Month: June 2000

“We will run [.NET] with the same kind of openness that we’ve run Windows.”

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, fulfilling the software industry’s fears in announcing an embrace-and-extend Internet services initiative, Salon.com, 23 June 2000

“There are a lot of folks in our office that do nothing but rent videos from Kozmo.”

Jupiter analyst Ken Cassar, raising questions about more than just Kozmo’s productivity, The Wall Street Journal, 22 June 2000 (paid subscription required)

“The key to piracy isn’t to do a drug-war strategy, with brute force out to crush the pirates. They key is to make a better drug.”

MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson, on the music industry’s need for an MP3 strategy that doesn’t make it nervous, wondering what to do — one that makes me feel like I feel when I’m with you, Wired News , 20 June 2000

“What we expect is that ISPs will do the decent thing and take licenses for our intellectual property that they’re using. We’re looking for reasonable royalties on revenues that they’re enjoying from our technology.”

British Telecom flack Simon Craven, on the UK phone monopoly’s plans to garner a shekel for every click on the Web through a patent on hyperlinks, Wired News, 20 June 2000

“We’re outsourcing the spidering and cataloging of the big search engine. With the number of people it requires, we can’t make a business out of spidering the entire Web.”

Lycos manager Lincoln Jackson, on the company’s abandonment of its proprietary Web-search technology (now, if it would only outsource brand development to someone else as well), Boston Globe, 19 June 2000