservatives. Seriously im more concerned with ending up living in the United States of "Earth".

Now all they have to do is wait until the end of "teh fiscal year" and hide it. Just like they did last time. And lemmings can deny it ever occurred. Neat.

Now all they have to do is wait until the end of "teh fiscal year" and hide it. Just like they did last time. And lemmings can deny it ever occurred. Neat.

The_Crucible

Jezz. They didn't "hide" the $1 Billion either. Hiding losses is illegal to say the least. They admitted the hit. All over the place. They just used this process called "book-keeping" to put it on the books of a fiscal quarter that was coming to a close so that the financial hit did not weigh them down going forward.

Nothing "hidden", nothing illegal, it was solid book-keeping.

I hate how people demonize companies on selective basises for doing things that are common practice in the business world. For contrast, look to how Enron and World Com handled losses on their books compared to this practice. You will see a world of difference.

I think there are some more cases going on with M$ and the EU as of now. Hopefully in the end they give M$ a really hard hit that will rock there world in more ways than ever before. This could be the greatest thing for all PC users around the world in the end.jimm895

How would that be a good thing?

[QUOTE="kaos-hero"][QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?subrosian

People who genuinely believe this are usually the first ones to screw up your database system, and the only people who don't feel sorry for when you fire them. The future of software is a mixed market, to get fined for refusing to open your software up for other companies to modify is ridiculous.

Exactly, the company should be allowed to make choices they want with their software, no one else has the right to tell them what they can and cant do with their own products.

See, good thing Andrew Ryan built Rapture.

Greed is a sin. I support the freedom of coding and the unity of the community. I'm using a Macbook Pro with Linux and XP. I have the best of all the worlds and I have to say the open source community is brilliant.

Unity, isn't that the basis of what America was founded on?
kaos-hero

No, America was not founded on unity. It was founded on religious freedom, which gave way to a more general kind of freedom. The country has a long and cloudy history on the whole "unity" thing, and it still has not gotten that all figured out.

Open source has its place, and some open source programs and developers are great. However, I don't see the overarching goal to make software if in the end it all goes open source and free. No money means no incentive. I am not a programming student so that I can make free programs. I am a programming student because I want to make software, and support my family.

Would I be open to make free software on the side or improve a program if I could? Sure, but if everything was open source and free, the software market would strangle itself dry, IMO.

[QUOTE="caseypayne69"]

[QUOTE="Steakdinner"]This is about windows, not the 360. How is this relevent to system wars?Darth_DuMas

PC is a system war part too. I like to bash the 360 for not having so many exclusives due to some games hitting PC like Bioshock. But people will argue, OH its Windows based so MS still wins. So this is System Wars related. Since it is Windows based.

On a 2nd Note, I hate the European Union. To many Bible prophecies match the creation of it for the end times. The one world order. Which European Union is looking to be.

First point, this is still completely unrelated to games. And the second point... GOOD GOD :|

The EU is a legal council made up of representatives from all countries involved and they don't force people to join in fact it very difficult to join.

Unlike America which gets involved in everyone elses business and probably uses religion for decisions scarily. I mean they call their enemies the freakin "axis of evil". Who does that.

The EU is far fairer and democratic then the US. Republicans are some scary ass Conservatives. Seriously im more concerned with ending up living in the United States of "Earth".

I like how caseypayne69 mentions religion when he's from the US. :lol:
The Americans are the most religious people in the world by far (counting all the developed countries).

[QUOTE="subrosian"]

[QUOTE="kaos-hero"][QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?PelekotansDream

People who genuinely believe this are usually the first ones to screw up your database system, and the only people who don't feel sorry for when you fire them. The future of software is a mixed market, to get fined for refusing to open your software up for other companies to modify is ridiculous.

Exactly, the company should be allowed to make choices they want with their software, no one else has the right to tell them what they can and cant do with their own products.

See, good thing Andrew Ryan built Rapture.

You like monopol?

[QUOTE="The_Crucible"]

Now all they have to do is wait until the end of "teh fiscal year" and hide it. Just like they did last time. And lemmings can deny it ever occurred. Neat.

SpruceCaboose

Jezz. They didn't "hide" the $1 Billion either. Hiding losses is illegal to say the least. They admitted the hit. All over the place. They just used this process called "book-keeping" to put it on the books of a fiscal quarter that was coming to a close so that the financial hit did not weigh them down going forward.

Nothing "hidden", nothing illegal, it was solid book-keeping.

I hate how people demonize companies on selective basises for doing things that are common practice in the business world. For contrast, look to how Enron and World Com handled losses on their books compared to this practice. You will see a world of difference.

I wasn't accusing MS of hiding anything. i was accusing lemmings of doing so. Acting as if the estimated billion in losses just disappeared once placed in the prior fiscal year.

Easy Spruce.

I wasn't accusing MS of hiding anything. i was accusing lemmings of doing so. Acting as if the estimated billion in losses just disappeared once placed in the prior fiscal year.

Easy Spruce.

The_Crucible

In which case, I agree. Its foolish to act like it never happened.

[QUOTE="Steakdinner"]This is about windows, not the 360. How is this relevent to system wars?caseypayne69

PC is a system war part too. I like to bash the 360 for not having so many exclusives due to some games hitting PC like Bioshock. But people will argue, OH its Windows based so MS still wins. So this is System Wars related. Since it is Windows based.

On a 2nd Note, I hate the European Union. To many Bible prophecies match the creation of it for the end times. The one world order. Which European Union is looking to be.

Oh, you're a Christian. It all makes sense now.

[QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?kaos-hero

no. they have to prove access to sections of MS source code. but it doesn't have to be open source.

You like monopol?

Arnalion

I just don't like people tell others what they can and can't do with their products. If I made something I know I would hate to be ordered to do this or that with my creation, no one else has the right to decide what happens to it but the creator.

[QUOTE="farrell2k"]

[QUOTE="kaos-hero"][QUOTE="EPaul"]Why did they get fined?kaos-hero

LOL. Open source is not the future. Adopting an open source point of view would put 90% of the world's software companies out of business. Giving the source away for free is the same as giving your prosuct away for free. If your products are free, open source is great. If you want to make money, you need to protect your source.

Actually, America was mostly founded on the basis of personal and property rights. Windows source code is the intellectual property of Microsoft. It's theirs to do with as they wish.