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Novell The Almighty Buck Microsoft

Microsoft Pays $536M to Novell 291

Posted by CmdrTaco from the thats-a-heckuva-lotta-dough dept.
_mArk writes "This morning Novell announced that it had settled a potential law suit with Microsoft related to its NetWare product line. Microsoft agreed to pay $536 million to Novell, but this is not the end as there is another litigation against them pertaining to WordPerfect."
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Microsoft Pays $536M to Novell More

Microsoft Pays $536M to Novell

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  • easy handout (Score:5, Funny)

    by Sv-Manowar ( 772313 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:42PM (#10755459) Homepage Journal
    perhaps SCO went after the wrong people ?

  • "mirror" (Score:3, Informative)

    by someguy456 ( 607900 ) <someguy456@phreaker.net> on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:42PM (#10755461) Homepage Journal
    It was already slow for me, with 0 posts, so here it is:

    WALTHAM, Mass. -- Nov. 08, 2004 -- Novell today announced an agreement with Microsoft to settle potential antitrust litigation related to Novell's NetWare operating system in exchange for $536 million in cash. Novell also announced that by the end of this week it will file an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the United States District Court in Utah seeking unspecified damages in connection with alleged harm to Novell's WordPerfect application software business in the mid-1990s.

    Under terms of the settlement, in exchange for the cash payment, Novell has agreed to a general release of claims that it has as of the date of the agreement, with certain exclusions that include patent claims and claims associated with Novell's WordPerfect business. The agreement also includes a release by Microsoft of claims that would have been compulsory counterclaims to the NetWare claims asserted by Novell. Finally, Novell has agreed to withdraw its intervention in the European Commission's case with Microsoft.

    "We are pleased that we have been able to resolve a portion of our pending legal issues with Microsoft," said Joseph A. LaSala, Jr., Novell's senior vice president and general counsel. "This is a significant settlement, particularly since we were able to achieve our objectives without filing expensive litigation. While we have agreed to withdraw from the EU case, we think our involvement there has been useful, as it has assisted the European proceedings and facilitated a favorable settlement with Microsoft. With the EU case now on appeal, we are comfortable with our decision to withdraw from the proceeding. There is simply not much left for us to do.

    "We regret that we cannot make a similar announcement regarding our antitrust claims associated with the WordPerfect business. We have had extensive discussions with Microsoft to resolve our differences, but despite our best efforts, we were unable to agree on acceptable terms. We intend to pursue our claims aggressively toward a goal of recovering fair and considerable value for the harm caused to Novell's business," LaSala said.

    The WordPerfect suit that Novell will file seeks unspecified damages arising from Microsoft's efforts to eliminate competition in the office productivity applications market during the time that Novell owned the WordPerfect word-processing application and the Quattro Pro spreadsheet application. The suit is based in part on facts proved by the United States Government in its successful antitrust case against Microsoft. In that suit, Microsoft was found to have unlawfully maintained a monopoly in the market for personal computer operating systems by eliminating competition in related markets.
    Legal notice regarding forward looking statements

    This press release includes statements that are not historical in nature and that may be characterized as "forward-looking statements," including those related to future financial and operating results, benefits and synergies of the company's brands and strategies, future opportunities and the growth of the market for open source solutions. You should be aware that Novell's actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations of Novell management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, Novell's ability to integrate acquired operations and employees, Novell's success in executing its Linux strategies, Novell's ability to deliver on its one Net vision of the Internet, Novell's ability to take a competitive position in the Linux industry, business conditions and the general economy, market opportunities, potential new business strategies, competitive factors, sales and marketing execution, shifts in technologies or market demand and the other factors described in Novell's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 2, 2004. Novell disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.

  • So Novell is going to let the EU case die? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sikmaz ( 686372 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:43PM (#10755474)
    "Finally, Novell has agreed to withdraw its intervention in the European Commission's case with Microsoft."

    • Re:So Novell is going to let the EU case die? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bfree ( 113420 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:13PM (#10755852)
      Personally I cannot believe this is legal. EU takes a case V MS and MS can pay off the prosecution witnesses. Is this not in itself evidence that it is an dominent abusive monopoly which will run wild without legal restraints, the exact thing "anti-trust" laws are for. Imagine you were a witness in a blackmail trial and you were called into an appeal, when asked to give evidence you say "sorry, but I made a deal with the defendant for loads of cash to not say anything so I'm withdrawing my statement". End result, you should presumably be tried to perverting the course of justice and/or the defendant tried for witness intimidation. For a business isn't the ultimate intimidation "if you don't do what we want we won't give you buckets of cash"?
  • $536 Million?
    No new boxes of tissue until Tuesday!

