Went to Groklaw, started reading comments, found this:

Story: FSF Europe's Statement on the EU Commission Fine on MicrosoftTotal Replies: 4
Author Content
Teron

Jul 13, 2006
3:57 AM EDT
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/30/yourmoney/msft.php

The interesting tidbit: "The protocols cover server software and elements of Microsoft's new desktop operating system Vista, which will not be sold until 2007. In most cases, Smith said, the code had to be reverse-engineered to identify the original steps and programming assumptions used to create the protocols in the early 1990s."

I mean, what the... They have to reverse-engineer their own protocols? No source repositories or anything? Even to a non-coder, that has the ring of outright stupidity in it...
TPuffin

Jul 13, 2006
5:40 AM EDT
Yes, I don't think there's a good way to spin this particular point for MS. Either they have the needed info and they are stubbornly not complying, or they don't have the info and thus imply/admit/prove they are incompetent.

Then again, I'm no spinmeister, especially on the scale of MS PR.
Libervis

Jul 13, 2006
3:35 PM EDT
So it might be that they don't have the needed info and are basically choosing between being constantly fined millions per day for noncompliance or to reveal their utter incompetence.

Wow, if that's so they really do seem to be screwed, at least in long term (cause either way shareholder's are gonna be frying them).

jimf

Jul 13, 2006
4:08 PM EDT
I know that they've had to rewrite and pretty much throw out the whole thing at least twice. MS always seem to go for code volume rather than quality. They certainly have the money to hire top notch programmers, so it has to be sloppy project control, coordination, or???
grouch

Jul 13, 2006
6:44 PM EDT
TPuffin: >"Yes, I don't think there's a good way to spin this particular point for MS."

Hypothetical hired spinner:

'Our Most Holy Eye-Pee [tm, pat.pend.], which provides Wondrous Genuine Advantages [tm, pat.,(c),R.,sm] to our Consumers [tm. pend.], is so full of Magic [pat. pend.] that even our Great Wizards [tm, (c), pat.] and Money Controlled Sycophant Emissaries [R] must Work [tm] most slowly and cautiously in order to avoid creating Issues [(c)] for our Consumers [tm. pend.] and stockpiled Partners [pat. pend.] as we Open [pat. pend.] pathways for others to tap the Power [pat.pend.] of our Mystic Source [tm, pat., (c), R, sm] in Innovative [tm], New [pat. pend.], Consumer [tm. pend.] Technologies [tm, pat., (c), R, sm] in a going-forward way.'

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