Now that Palm owns Be, will they sue Microsoft?

Post #7,446 by brettj 9/1/01 10:18:22 AM Reply	Now that Palm owns Be, will they sue Microsoft? Novell's done it and so has AOL/Netscape. Now that Microsoft is a convicted "Section 2" monopolist, perhaps it's Palms turn to buy a technology and gain the opportunity to return a "favor" to their friends in Redmond. [link\|http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/21410.html\| Jean Louis Gass\ufffde on The Antitrust dog that never barked] By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Posted: 31/08/2001 at 20:12 GMT Columnist and author of The BeOS Bible Scot Hacker has published a valedictory for BeOS here at Byte which has some intriguing input from Be Inc founder Jean Louis Gass\ufffde. One of the reasons for the failure of BeOS, Hacker identifies, was the inability to induce OEMs to provide true dual-boot machines. Be Inc adopted a non-confrontational approach, seeking to provide a Windows alternative rather than a replacement. It later produced a version that boots from inside Windows, and it even offered OEMs BeOS for free. However Microsoft OEM contracts forbid a visible dual-boot option, and although OEMs were keen to differentiate themselves by offering Be's "Media OS" as an alternative, they risked breaching the OEM agreements. .... DRDOS redux? But the case isn't exactly over. As Hacker notes, when Palm acquired Be's technology IP and staff earlier this month, it acquired the right to pursue anti competitive claims against The Beast. There is a precedent: Caldera won a settlement over DRDOS, which it had similarly acquired, even though the offenses were against Digital Research and its subsequent owner Novell.
Post #7,454 by Andrew Grygus 9/1/01 12:07:13 PM Reply	This may not be possible for Palm According to every report except the one in The Register, the one property Be kept was the right to sue Microsoft. Presuming the majority is correct, the question is: can Be raise enough money to launch an action that could well yield a $billion bucks or so and has a high liklihood of success. It is suspected Caldera got between $350 million and $500 million - then Microsoft tried to palm off a $150 million addition to the reserve as the whole payment. The technology press, of course, swallowed that hook line and sinker. A few in the business press were a little smarter. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #7,461 by brettj 9/1/01 2:05:32 PM Reply	So you suspect that Be intends to sue ... hoping that they will get triple damages since Microsoft has violated section 2? Their might be a few fame/fortune-seeking lawyers that would be willing to take the case, don't you think? What would the remaining 4-6 Be employess do with all the money from such a lawsuit? Start a new biz, retire, ...? Isn't BeOS Open-Source now?
Post #7,463 by Andrew Grygus 9/1/01 2:41:31 PM Reply	I suspect they intend to try . . . . and yes, I suspect there are some law firms that would be quite interested, espcially since Microsoft had an almost perfect record for either losing or buying out before their conviction. There is a strong possibility the DoJ refused the boot loader issue specifically because it was so strong. If they didn't get a good enough conviction in the current case, they could file again. I see no reason Be couldn't rake Microsoft over the coals at this point. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #8,005 by orion 9/8/01 7:37:00 PM Reply	One possibility Is that once Microsoft is punished by the DOJ, will the Feds be giving Palm/Be money to compete with what is left of Microsoft? Just like Teloco companies got money to compete with what AT&T was broken up into? If they cannot get the money one way (Suing) maybe they can get it another way (Richfare)? *Picking up the pieces of my broken life.*
Post #8,016 by Ashton 9/8/01 8:52:09 PM Reply	Heh.. love the thought!
Post #7,467 by Ashton 9/1/01 4:48:56 PM Reply	Here's a previous thread on the topic. [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=6910\|Lest we forget, next..] We may suppose that Jean Louis isn't apt to 'forget'.. Let's see some blubber flensed off that fat Redmond whale - plenty to go around, spread around - and get on with the innovation delayed these years by the redefining of the word, implemented by the techno press: collectively possessing the brains of a tick. But don't hold breath. Dumbth is not erased by One sample of a possible comeuppance. Any guesses on how many copies of XP will be gobbled up if, it Can be released on schedule? That might be a significant datum for the Dumbth-O-Meter \ufffd International Standard for the measurement of ongoing gullibility (?) A.

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