    Oh, the nasal anguish!

  • It's Slashdot Novell Day! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:44PM (#10755493)
    I bet the sysadmin is having a case of the Mondays.
  • Maybe now they can change the "eval" flag to "fully free"
    • The first time I read it as "Evil" flag. I think there should be an evil distro, to compete with *BSD the operating system that keeps coming back from the dead and has a demonic icon.

  • Beware the Microsoft settlements (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IGnatius T Foobar ( 4328 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:47PM (#10755531) Homepage Journal
    Generally, whenever Microsoft settles with anyone it's bad for the free world.
    • Microsoft settles with DOJ. Result: Microsoft doesn't get broken up like it deserved, and now wants to "license" standard Internet protocols to you.
    • Microsoft settles with AOL. Result: the final nail in Netscape's coffin, and the Mozilla developers all get fired. And of course, the dream of seeing Gecko in AOL client is dashed.
    • Microsoft settles with Sun. Result: anti-Linux collusion between Microsoft and Sun.
    • Microsoft settles with Novell. Result: We don't know yet, but I'm expecting something ugly. Maybe some bizarre legal cross-licensing to prevent non-commercial software from existing?
    • But, if it really smells, then why did Novell buy SuSE?
      • This isn't a LETS-BE-FRIENDS-NOW type settlemenet. This money is blood drawn from M$. I think LaSala has just won the M$ most pesky people award. From what I understand this only settles a portion of the ongoing litigation Novell has had pending against M$.

    • Re:Beware the Microsoft settlements (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Ohreally_factor ( 593551 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:56PM (#10755653) Journal
      Microsoft settles with Novell. Result: We don't know yet, but I'm expecting something ugly. Maybe some bizarre legal cross-licensing to prevent non-commercial software from existing?

      And let's not forget the recent resignation of Chris Stone [slashdot.org] from Novell. Maybe it's just a coincidence.

      • Re:Beware the Microsoft settlements (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        My take on Chris Stone is that he had a falling out with Waltham in September when he was 'sent' to harvard business school. His 'resignation was just a formalization of Messmen et al. giving him the axe

    • Simpsons Quote (Score:3, Funny)

      by heri0n ( 786437 )
      Your Internet ad was brought to my attention, but I can't figure out what, if anything, Compuglobalhypermeganet does, so rather than risk competing with you, I've decided simply to buy you out.
      -- Bill Gates, "Das Bus"

      % Homer and Marge quietly discuss this proposal.

      Homer: I reluctantly accept your proposal!
      Bill Gates: Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!
      [Gates' lackeys trash the room.]
      Homer: Hey, what the hell's going on!
      Bill Gates: Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a

  • Yawn. The river flows. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:48PM (#10755542)
    I know this means a lot to Novell, but big money moves in this industry (like in so many others) like a river. Microsoft has a viable, long term strategy for survival and success. Novell has a viable, long term strategy for survival -- maybe. Part of the Microsoft strategy is legal payoffs as the cost of doing business. Things change when companies fail to innovate. IBM was too slow to keep up so they went through a bad time. Microsoft innovates not in the realm of technology, but in the realm of selling technology. No one does it better.
    • It will be interesting to see how that stands up against companies offering free technology and selling support. My prediction is Microsoft will transition to an IBM style operation, maybe when the the dynamic duo of Gates and Balmer eventually pack it in.

  • 1994? Should have sued them then. (Score:4, Informative)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:50PM (#10755566)
    The WordPerfect suit that Novell will file seeks unspecified damages arising from Microsoft's efforts to eliminate competition in the office productivity applications market during the time that Novell owned the WordPerfect word-processing application and the Quattro Pro spreadsheet application. The suit is based in part on facts proved by the United States Government in its successful antitrust case against Microsoft. In that suit, Microsoft was found to have unlawfully maintained a monopoly in the market for personal computer operating systems by eliminating competition in related markets.

    Now, I can't stand MSFT's business tactics as much as the next Slashdotter but WordPerfect missed the fucking boat on a lot of shit when it came to the migration from DOS to Windows...

    Novell bought out WordPerfect 3/94. They were supporting legacy versions of WordPerfect for DOS and updating several versions for Windows. How they expected to compete against Word was really beyond me. Any software application that basically required a function key explanation chart at the top of every keyboard was doomed when GUI took hold.

