Innovation
Wednesday
Wednesday 5/2/2003Oh, this promises to be entertaining. Microsoft is counter-suing Sendo over the l'affaire Z100.
Wednesday 5/2/2003
Oh, this promises to be entertaining. Microsoft is counter-suing Sendo over the l'affaire Z100. In brief: Sendo decide to make Microsoft-based smartphone, Microsoft buys part of Sendo and pumps in dosh, phone is repeatedly delayed, Sendo launches phone and immediately cancels it, Sendo sues Microsoft for bad behaviour in the relationship, and now this. That Microsoft would counter-sue was inevitable: there's no way that they could just defend the Sendo accusations -- that MS ripped off ideas and refused to produce working software -- without pinning the blame for this massively dysfunctional project back on the boys from Birmingham. Sendo's sins, say MS, are bad project management, fraudulent reporting back to MS and a determination "to release an unstable and unreliable project." Yes, Microsoft really said that about someone else. What happens next? My gut feeling is an out-of-court settlement will be made, as both sides realise that the court process will uncover many, many things that would best be left undisturbed. Against that, Microsoft might reckon that its chances of ever selling another smartphone licence will be zero if it doesn't publicly get rid of the Sendo accusations, and Sendo... well, it could be life and death for the company. If the court case goes ahead, the only winners will be the lawyers. Oh, and anyone else who wants to know just what really happens when Microsoft takes an interest in your company -- so that's all of us, I guess.
Oh, this promises to be entertaining. Microsoft is counter-suing Sendo over the l'affaire Z100. In brief: Sendo decide to make Microsoft-based smartphone, Microsoft buys part of Sendo and pumps in dosh, phone is repeatedly delayed, Sendo launches phone and immediately cancels it, Sendo sues Microsoft for bad behaviour in the relationship, and now this. That Microsoft would counter-sue was inevitable: there's no way that they could just defend the Sendo accusations -- that MS ripped off ideas and refused to produce working software -- without pinning the blame for this massively dysfunctional project back on the boys from Birmingham. Sendo's sins, say MS, are bad project management, fraudulent reporting back to MS and a determination "to release an unstable and unreliable project." Yes, Microsoft really said that about someone else. What happens next? My gut feeling is an out-of-court settlement will be made, as both sides realise that the court process will uncover many, many things that would best be left undisturbed. Against that, Microsoft might reckon that its chances of ever selling another smartphone licence will be zero if it doesn't publicly get rid of the Sendo accusations, and Sendo... well, it could be life and death for the company. If the court case goes ahead, the only winners will be the lawyers. Oh, and anyone else who wants to know just what really happens when Microsoft takes an interest in your company -- so that's all of us, I guess.