No appeal for Microsoft over Vista capable debacle
By Jonathan Schlaffer
Microsoft should prepare to let more embarrassment fly. The company filed an appeal in order to attempt to reverse a lower courts decision that the Vista Capable lawsuit would be allowed to continue. That appeal has been denied and the case will now resume.
Part of the reason behind the stalling tactics were the emails that had been disclosed as part of the case that revealed internal company emails that showed confusion and disagreement over how to handled Vista marketing campaigns. New insider emails from Microsoft and 30 of its partners may now also be made public.
According to Computer World, The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Microsoft’s request to overturn a 2006 decision by Judge Marsha Penchman that granted class-action status to a lawsuit that alleged the company deceived consumers with the Vista Capable sticker program.
We should all be familiar with the case by now, if you’re not, we have several posts on the matter which is paved with a "he-said/she-said" tale.
Microsoft asked the Ninth Circuit Court to hear its challenge and asked Penchman to suspend hearings while the appeal was heard by the higher court, Penchman agreed. The company is worried that continuing the lawsuit will,
"Jeopardize Microsoft’s goodwill" and "disrupt Microsoft’s relationships with its business partners."
Next time, just come up with a marketing program that doesn’t, "suck." Problem solved. Microsoft was not happy with the ruling, A spokesman for the company said,
"The Ninth Circuit’s decision not to accept our request for interim review is not a ruling on the merits of our case. We look forward to presenting all of the facts on what the district court itself said is a novel claim."
I have no doubt that Microsoft’s lawyers are capable of exploiting even more legal loopholes, trickery and black magic to achieve what it wants. By now it would have been much easier for the company to admit its mistake, pay back customers, allow downgrade rights to Windows XP SP3 and put more resources in Windows 7. Is it really that hard for it to admit defeat? Yes, Microsoft, you have been defeated, there is no PR spin to put on this that makes it sound good. Though, someone will try, most of us will see it for the fluff that it really is.
Jeff Thomas, an attorney, speaking on behalf of one of the plaintiff’s in the case said,
"We look forward to the setting of a new trial date and proceeding with discovery."
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April 23rd, 2008
What will happen is that IF MSFT gets fined, they will simply pass that “cost of doing business” onto Windows-7 or some other software.
MSFT will likely disallow downgrade rights to XP SP3 as a part of any settlement. Already they are hell bent on getting rid of XP so they can push Vista to satisfy the demands of the Entertainment industry and to eliminate XP as their competition.
Based on those observations, any further back track to XP will be met with more resistance and a cash settlement with be their first option.
It would be easier, smarter, and overall the best decision to admit defeat, discontinue Vista, offer mass downgrades and keep XP on retail shelves until Windows-7.
While MSFT did “allow” XP Home on low end computers until 2010, it was a necessary
business decision to try to curb the threat of the Linux encroachment of the Tiny PC revolution.
Cutting loses, outright admitting defeat and regrouping and refocusing in a new direction with broad clear goals is a tough but important decision for any business.
And it takes someone with strong leadership skills to accomplish such feats….who at MSFT has those leadership skills?