Oct, 2001 : Microsoft Retracts Statements About Novell

📅 October 16, 2001 - Novell, Inc. (novell.com), a leader in e-business solutions and net services software, announced yesterday that Microsoft Corporation (microsoft.com) has agreed to stop the dissemination of statements about Novell that are the center of Novell's false advertising lawsuit filed Oct. 1 against Microsoft. Microsoft has also agreed to send a retraction letter along with corrective information of Novell's choosing to the same Novell customers who received the original Microsoft "Server Crunch" marketing piece containing what Novell asserts are false and misleading statements about Novell. Novell will continue to pursue the lawsuit to recover damages.

In response to Novell's motion for a temporary restraining order to prohibitMicrosoft from further disseminating false statements about Novell,Microsoft entered into a stipulation on the record before the U.S. DistrictCourt in Utah in which Microsoft agreed to stop distribution of thestatements in question in any form or media. Microsoft also agreed to sendan amended correction letter to the recipients of the original Microsoftmarketing piece. Microsoft's correction letter will include the followingexcerpt:
"Contrary to the statements made about Novell on the package by Microsoft,Novell has advised Microsoft that it is growing and expanding its softwarebusiness, while adding significant resources to its existing consultingservices business. Accordingly, Microsoft retracts its statements thatNovell will not fully support NetWare, that NetWare has an 'expiration date'or that it is or will become 'obsolete,' and that NetWare will become costlyand time-consuming to maintain."
"We are pleased with today's developments because Microsoft represented to acourt of law that it will no longer disseminate the statements Novellcontends constitute false advertising, whether on the original marketingpiece in question or by any other means," said Joe LaSala, Novell seniorvice president and general counsel. "We are also satisfied with Microsoft'sagreement to send out an amended retraction to our customers. We believethis is recognition by Microsoft that its initial 'corrective action' wasinsufficient and shows Microsoft's initial attempt to correct its false andmisleading statements about Novell was half-hearted at best. While therevised retraction is a good beginning, it does not adequately redress theharm to Novell caused by Microsoft's campaign of false statements. We areanxious to move to the next phase of the litigation where discovery willbegin and we will put together our case for damages."
According to Microsoft, it sent the marketing mailer in August to some 3,000Novell customers. The piece, a box headlined "Microsoft Server Crunch,"contained false statements relative to the future of Novell's NetWareproduct, Novell's commitment to NetWare and its acquisition of CambridgeTechnology Partners, among other misleading and untrue statements. In fact,Novell says it is fully committed to NetWare and has future versions of theproduct in development. NetWare is Novell's flagship network operatingsystem and is widely regarded in the computer industry as the most reliableand secure platform on the market.
In related news, Novell, Inc. also announced yesterday the generalavailability of Novell iChain 2.0, the company's Web security software whichacts as the gatekeeper to network and application resources. iChain allowsorganizations to secure their Web environments, control user access to thoseenvironments and provide users single sign-on to virtually all Web-basedapplications and content. The software also minimizes corporate risk andexposure by securing virtual organizations that span employees, customers,partners and suppliers.