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States Request Microsoft Windows Code
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Posted by: Kdr Kane
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The state attorneys general still pursuing the antitrust case against Microsoft Corp have asked a federal judge to force the company to show them the inner workings of the Windows operating system.
In a bid to pry open one of the world's most valuable pieces of intellectual property, the states argued they need to see the Windows source code in order to verify Microsoft's claim that it is not technically feasible for the company to offer a stripped-down version of the operating system.
The states have made a good point. They should have asked for this long ago.
Source: Reuters
Posted by: Null Actor
hahaha
And I'm sure the attorney general has enough quality programmers to read through and understand 20 million lines of code too. 
This is just stalling; they can't possibly decipher that much code in any reasonable amount of time. Hell, my guess is that not even anyone at microsoft has a full knowledge of the whole codebase. All decisions are probably made by a committee of programmers who each know about one tiny part of the whole codebase. Each of those on the committee probably commands a small army of programmers themselves.
Posted by: JANNA
the state wanting the source code is ludicrous all they want is the code so they can use it in court as evidence then after the case it becomes public domain....
Posted by: Tweaker
Personally I believe its time to put this whole deal to rest. It’s the technological equivalent of beating a dead horse, and I'm tired of seeing taxpayer money wasted.
Posted by: SKYHN
The world needs disfunction to function.
Posted by: Spork Lover
heh...this is funny lol.
If it would become public domain..then well... we would see a few windows clones popping up everywhere...
heh...I would like to see the 5 people the state would hire to read the code
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
All they will end up doing is making a big headache for everyone and accomplishing nothing as usual. Leave Microsoft alone already.
Posted by: Kdr Kane
I believe it will be enough to see the pseudo-code or UML drawings of the operating systems and applications. The court experts won't have to sift through millions of lines of code.
Just because the code is used in court does not make it public domain. Court documents have always been able to be sealed. And Microsoft stills has copyrights.
Microsoft is claiming that the applications such as Internet Explorer are part of the underlying operating system. This is a blatant lie to force out competing applications and companies.
Microsoft has been "integrating" their applications into the operating system in a subversive plot to to make other applications incompatible. The applications departments at Microsoft have insider knowledge of undocumented system internals. This just isn't fair in a free market.
Just my humble opinion. 
Posted by: JANNA
trust me as son as it is given to the courts system some beurocrat will sell it.
Posted by: Kdr Kane
That's why the judge wouldn't trust you. 
Posted by: Kdr Kane
How did I miss this on Friday???
[COLOR=sky blue]WASHINGTON--A federal judge late Friday told Microsoft it must disclose portions of the Windows source code, including XP and XP Embedded, to nine litigating states and the District of Columbia.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly delivered her order during a conference call between the parties, potentially expanding the amount of source code available to trustbusters. The states had access to some Windows source code during the liability and settlement phases of the trial.
Access to the newest version of Windows, which was not included in the original trial, potentially ups the ante in the nearly 4-year-old antitrust case. After a June appeals court ruling, which upheld eight separate antitrust violations against Microsoft, state attorneys general talked tough about including Windows XP in a remedy--a position from which they later backed off.
"Bringing Windows XP back into the picture could be tough on Microsoft," said Gartner analyst Michael Silver. The operating system is one of the linchpins of Microsoft's .Net Web services strategy.
The two sides are expected to put together a protective order governing use of the source code, but how much would be accessible to the states--particularly for flagship product Windows XP--remained uncertain Saturday.
"The parties will work together to govern the use of the source code," Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said Saturday.
Still, analysts warned that Microsoft must take serious precautions to make sure Windows XP source code does not fall into the hands of competitors, which have been working closely with the nine states and the District of Columbia. In separate legal briefs filed during the last few weeks, Microsoft charged that competitors AOL Time Warner and Oracle had a hand in crafting the states' remedy proposal that could change how Microsoft develops and deploys software. [/COLOR]
Source: C|Net
Posted by: SKYHN
Yep, its been all over the news. Poor Microsoft
Anybody taking bets on if the code will be leaked or not? I got $500 on Leaked.
Posted by: Null Actor
Doesn't make a difference either way.
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