    I have fond memories of WP5.1 for DOS but I am so glad that we have moved away from SHIFT+ALT+CTRL F11 for foo. WordPerfect took over from WordStar because of superior interface and design. While many people adore WP I wonder if it is more of a holdover from years gone by rather than actual superiority.

    Personally, Word is easy to get and use and it happens to be better than what Corel/Novell was offering at the time and that's why it won out. Maybe this lawsuit was better served 10 years ago in 1994 and not now in 2004.

    • Re:1994? Should have sued them then. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by julesh ( 229690 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:00PM (#10755700)
      I have fond memories of WP5.1 for DOS but I am so glad that we have moved away from SHIFT+ALT+CTRL F11 for foo. WordPerfect took over from WordStar because of superior interface and design. While many people adore WP I wonder if it is more of a holdover from years gone by rather than actual superiority.

      Perhaps it's because once you've learned it, the interface style you're "glad that we have moved away from" is actually superior to most modern interfaces, at least in terms of operator efficiency. It's just the learning curve that's a bitch.

      • Re:1994? Should have sued them then. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:03PM (#10755734)
        It's just the learning curve that's a bitch.

        For regular users of the software the learning curve is worth the time. For those that just want to type a quick document but still want to be able to perform operations on the document want to do so without having to look at cryptic key combinations or find options buried in hidden menus.

        Most computer users these days are "casual users" and don't care to learn more than point and click. The "power users" might be offended by the fact that they are being left out but the simple fact of the matter is that the "casual users" are the ones in the majority and the ones that the companies cater to.

      • Re:1994? Should have sued them then. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:17PM (#10755902) Journal
        There are still keyboard shortcuts for everything in Word, if you want to go ahead and learn them to improve efficiency.

        That's what they teach you in those MS Word courses at the local community college (at least thats what the good ones should teach you).

        I don't know them, because I don't use Word but maybe twice a year.

        With WP I had to know them, which sucked, until 5.1 came out and you could use a mouse to access pulldown menus.

        That is, before WP 5.1 came out, I would actually do school reports and stuff in GEOWrite on my old C64, leaving the PC collecting dust. I'd rather wait for the screen to refresh than spend forever scanning over the template to look for the "italics" hotkey.

        • There are still keyboard shortcuts for everything in Word, if you want to go ahead and learn them to improve efficiency.

          Yeah, and I know most of them. I still think WP's interface was more efficient (although I'll admit it's been well over 10 years since I used it last, and I only used it for about 6 months at the time). Even commonly used features that require two keystrokes in Word (e.g. bold & italic) could be done with one in WP, if memory serves.
    • WPDOS5.x had a mouse-enabled menu; no need to use the F-keys. The problem was that later builds of WP5.1 shipped with the menu disabled by default, so a lot of people never knew it existed. It was enabled by default in WPDOS6.

      I've generally had concurrent versions of of both Word and WP (in both their DOS and Wincarnations), installed side by side. Word is easier for very simple documents, but if you need anything more complex than an office memo, Word rapidly falls behind WP; conversely WP can handle anyt

    • Re:1994? Should have sued them then. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ValourX ( 677178 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:40PM (#10756167) Homepage
      WordPerfect is superior to Word in the same ways that Mozilla is superior to Internet Explorer. More relevant and modern features, greater stability, tabbed document views, better writing tools and extensions, export to PDF functionality, legacy compatibility modes (WP12 can be made to look and feel exactly like WP51/DOS). WP also has legal-specific functions that make it the standard among judges and lawyers.

      It's also cheaper individually, and bigger businesses can do volume licensing deals with Corel.

      WP is hands down a better product than Word. This is coming from a professional writer who has used both programs since their first versions. I'd use WP all day if I could, but WP for Linux kind of sucks, and I have this thing about not using proprietary software if a free alternative is available.

      -Jem
    • You're new here, aren't you?

      (For the humor impaired, yes, I see his id number is lower than mine. It's a joke. Get over it.)

    • OS/2 (Score:4, Interesting)

      by michaelmalak ( 91262 ) <michael@michaelmalak.com> on Monday November 08, 2004 @02:01PM (#10756385) Homepage
      I had heard or read (but cannot confirm with a quick Google search) that WordPerfect did not pursue Windows early because they had been told by Microsoft that OS/2 was the Next Big Thing, while Microsoft was quietly working behind the scenes to build up Windows and Windows applications in a surprise thwarting of IBM and its OS/2.

