Microsoft Statement on Proposed Acquisition of DoubleClick by Google

Microsoft has released a statement from Senior Vice President and General Counsel Brad Smith on the proposed acquisition of DoubleClick by Google.

REDMOND, Wash., April 15, 2007 – Microsoft has released the following statement by Brad Smith, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation, on the proposed acquisition of DoubleClick by Google:

“This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns in that it gives the Google DoubleClick combination unprecedented control in the delivery of online advertising, and access to a huge amount of consumer information by tracking what customers do online. We think this merger deserves close scrutiny from regulatory authorities to ensure a competitive online advertising market.”

Microsoft Statement on Filing of Response to the European Commission's Statement of Objections on Protocol Pricing

Microsoft confirmed that it has submitted today its response to the European Commission’s Statement of Objections of March 1, 2007 concerning the pricing of licenses for the Workgroup Server Protocol Program.

BRUSSELS, April 23, 2007 — Microsoft confirmed that it has submitted today its response to the European Commission’s Statement of Objections (SO) of March 1, 2007 concerning the pricing of licenses for the Workgroup Server Protocol Program (WSPP).

The WSPP was created to comply with the Commission’s March 2004 decision. The decision ordered Microsoft to make its Windows Server protocol technologies available on “reasonable and non-discriminatory” terms. The current issue focuses on what Microsoft’s prices must be in order to qualify as “reasonable”.

Microsoft also confirmed that it was not requesting an oral hearing relating to the Statement of Objections. Brad Smith, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Microsoft Corporation, said: “We continue to seek to resolve these recent issues. We need greater clarity on what prices the Commission wants us to charge, and we believe that is more likely to come from a constructive conversation than from a formal hearing.”

Interop Las Vegas 2007

Interop Las Vegas
May 20–25, 2007
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89119
http://www.interop.com/lasvegas

Imagine Cup 2007

As the world’s premier student technology competition, Imagine Cup is one way Microsoft Corp. is encouraging young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world – today. The Imagine Cup, now in its fifth year, is an example of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential commitment to create social and economic opportunity through programs and products that transform education, foster local innovation, and enable jobs and opportunities worldwide. More than 100,000 students from over 100 countries entered the 2007 competition.

This year, Microsoft is calling on young programmers, artists and technologists around the world to “Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all.” The company is challenging students to bring their ideas to life in a multifaceted competition composed of nine categories, each catering to a different technological or artistic affinity. Students’ work reflects valuable, real-world solutions and gives them the opportunity to compete for cash prizes. When coupled with the power of technology, the potential of young people is unlimited, and the ideas they develop for Imagine Cup could significantly improve the lives of millions of people around the world.

The 2007 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals will be held in Seoul, South Korea, from Aug. 5-11, 2007. The 112 teams of finalists from all over the world are expected to travel to Seoul to compete.The projects created and owned by Imagine Cup teams – from software design to short films – express creativity, innovation and real-world applicability.

On June 26, the winning student teams from 10 regional finals – Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, North America, Poland and the United Kingdom – visited Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., to share their software applications with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, Corporate Vice President Sanjay Parthasarathy and Corporate Vice President S. Somasegar.

Microsoft to Acquire Parlano

Microsoft strengthens unified communications portfolio with leading enterprise group chat provider.

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 30, 2007 — Today Microsoft Corp. announced it has agreed to acquire Chicago-based Parlano, maker of MindAlign, a leading application for enterprise group chat. Microsoft expects to add Parlano’s group chat functionality as a new feature of Microsoft^® Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft’s server and client software for presence, instant messaging, conferencing and VoIP.

“Parlano has been successful in meeting the rigorous communications needs of companies in financial services and other vertical markets,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. “Parlano’s expertise and technology, added to Microsoft’s unified communications offering, will deliver customers the most complete presence, instant messaging and group chat solution on the market.”

Founded in 2000, Parlano offers group chat technology that enables people to carry on topic-specific, multiparty instant messaging discussions that persist over time. Parlano’s software is used by companies in a variety of industries, including financial services, call centers and technology, to conduct ongoing business-critical conversations.

“Parlano has helped many organizations enhance operations, improve service delivery and increase sales through more effective ongoing group communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing,” said Nick Fera, chairman and chief executive officer of Parlano. “The resulting competitive advantage will be further enhanced as we bring Parlano technology together with Microsoft Office Communications Server and Office Communicator.”

Because Microsoft’s unified communications technologies are based on standards and open protocols, Parlano has been able to create its technology architecture from the ground up to integrate with Microsoft’s unified communications offerings. Currently, Parlano’s MindAlign application integrates with Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Office Communications Server 2007.

After the deal closes, Microsoft will add the group chat functionality to Office Communications Server and Office Communicator, and plans to offer group chat as part of the standard client access license for Office Communications Server 2007 Software Assurance customers. Current Parlano customers, many of whom already use Microsoft unified communications software, will have increased access to the breadth of Microsoft unified communications software.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. The deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2007. Following the closing of the acquisition, members of the Parlano team are expected to join the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., campus. Parlano is a privately held company and was represented by Revolution Partners and Bell, Boyd & Lloyd LLP.

About Parlano

Parlano is a leading provider of persistent group chat solutions. Parlano’s MindAlign solutions deliver instant, intelligent and persistent group and topic-based messaging to securely connect employees, customers and partners with the right people, information and context to execute business processes more efficiently. Some of the largest companies in the world rely on Parlano to utilize group chat as a strategic business tool. Backed by Longworth Venture Partners and Oak Investment Partners, Parlano supports its customers and partners from its worldwide headquarters in Chicago, Illinois and EMEA headquarters in London.