MSFT pays Lin-something $20 Million to settle case

Looks like the case between Microsoft and Linspire has been settled. The link includes all the gory details, but basically:
– Linspire agrees not to use the Lindows name in any country
– Linspire will not use any word with -indows or -indoze in it (no, this is not a joke)
– Linspire will remove copyrighted “Windows Media Files” from the distro
– Linspire will agree not to post on its website any links or directions to other locations from which users may download unauthorized copies of the Windows Media Files from other sources (Xine and Mplayer are mentioned here)
– Microsoft will license the Media Player SDK to Linspire
– Linspire accepts Microsoft's claim that “Windows” is a valid Microsoft trademark (this one is a bit disturbing to me)
– Both parties agree to drop any pending lawsuits
– and last but not least, MSFT will pay $20Million
IANAL and may have missed something, but that is the gist of it. It's interesting to see that the “Windows” trademark was validated by Linspire here as, if I recall, the judge already made statements that alluded to the fact that “Windows” was indeed too generic a term (which I agree with). It's clearly this fact, and not the fact that someone might confuse Lindows for Windows, that made MSFT want to settle this. $20M is small change in their eyes to keep the monopoly in tact I guess.
–jeremy

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