      As for poor user interface of keyboard-based WordPerfect, we have IBM to thank for that. A function-key-based user-interface was efficient in the days of "standard" keyboards when function keys were on the left. IBM came along and said that their PCs and Mainframes should have the same user interface, and moved the PC function keys across the top. This is what is called an "Enhanced" keyboard. If you've never used a "Standard" keyboard, you have no right to complain.

      Even today Windows has remnants "Standard" keyboard legacy. ALT-F4 closes an application and ALT-F6 closes a child window within an application. Notice the keys are both even numbered -- that was because they were adjacent in the two-by-five arrangement of function keys on the left of a "Standard" keyboard.

  • Hopefully (Score:2, Interesting)

    by BlackEyedSceva ( 798150 )
    I would like to see Novell overpower Microsoft more often. From the looks of Novell's new linux product lineup, it appears they may be a major competitor against microsoft in the future.

  • Now they can claim funding (Score:3, Funny)

    by bblazer ( 757395 ) * on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:50PM (#10755572) Homepage Journal
    Paying off these lawsuits is just the cost of doing business for MS. But given their perversion of reality, I wouldn't be surprised if I soon see Balmer giving one of his heart attack speeches claiming that they love open source and that by paying these law suits that they are really funding it.

  • WordPerfect (Score:2, Interesting)

    by clinko ( 232501 )
    WordPerfect... The OTHER Monopoly. Several Law, Insurance, & State departments are still forced to use WordPerfect because they archived in WPDs.

    I really don't feel for WordPerfect's side on that suit.
    • Huh? Are Word .docs OK because other companies and groups managed to reverse engineer it somehow, and wpds aren't because no one seems to care?
    • If much less 10% of the total installed user base is defined as a monopoly in your book, I'm dying to see the rest of your dictionary. Is Cobol listed under "monopoly" as well because of all the banks 'forced' to maintain it?

    • WordPerfect... The OTHER Monopoly. Several Law, Insurance, & State departments are still forced to use WordPerfect because they archived in WPDs.

      I really don't feel for WordPerfect's side on that suit

      Um, that's not WordPerfect's fault. Maybe the several Law, Insurance, & State departments that chose to archive using WordPerfect should have thought out the process a bit more. Maybe if they had relied more on function than form by using something a bit more portable like standard ASCII files, they

    • Sure, it just couldn't be that... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Microsoft Word has NEVER had the legal features that serious lawyers still need, which is why WordPerfect became so entrenched there.

      Sure Bill Gates father was still using WordPerfect quite long into the game.

      Blows a hole in your theory about WordPerfect dying because it sucked.

      Word has always sucked, especially in a legal environment, but the war was never about a good implementation of features, but about control and forcing all industries to the same stupidity.

      I had this conversation just a few days

  • Chris Stone? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by wcdw ( 179126 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:52PM (#10755592) Homepage
    So is *this* the reason that Chris left Novell on Friday?

    http://www.theboyz.biz/ [theboyz.biz]Your source for hardware, software, video games, small appliances, electronics and more!

  • Round and round... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tod_miller ( 792541 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @12:55PM (#10755629) Journal
    Someone make a nice chart with who paid who what...

    I have a snakeing suspiscion that the IT world, for all thier intelligence and success, are being played by sleeping agents of lawyers who deliberately steer companies to collide, and the resultant lawsuites just move money around, while the lawyers skim the cheddar off the top...

    So, to draw sides:

    Novell, Sun, IBM, AMD

    versus

    Microsoft, SCO, Intel and... erm...

    Man this hurts my head, who to trust...

    I noticed Novell came from nowhere (IMHO) recently exposurewise, they really built themselves up as a player (IMHO) and this linux offering is becoming the dotCom tradition now, make a any company, and you have to have your own distro! (Yeah yeah I know about novell and unix)

    Maybe one day Microsoft will have thier own linux distro...

    Oh, I forgot, they are buying licenses off SCO, and rewriting gnu code into longhorn (true!)

    Well done those guys.

    Now who hates kodak?

    • they [Microsoft] are buying licenses off SCO, and rewriting gnu code into longhorn (true!)

      Much as I'd love to believe that, it'd (a) be against the terms of the GPL, and (b) if/when they were caught - they'd be so badly screwed it wouldn't be funny[1]. And they'd be caught just as soon as they refused to pay an employee a raise. So - got any proof?

      [1] Oh, alright. It would be funny. Very.

    • Oh, I forgot, they are buying licenses off SCO, and rewriting gnu code into longhorn (true!)

      I don't put it past them, as the evil aura that surrounds MS is enough to be confused with Northern Lights in Redmond. Do you have a source for this?

