Microsoft proxy can omit neutrality issue: SEC
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U.S. regulators said Microsoft Corp. does not have to include in its proxy a shareholder proposal demanding that the software maker justify its support for Net neutrality, according to a decision made public on Tuesday.
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Justice Department tells FCC that internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic. DOJ says it's opposed to "Net neutrality," the principle that all Internet sites should be equally accessible to any Web user.
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(InfoWorld) - A top Microsoft executive promoted the company's licensing of network security protocols at theÂ Interop trade showÂ on Wednesday, but not before taking time out during a keynote address to defend the company's patent licensing program for open-source software. Microsoft has licensed networking protocols to Juniper Networks as part of a program to make its network access protection software work with more networking vendors' products. It has also licensed protocols to Aruba Wireless Networks and network-attached storage vendor OnStor, said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's server and tools business. Before bringing up those licensing deals in his keynote address Wednesday morning, Muglia offered an explanation for the software giant's recent moves toÂ license its software patents to open-source software distributors. "The commercial software industry knows how to work with intellectual property and patents," Muglia said. Commercial software like Microsoft's has numerous patent sublicenses built into it for technology from other vendors, so that when a customer buys Windows or another Microsoft product, they have the assurance that Microsoft has given them the intellectual property protection they need, he said. "Customers have indicated to us that it's problematic to them that when they work with open-source software, they don't have similar intellectual property protection," Muglia said. There is no mechanism to effectively license that software, he said. This creates a real problem for customers, and Microsoft's licensing program is designed to solve it, according to Muglia. However, Microsoft has been accused of creating that very problem. Its patent licensing deals with Novell and other companies have come under fire for creating fear, uncertainty, and doubt among users of open-source software. Muglia's theme was Microsoft's newfound focus on interoperability, including overtures to other companies in network security and unified communications, both hot topics at Interop. But one attendee said the company will have to overcome a years-long reputation for not working well with others. Microsoft must be serious about interoperability now because it has no choice, said Brian Shannon, an independent networking consultant to small businesses in Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey. After all, with the proliferation of mobile devices, the company's desktop business is on the way out, he said.
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Microsoft (Quote, Chart) and representatives of the European Union&#39;s Competition Commission will sit down at the table together on Thursday, but it won&#39;t be to eat.
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The U.S. Department of Justice said it will not seek to extend the restrictions placed on Microsoft&#39;s business practices following its antitrust settlement with the U.S. government in 2002.Many of the restrictions are due to expire Nov. 12, and last week several&#160;U.S. states filed motions&#160;in favor of extending them for a further five years. Four of those states -- New York, Maryland, Louisiana and Florida -- had previously said they opposed an extension.The DOJ had also opposed the extension, and on Friday it made it clear that it would not be making a turnabout like the four U.S. states.&quot;The United States will not file a motion to extend its Final Judgment as it does not believe that the standard for such an extension has been met,&quot; the DOJ said in a court filing with the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.The restrictions were part of the 2002 &quot;consent decree&quot; that settled the U.S. government&#39;s case against Microsoft. They prohibit Microsoft from retaliating against PC makers that install its competitors&#39; software, or licensing its software to them on unequal terms.Another requirement -- that Microsoft license its APIs (application programming interfaces) to let rival products interoperate with Windows -- has already been extended for two years.The DOJ didn&#39;t explain its decision Friday. In August it said it felt the&#160;judgment had been successful&#160;in preventing Microsoft from continuing its exclusionary behavior.The&#160;states who favor an extension&#160;disagree. They say operating systems haven&#39;t evolved as quickly as people thought they would in 2002, and that Microsoft could still use the dominance of Internet Explorer to choke competitors in the emerging Web 2.0 world.A status hearing that will likely address extending the restrictions is scheduled for Nov. 6 with District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.The other states pushing for an extension are California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia.Separately, last month the&#160;DOJ raised hackles in Europe&#160;by criticizing the European Union&#39;s decision to reject Microsoft&#39;s appeal of its antitrust decision there.&#160;
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"Net neutrality" is a technical concept that has protected online freedom. It's essentially the First Amendment for the Internet - allowing Web users to go where they want and do what they please online.
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A group of state attorneys general said on Thursday that the consent decree that settled the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft Corp has failed to reduce the company's monopoly, disagreeing with the assessment of U.S. antitrust officials.
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has released a patch for a potentially serious configuration flaw in the firewall that ships with the company's Windows XP Service Pack 2.
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In a filing before the US Federal Communications Commission this morning, the Dept. of Justice's Antitrust Division argued that proponents of "net neutrality" would stifle the natural course of free market innovation in Internet technologies.
