“On the heels of Apple Computer's attempt to crack down on journalists for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets, some free-speech advocates are worried that Microsoft has launched a similar campaign.
In a Jan. 18 letter it said was issued on behalf of Microsoft, the law firm of Covington & Burling asked the publisher of tech-enthusiast site Engadget.com to remove screenshots of a forthcoming Microsoft operating-system release known as "Windows Mobile 2005." According to the request, Microsoft considers the images to contain "proprietary trade secret information belonging to Microsoft."
Microsoft also requested that two other Windows-focused sites, Neowin.net and Bink.nu, remove related information from their Web sites. Neowin was the first site to publish in early January the alleged screen shots and development schedule for Windows Mobile 2005.
Neowin and Bink removed the Windows Mobile 2005 information at Microsoft's request. (Neowin received a phone request from a Microsoft representative and Bink, an e-mail one from a "Microsoft Internet Investigator," site principal Steven Bink said.)
As of the time this article was published, Engadget publisher Weblogs Inc. still had not removed the Windows Mobile 2005 screen shots and information from its site.
Microsoft did not respond to questions from Microsoft Watch about whether it is stepping up its campaign to limit the publication of information it considers trade secrets.… ”
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1753658,00.asp
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