tuCloud to Launch DesktopsOnDemand to then Go Bust
Super interesting article over at ars technica which does a great job of providing a full overview of the current situation and adds some very interesting new information about the press release that tuCloud had recently sent out (and was covered here).
From ars technica:
“Unless I receive a lawyer’s letter from Microsoft clarifying their position and threatening legal action, I will build a service to match OnLive’s and compete directly with them in the form of DesktopsOnDemand,” Bule told us. “Any other business that launches that platform will get sued by Microsoft, which is kind of what we’re hoping because we want to have that conversation with them in court.”
and adds this later on from Bule:
“If I had a billion dollars in the bank I’d take them to court tomorrow,” Bule said. Instead, DesktopsOnDemand is how he will “provoke Microsoft by proxy.”
“If they sue that business, I’ll appear in court and shout and scream ‘antitrust, anticompetitive behavior,’” Bule said. “I don’t think they want that because they can’t justify their licensing.”
Bule says tuCloud and other companies like it get calls from Microsoft two or three times a year to audit compliance with licensing rules. While no one seems to know for sure how OnLive’s licensing arrangement with Microsoft works, Bule says he is suspicious of the connection between the companies because its CEO and founder is Steve Perlman, a former Microsoft division president. Perlman sold a previous company, WebTV Networks, to Microsoft, and founded a company, Moxi, that later merged with Digeo, a company founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
DesktopsOnDemand will be able to serve up to 1,000 desktops. However, Bule said the company will have a limited amount of money, and once it runs out he will let it go bankrupt.
We encourage you to read the entire article over at are technica, it’s definitely worth the read.