[Am-info] Rockin' On Without Microsoft

[Stephen A. Carter]

http://news.com.com/2008-1082-5065859.html

Rockin' on without Microsoft

By David Becker 
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
August 20, 2003, 4:00 AM PT


Sterling Ball, a jovial, plain-talking businessman, is CEO of Ernie
Ball, the world's leading maker of premium guitar strings endorsed by
generations of artists ranging from the likes of Eric Clapton to the
dudes from Metallica.

But since jettisoning all of Microsoft products three years ago,
Ernie Ball has also gained notoriety as a company that dumped most of
its proprietary software--and still lived to tell the tale. 

In 2000, the Business Software Alliance conducted a raid and
subsequent audit at the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based company that
turned up a few dozen unlicensed copies of programs. Ball settled for
$65,000, plus $35,000 in legal fees. But by then, the BSA, a trade
group that helps enforce copyrights and licensing  provisions for
major business software makers, had put the company on the evening
news and featured it in regional ads warning other businesses to
monitor their software licenses. 

Humiliated by the experience, Ball told his IT department he wanted
Microsoft products out of his business within six months. "I said, 'I
don't care if we have to buy 10,000 abacuses,'" recalled Ball, who
recently addressed the LinuxWorld trade show. "We won't do business
with someone who treats us poorly." 

(more)


-- 
Stephen A. Carter            High-Tech Information Center Nagoya, Ltd.
mailto:scarter@hticn.com                                 Nagoya, Japan
http://www.geekynetstuff.com                   PGP key ID:  0x59B4F7AD