OT: HP memo warned of MS assault on open source

[Dawes, Stephen]

The following is an article that I received today from:
LINUX AND OPEN SOURCE REPORT http://www.infoworld.com

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HP memo warned of MS assault on open source
Memo sent in 2002 urges execs to protect HP from fallout from
open-source lawsuits

By Stacy Cowley, IDG News Service

July 20, 2004

A two-year-old internal Hewlett-Packard Co. memo that surfaced Monday
reveals that the company expected Microsoft Corp. to launch an all-out
legal assault
on open-source software.

Sent shortly after HP struck a patent cross-licensing deal with
Microsoft, the June 2002 e-mail memo urges top HP executives to work
together on a strategy
to protect HP from the fallout of lawsuits stemming from its use of
open-source technologies that might infringe on Microsoft patents.

"Basically Microsoft is going to use the legal system to shut down open
source software," memo author Gary Campbell wrote. "We don't have to
exit selling
to the open source market, but we need to plan smartly where to reduce
our exposure."

Campbell was at the time HP's vice president of strategic architecture.
He is now its vice president of enterprise servers and storage. His memo
was printed
Monday on NewsForge.

HP confirmed the note's authenticity but downplayed its importance.
Microsoft did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

"As this memo was created over two years ago, we believe it is not
relevant today," spokeswoman Elizabeth Phillips wrote in an e-mailed
statement.

She highlighted HP's ongoing commitment to Linux and other open-source
technologies -- it was one of the first companies to indemnify its
customers against
The SCO Group Inc.'s lawsuits -- as well as its strong partnership with
Microsoft.

Despite that longstanding alliance, Campbell worried that HP would be on
Microsoft's hit list. His memo speculated that Microsoft would launch
its legal
fusillade within the next few months, after it resolved its lingering
antitrust issues.

"They are specifically upset about Samba, Apache and Sendmail. We
believe Samba is first," he wrote. Campbell also forecast that Microsoft
rivals building
around open-source technology, including Intel Corp., Red Hat Inc.,
Oracle Corp. and SuSE (since acquired by Novell Inc.), would be in
Microsoft's cross-hairs.

Campbell's memo was sent nine months before SCO launched a lawsuit
against IBM Corp. over Linux technology SCO claims infringes on its Unix
ownership. That
case, which isn't scheduled for trial until late 2005, is viewed by the
industry as a bellwether for infringement claims over open-source
technologies.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has spent the past year stomping out legal fires
rather than lighting new ones. A court decision last month ended one of
the few remaining
U.S. cases against Microsoft for antitrust violations, and in April
Microsoft agreed to spend nearly $2 billion on a settlement resolving
all outstanding
litigation with longtime foe Sun Microsystems Inc. It followed that with
a $440 million payment to end another case with InterTrust Technologies
Corp.

"The company's legal strategy right now is one of settlement," said
Jupiter Research Inc. analyst Joe Wilcox. "From a (public relations)
standpoint, I wouldn't
consider suing the open-source folks to be the best tactic for Microsoft
to take."

Thanks to SCO, Microsoft can benefit from uncertainty about Linux's
legality without risking its own legal offensive, Wilcox noted.

"From a technology perspective, Microsoft is doing its just-the-facts
campaign, trying to show the benefits of Windows versus open-source. One
of the benefits
Microsoft touts is the clarity of the licensing -- there is a point of
accountability," he said. "Regardless of its legitimacy, the SCO lawsuit
has raised
questions about the open source IP (intellectual property) licensing
model, and that's something Microsoft has been quick to take advantage
of in its marketing."

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Steve Dawes
Phone: (403) 268-5527
Email: SDawes at calgary.ca
 
 


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