Aardvark: Teflon Bill?

Over in the USA the courts are considering which bus ticket to use, and how damp to make it, when Microsoft gets its inevitable wrist-slapping for violation of anti-trust laws. Closer to home, Auckland Lawyer Craig Horrocks is spitting tacks after failing in his attempt to get the Commerce Commission to give Microsoft a similar slapping over its new 'give us all your money' software update plan for larger companies.

Well, it's actually more of a software non-update plan, and that's the crux of the matter. It seems that you could be asked to hand over a large fist-full of cash to Microsoft without any guarantee that you'll actually see any updates in return.

One can't help but wonder why the Commerce Commission seems to wimp out when presented with cases that involve large corporations such as Telecom or Microsoft. Sometimes their logic defies explanation

don't go there... Do Not Go Down That Avenue... Have you read the disclaimer present on all GPL'd software??? we are ALL tarred with that

Limited liability has absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft charging upgrade fees with no guarantee you'll be upgraded.

Microsoft has limited liability also.

They guarantee their operating system is suitable for nothing. Read the Eula.

They also don't even promise that if a bug is found, they'll actually fix it.

Matthew Gardiner

And they meet that commitment 100%.

Let's just say it. MS SW is bug ridden crap. It has cost billions because of viruses and worms. They do not care. The billions keep rolling in. They are scared though as Linux can replace MS on the desktop as well as the server. It is happening. The nice thing is MS can't do anything about it. The bottom line is what counts. MS can't get near it.

They could, all the need is good leadership and vision. Once the market see that they have their shit together, the stock price will rise.

Matthew Gardiner

Car makers don't willingly do recalls in most cases. They're usually the result of a lawsuit, in which a judge orders a recall.