    • The money is like the legendary Christmas Fruitcake -- in reality there is only one; it just gets redistributed every year. Similarly, there is only one lump of money in all the M$/Novell/SCO/Sun/Whoever world; it just changes custody occasionally.

      One does have to wonder how much more money each of these companies would have if they hadn't spent it suing and paying off one another. That, and the lawyers' cut-per-suit, would make an interesting chart indeed.

  • ...Word is based on Wordperfect so even if OO.o Writer is copying Word it'll be free and clear unless Novell decides to sue which is unlikely I'd guess.

    • Re:Here's hoping... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by stratjakt ( 596332 )
      Here's hoping Novell loses big, and no judge is stupid enough to think that a word processor (one of the first functions PCs were designed to be able to do) is a market you can hijack with patents.

      Word had a sensible GUI, WP stuck with cryptic keyboard shortcuts. WP lost on the usability front. They once had a monopoly on word processing, just like Netscape once had a virtual monopoly on browsers. And they both lost it by never adapting their sucktastic products.

  • Half a billion (Score:4, Funny)

    by truthsearch ( 249536 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:01PM (#10755709) Homepage Journal
    "We are pleased that we have been able to resolve a portion of our pending legal issues with Microsoft"

    Well, duh! You're going to get a check for over half a billion dollars. I'd be more than "pleased."
  • Or did he quit in protest? From last weeks story: Open Source Advocate VP Chris Stone Leaves Novell [slashdot.org]

  • Strategy on Microsofts part to legitimize lawsuits (Score:5, Interesting)

    by 3770 ( 560838 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:06PM (#10755776) Homepage
    Is it a strategy on Microsofts part to legitimize software related lawsuits?

    They have really deep pockets. They can afford to pay. When the pay they achieve two things:

    1) They can stop worrying about the lawsuit and continue with their business.
    2) They also legitimize the claim of the other company, in this case Novell, thereby setting a precedent.

    When Microsoft sets a precedent it means that the next company that Sun or Novell or SCO sues will almost certainly have to pay. There is a precedent after all. But that company might not be able to pay. And then Microsoft has one competitor less.

    • NO precedent set (Score:3, Informative)

      by Blitzenn ( 554788 )
      Legal precedents ARE NOT set by out of court settlements. That is the big problem with them. The suits continue without any legal platform until a judge rules in a case somewhere. Just like when RIAA started writting letters to ISP's demanding names of subscribers they wanted to sue, they continued the practice without anyone stopping them until verizon stood up and forced the courts to make a decision on this practice. Only after the 'legal' precedent was set did the action on RIAA's part actually stop

  • w00t! (Score:3, Funny)

    by pr0nbot ( 313417 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:11PM (#10755833)
    That's the executive pay [marklogic.com] more than taken care of, now they can get nice fat "performance"-related bonuses too!

    Ah, just kidding, they're doing good stuff.

  • Possible Bribe? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by freaksta ( 524994 )
    Finally, Novell has agreed to withdraw its intervention in the European Commission's case with Microsoft.

  • What ever happened to.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Leto-II ( 1509 ) on Monday November 08, 2004 @01:33PM (#10756084)
    Novell's lawsuits regarding DR-DOS?

  • Virii and lawsuits. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by St. Arbirix ( 218306 ) <matthew...townsend@@@gmail...com> on Monday November 08, 2004 @03:57PM (#10757847) Homepage Journal
    When you ask Microsoft why they are so riddled with exploits the answer is often because they are so popular that hackers everywhere are trying to take a crack at them. It's a pretty decent defense.

    Does the same logic hold true for all their lawsuits? Are they so popular that they are natural targets for lawsuits? Either yes, they are, and all the companies that sue them are on the same ethical level as virus writers, or no, and they really are a company that deserves to be sued over and over again.

    Funny thing though: they keep getting sued and losing. That puts all the companies that sue them on the moral high ground. Why aren't they getting all the business instead of the shaft? Here we have Microsoft with a nice long queue of lawsuits always waiting for trial and they will lose many if not most of them. So why do people keep doing business with them? Why are they allowed to do business? I thought governments were supposed to protect people from this sort of thing.

    This is why I like Open Source. It's a fully functional socialist movement (because it's opt-in) and it actually has the power to stop such bad behavior. Microsoft as a company has such incredible profit margins I can only compare them to Middle-Eastern oil interests and diamond cartels. Bully for them that they're the only public company in the lot, but the rate at which they get sued casts a pretty dark shadow on that. You can't very well produce hydrocarbon and carbon out of thin air, but you certainly can with software and that's just what F/OSS is doing.

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