Microsoft Extends Legal Protection To All Customers
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Nov. 10, 2004. Microsoft is extending the policy that currently protects some of its business customers from potential legal costs associated with intellectual-property disputes to all of its customers, including consumers.
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Software giant expands its indemnification program to cover the majority of its customers.
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By AOIFE WHITE BRUSSELS, Belgium - Under threat of new multimillion fines, Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that it had signed up its first licensee for a scheme EU regulators told it to set up three years ago to share code that helps servers work with the Windows operating platform.
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Borrowing a line from Allstate Insurance, Microsoft wants customers to know they are in good hands when they choose its software. The software maker plans to announce on Wednesday that it will indemnify nearly
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Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced   20 lawsuits against resellers allegedly engaged in the   distribution of infringing software and software components.
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Microsoft  is helping law  enforcers hunt down criminals who try to steal bank account  details on the Internet and has initiated 129 lawsuits in  Europe and the Middle East, the software company said.
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The company will shield all customers from legal costs and damages involving patent, copyright, trademark, or trade-secret disputes.
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Users will be able to upgrade between versions just by purchasing a new product key.
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By Alberto Alerigi SAO PAULO, Brazil  - Microsoft Corp. on  Wednesday launched its biggest initiative yet to combat rampantsoftware piracy in Brazil, allowing only registered customersaccess to "non-critical" updates of its Windows operatingsystem.
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U.K. users will be able to replace pirated versions of Windows that they have purchased.
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Lawsuits galore Microsoft today revealed lawsuits in nine US states against 20 resellers accused of selling counterfeit software or engaging in hard-disk loading. .â¦
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NOVEMBER 04, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Microsoft Corp. will give customers advance notice of its monthly security updates in an effort to help them prepare to install related software patches, the company announced today.
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Earlier this year Microsoft released a major security update for Windows XP, which was designed to strengthen the operating systemâs defences against attack from viruses and hackers.
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Taking a page from major enterprise software providers like Oracle and SAP, Microsoft announced this week Business Ready Customer Care, an initiative that includes major enhancements to its maintenance and support program for Microsoft Dynamics, ERP and CRM, applications.The customer support initiative does three things: Extends for five years the time over which Microsoft will support its products; offers more creative financing solutions for buying its CRM and ERP products, and promises to create a more transparent environment for its channel partners and their customers about future upgrades and products.Industry analyst Josh Greenbaum, principal at Enterprise Applications Consulting, said the fact that Microsoft is offering an additional five years of software support is in recognition of how well Oracle's extended support program is working for its customer base.Under the new Microsoft program there will be a total of five years of "mainstream" support for its products plus an additional five years of extended support, according to Christine Bell, director of global services product management, for Microsoft Business Solutions.Greenbaum says the extended support is a smart move on Microsoft's part."Oracle found out that extending support for their applications does not mean customers are gong to stall on [buying] new releases. They [Oracle] have a good upgrade flow despite or maybe because of extended support," Greenbaum said.In today's market, most vendors make upgrades a revenue-neutral event."You still get maintenance revenue either way, so why cause anxiety when you don't have to," added Greenbaum.On the financing side, Microsoft is now offering more options, including financing both the cost of hardware and software.Also available through March 2008 is a program called Smart Pay which will allow customers to select what their monthly payments will be for the first year.Finally, Bell said that Microsoft is making the commitment to deliver statements of directions that look out to the next 12 to 14 months."It will be very specific and talk about features and functionality," said Bell.Microsoft will include written documents on a special partner and customer Web site and will not require signing a non-disclosure agreement.The roadmap details are expected to start in November.
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Microsoft (Quote, Chart) has expanded the scope of its intellectual property protection policy to cover customers using current and earlier versions of its software.
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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is expanding its indemnification program for Windows and other software products in order to shield users from legal claims and patent
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Ziff Davis - Redmond execs say the company will provide IP protection for all current and past versions of its software, hoping to present yet another differentiator with open-source vendors.