[Am-info] Flaw Detected In Windows Media Player

[Joe Moore]

On Tue, Nov 20, 2001 at 04:09:04PM -0500, John J. Urbaniak wrote:
> Geoffrey wrote:
> > That's all we need.  Microsoft's fine is to further their monopoly by
> > making them give away there software to school systems.  Boy that hurts
> > them...
> 
> Well, they'll write off the software as "charitable contributions," and 
> they'll include the numbers to make the "Sales of XP" look bigger than 
> they really are.

Can you really write off a lawsuit settlement as a charitable contribution?
Or is the settlement just "Microsoft promises to make this charitable
donation (which they will then write off)"?

Also, Microsoft is "donating" a lot of PCs and laptops to the schools.
That's actually a tangible donation.  Never mind that they're probably the
3-year old PCs that have fully depreciated off Microsoft's accounts, and
they're having trouble throwing them away.  Also, many companies routinely
donate old equipment to schools for the tax benefits.  (mine did)  So
that "donation" may just be a routine part of Microsoft's accounting.

But remember, giving software and hardware to schools worked really well for 
Apple...

--Joe
-- 
When you find yourself on the cutting edge of technology, remember:
   The trailing edge is sharper than the leading edge.