Re[2]: [Am-info] MS claims KMart can't transfer licenses in sale of BlueLight.com

[Gene Gaines]

Paul,

This kind of ploy has been done before.

A Bell Telephone story.

I was the telecom technical manager for North American Philips
(then $2.5 billion sales) and was quite used to having offices and
plants move in and out of our conglomerate.

We acquired Magnavox -- offices, research labs, manufacturing
plants, etc.

A bright lawyer at New York Telephone discovered that Magnavox had
a huge number of PBXs and telephone equipment leased from New York
Telephone in the company name "Magnavox". So he claimed that
changing the ownership of the company from "Magnavox" to "Philips"
amounted to early lease termination. His proposal was that we (1)
pay immediately what was remaining on the existing 7-year lease,
(2) pay again for installation even though the equipment was in
place, and (3) sign a new 7-year lease for a full term. Otherwise
they would cut telephone serve, beginning with a large production
plant in upstate New York. This with the blessing of AT&T, they
had slipped in a change in regulatory wording with the FCC, and
felt they "put one over" the simpletons at the FCC, and planned to
introduce the new scheme across the country.

We were big and strong and profitable, and could fight.

It took about four months to take the contracts, find the lawyer,
take his hand, and stuff his paperwork where the sun don't shine.

Monopoly thinking can really hurt companies.

Big companies can fight back.

Little companies cannot, and they are really really hurt.

Gene
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com

On Wednesday, October 30, 2002, 1:31:20 AM, Paul wrote:

> ========== On 2002.10.30 01:26 AM, Gene Gaines typed: ============

>>If Microsoft and other software vendors are allowed to cancel licenses
>>upon the sale of companies, what does this do to the value of companies
>>-- or parts of companies -- that go on the block? Is it conscionable for
>>licenses to be cancelled upon transfer of ownership of equipment or
>>companies?

>    If Microsoft doesn't back down, this is going to kill them. No company 
> would dare invest that much money into something that won't transfer and 
> (as time is starting to prove) can be revoked at any time for any reason 
> by the publisher. Put a fork in 'em...



> ======== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign =======
> --------------------------------[ Http://www.msboycott.com ]-----------

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