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Microsoft Corp will authorize a proxy battle for Yahoo Inc this week to convince the Web company's shareholders to agree on a takeover deal that the Yahoo board so far has rejected, the New York Times' Dealbook blog said on Tuesday.
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Microsoft has made its position crystal clear regarding the new version of the GPL, saying that none of its actions are to be misinterpreted as &quot;accepting status as a contracting party of GPLv3 or assuming any legal obligations under such license.&quot;
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A group of state attorneys general said on Thursday that the consent decree that settled the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. has failed to reduce the company's monopoly, disagreeing with the assessment of U.S. antitrust officials.
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A group of state attorneys general said  on Thursday that the consent decree that settled the landmark  antitrust case against Microsoft Corp has failed to reduce the  company's monopoly, disagreeing with the assessment of U.S.  antitrust officials.
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ISP rejects Microsoft antispam plan after open-source community speaks out.
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InfoWorld - The U.S. Congress still needs to deal with network neutrality, and supporters in Congress are willing to block any legislation favored by broadband providers until the issue is resolved, a leading Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Congress adjourned Friday without passing a much-debated broadband bill or strengthening network neutrality rules. The wide-ranging broadband bill would have streamlined the franchising process that telecom companies such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. need to go through to offer Internet Protocol-based television service in competition with cable TV. But advocates of net neutrality rules pressed Congress to hold on to the broadband bill unless it included a provision prohibiting broadband providers from blocking or slowing competing Internet content. Congress' failure to pass the broadband bill "shows the power of the issue with net neutrality," said Jim McGann, spokesman for the It's Our Net Coalition, a group calling for a net neutrality law. "Some lawmakers ignored net neutrality at their peril." Democrats take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives when Congress reconvenes in January, and the prospects for a wide-ranging broadband bill may be diminished. Republicans have generally pushed for the bill, while many Democrats raised objections based on concerns about the lack of net neutrality rules and about provisions that they said would allow the telecom providers to skip poor areas with their new television services. The House version of the broadband bill would have required VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) providers to offer customers enhanced 911 emergency dialing service, and it would have allowed municipal governments to offer broadband data and video services. The Senate version would have permanently extended a tax moratorium on Internet-only taxes such as access taxes. Net neutrality advocates will continue to press Congress to pass a law protecting open access on the Internet, McGann said, although he declined to speculate on its chances in the new Congress. "We're going to, as much as we can, educate members about the issue," he said. The broadband bill will also lose a major champion in Congress next year. Verizon, one of the large broadband providers pushing for streamlined video franchising rules, will refocus its efforts on state legislation next year, a company spokesman said. Verizon is also watching the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which may also act on broadband regulations, said David Fish, a Verizon spokesman. "The federal campaign raised the issue to a higher visibility," Fish said. "We've made big strides toward video choice this year, and expect continued progress in 2007." Beyond the broadband bill, some tech groups said Congress' post-election lame-duck session produced mixed results. In its final days, Congress approved an extension of a R&D (research and development) tax credit, which allows U.S. companies to get a tax break of up to 10 percent of R&D spending. The credit expired in 2005, and many tech groups called on Congress to reinstate it so that the U.S. could stay competitive with other countries offering R&D tax breaks. Congress approved an extension through the end of 2007, even though some tech groups want the tax credit to be made permanent. Congress also approved an expansion that could add US$1 billion to $2 billion to the program, which has cost about $7 billion a year. Tech groups applauded the extension of the R&D tax credit, as well as Congress' decision to extend permanent normal trade relations to Vietnam. The R&D tax credit action was "long overdue," said William Archey, president and chief executive officer of AeA, a tech trade group. But groups representing large tech vendors complained that Congress failed to increase the 65,000-person limit for H-1B visas, the program used to hire highly skilled foreign workers. Congress also failed to make changes to the U.S. patent system, although many large tech companies want improvements in the quality of patents and a weaker patent enforcement system. By failing to act on H-1Bs, patents and a fiscal year 2007 budget, Congress "ultimately failed to make the grade,â Phil Bond, president and chief executive officer of the Information Technology Association of America, said in a statement. Tech worker groups have opposed expansion of the H-1B cap above the current 65,000 visas a year, saying many U.S. tech workers remain out of work. Small inventors have opposed many changes to the patent system, including a tech-backed proposal to make it tougher for investors to get court injunctions against accused patent infringers.
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The run-up to November elections means that even if Congress takes another crack at Net neutrality and related broadband legislation when it returns from a month-long recess next week, some observers don't expect either bill to pass.