On 5/7/06, Lars D. Noodén <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
MS "tentatively agreed to pay $70 million *in vouchers* to several California municipalities to settle an antitrust claim that it used its market dominance to overcharge government customers" according to Reuters: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6067712.htmlI added the emphasis *in vouchers* there. Allegedly, these vouchers, if they become reality, are supposed to be for cash refunds on computer hardware and software. Like most vouchers, many of these probably will never be cashed. Also, in a worst-case scenario, they could be used to tie California tighter to MS. Seeing as a cash refund on the purchase of OpenOffice would be of little use to us, how can we influence the settlement to our advantage or otherwise benefit from the proposed voucher scheme?
Being from California and a previous IT guy in a school district I guarantee you that all of them will be cashed. Our money situation right now for IT in the schools are so bad that this will just catch us back up. Most of the money will probably be used for hardware and yearly costs, like virus protection. -- Adam Moore Founding Member http://www.opendocumentfellowship.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
