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List:       suse-linux-uk-schools
Subject:    Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Office of Fair Trading
From:       ian <ian.lynch2 () ntlworld ! com>
Date:       2004-03-10 17:39:12
Message-ID: 1078940348.407.5.camel () zaphod ! uk ! irlcomputers ! com
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On Wed, 2004-03-10 at 17:21, Seb James wrote:
> On Wed, 2004-03-10 at 16:02, j_low wrote:
> > >eg a school might say
> > >yikes, if MSSA is declared void isn't this going to put my software
> > >costs up? I'd better say nowt. 
> > 
> > I spoke to the IT manager of one major school today who moreorless said
> > just that!  Their view seemed be be that they had thousands of pounds worth
> > of MS software very cheaply and wouldn't want to rock the boat.
> > 
> > John
> 
> Their view that they have something of a particular "worth" is perhaps a
> perception only. The perception is based on the fact that the software
> is sold to other individuals and organizations for a larger sum than the
> schools are required to pay. Rather than thinking of the software as
> having a value to the school, think of the value that the software being
> used by the school has to Microsoft.
> 
> The Microsoft Schools Agreement is in existence because MS needs to
> appear to be giving good value to schools. It can't be seen to be
> ripping them off, especially with alternative systems becoming much more
> viable. 
> 
> If the MS Schools Agreement is (rightly in my opinion) deemed illegal in
> certain aspects, I do not believe that MS will rescind it from schools.
> Instead it will be forced to change the terms of the agreement such that
> a school won't have to include Apple Macs or a suite of Linux boxes in
> reckoning up their total fee payable to Microsoft.

Interesting to speculate why they haven't just done this. How hard would
it be to issue a statement saying eligible machines include only those
that run *any* MS Software? 

I would say there are only two possibilities

a) They can't be bothered
b) They really do want to shut out the competition


In either case they deserve to be heavily fined if found guilty. And in
the case of MS, heavily fined should mean billions rather than millions
though I can't see the OFT extracting the maximum 10% of UK turnover. I
think any fines from proprietary software vendors found guilty of unfair
trading should be channelled directly into FLOSS projects. That would be
a much better deterrent than a chicken-feed fine.


-- 
ian <ian.lynch2@ntlworld.com>


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