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Microsoft loses, fined $613 million...

robbydadrummer	Date: March 24, 2004 @ 6:51 PM http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4591561/
sinai	Date: March 24, 2004 @ 10:43 PM so sad...Mr. Gates is only a few billion dollars from having to beg for change poor guy...
robbydadrummer	Date: March 24, 2004 @ 11:49 PM Nah, no sarcasm there, huh?
pog	Date: March 25, 2004 @ 1:49 AM what concerns me is if mr G goes ... thats not a monopoly... Now THIS is a monopoly. Presses his own, personal little red button, and every windows pc in the world dies.
Svensta	Date: March 25, 2004 @ 7:30 AM 613 million = chump change. Gates with worth in excess of 40 billion, personally, and that is after pledging over 10 billion to charities through his Gates Foundation. Microsoft is at a 60 week high, stockwise, and is listed at having over 30 billion in CASH ASSETS, not to mention a stranglehold on the desktop PC software business. This is like you getting a speeding ticket, honest.
Thaspian	Date: March 25, 2004 @ 4:16 PM
robbydadrummer	Date: March 25, 2004 @ 9:14 PM Yup, it's definately chump change for Bill and isn't anything serious financially to him... but I like it when he loses and actually has to pay to lose for a change.
pog	Date: March 26, 2004 @ 4:01 AM what annoys me is real takes m$ to court, and their big time spying dogs. what the linux community needs to do is set some standards between themselves so that there's more universal solutions to the monopoly in place, instead of competing all the time.
Apertome	Date: March 26, 2004 @ 8:09 AM $613 million is indeed very little to Microsoft, but in reality, the fine is only a small part of the punishment prescribed by the EU. The bigger news is that they have ordered Microsoft to produce a version of Windows that does not include Windows Media Player, and also to reveal methods to allow competitors to integrate their players with Windows. Long story short, because of how tightly integrated WMP is with Windows, this will probably require some architectural changes, and now MS has to give out information they would rather keep secret (to help their competitors, no less). Here is a slightly better article about this whole thing: http://www.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/03/24/microsoft.eu/index.html I know there are better ones out there, but I can't find them right now. I agree with Pog, I really hate Real and its products, but I am glad they are fighting MS.
Svensta	Date: March 26, 2004 @ 8:14 AM Hey, _I_ would love a build of Windows without that goddamn rights-infested WMP, myself. I'm not pro or antiMS myself, merely commented earlier that fining them is really pointless. Poggy said it best when there really needs to be a universal standard alternative to Windows. It would even prove highly lucrative, seeing how well some of the fragmented linux distro firms are doing.
robbydadrummer	Date: March 26, 2004 @ 3:04 PM Ahhh, much better article, mux... thanks. It would be nice to see Windows finally get busted up like it should have been years ago. Too bad with all the litegation crap it will still be 5 years or more before anything really happens.
Tudris	Date: March 28, 2004 @ 4:42 AM We'll see how much that this actually helps. Despite all efforts, Internet Explorer is still the dominant browser by a WIDE margin. As if to drive home one of the reasons monopolies like this are bad, they haven't updated the browser in four years. That just hurts the advancement of the web and its developers. It's holding everything back. Once MS secures an asset, they could care less if it's developed. No point when the money has been made.
OniKidou	Date: March 29, 2004 @ 3:42 AM Oh crap. Microsoft is going to be bankrupt if this keeps happening. Then Apple will rule the world. Oh no. ...Oh wait. That's a good thing. ^^ Apple is so much better in almost every ways possible. Even sound quality for making music is excellent.
JFF	Date: March 29, 2004 @ 9:46 AM it's a very small step in the right direction.
sinai	Date: March 29, 2004 @ 4:01 PM apple's help build your immune system to better ward of such things as herpes outbreaks and such
robbydadrummer	Date: March 30, 2004 @ 12:22 AM @ sinai..