Michael Robertson: Red-eye to Amsterdam

Subject: Microsoft Corp
To: CEO Steve Ballmer
Cc: Stefan Bernhad
Cc: Mr. Alfred Meijboom

Mr. Ballmer,

After I emailed you about two weeks ago about verbal threats made to some LindowsOS' Dutch resellers, those threats were quickly withdrawn, according to local newspapers who reported on them. I had assumed that all of this was the work of an overzealous local Microsoft employee. However, recently I received documents from attorneys working for Microsoft from both the Netherlands and Sweden, accusing us of infringing Microsoft's trademarks and threatening us with more lawsuits. In addition, and even more troubling, we also received copies of threatening letters that Microsoft sent to many of our small business partners in those countries threatening to sue them if they continue to sell our products. These new actions seem to be a concerted multi-country campaign designed, approved, and commissioned by someone with authority within Microsoft corporate headquarters in Redmond in an attempt to stifle competition.

None of these letters or communications identify even a single person who is confused into believing Lindows.com or its LindowsOS product are in any way affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. These letters, sent almost two years after Lindows.com first starting doing business in these countries, but on the eve of our long-expected trial in Seattle, appear focused solely on taxing Lindows.com resources. We have heard that Microsoft executives are saying that they will bury us with many lawsuits in other European countries as a business strategy. These actions have nothing to do with confusing trademarks, but rather, appear designed only to protect Microsoft's longstanding monopoly from a very small competitor.

You have tied Lindows.com up in expensive litigation in the United States since 2001 because you claim exclusive ownership of the generic word "windows." The Court has so far found that there are serious issues surrounding the validity of your trademark, and denied Microsoft's repeated requests for an injunction. After years of briefing and discovery, a jury will finally hear and decide the issue less than three months from now. We have every intention of honoring the eventual outcome of that case. If we lose, we plan on changing our name, not just in the United States, but globally. Initiating identical legal proceedings in other countries when the issue will soon be resolved with a trial in the United States is nothing more than a dirty tactic meant to block the adoption of Linux and to harm Lindows.com.

We don't have offices outside of North America, but we do have a handful of small business partners for whom we will do our best to support in the face of your intimidation. Yes, your threats frighten many of these small companies who do not have legal departments or resources to hire lawyers to defend themselves. These small companies are selling our products to other small business and to consumers looking for affordable software. We are committed to supporting our partners and users wherever they are in the world.

Two years ago, Swedish and Dutch computer users started adopting LindowsOS, making them some of the earliest users of our software. Resellers have been operational for more than a year. Your decision to take action now, two years after initiating legal proceedings in the United States is disconcerting. We repeatedly emphasize the obvious -- that Lindows.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft in any way -- on the Lindows.com website, in just about every public statement, and on all product packaging and materials. Consumers purchase LindowsOS because they want a choice, because they want an alternative to Microsoft's products, not because they think they are buying a Microsoft product.

Because Microsoft has no evidence of consumer confusion and is suffering absolutely no harm by the limited sales in the Netherlands and Sweden, I am asking you to postpone legal action for a few months to give time for the U.S. action to conclude. The trial is set to begin on March 1st, 2004, after which there will be considerably more clarity on this issue.