Hello Friends of MPE:

I'd like to offer a point of history, before I suggest a new talking point.

First, the point of history. Results of the 2003 OpenMPE election
were released to the public on March 25, 2003. The setting was the
Valley Forge, Pa. OpenMPE meeting at the Interex e3000 Solutions
Symposium. Jon Backus provided a detailed breakdown (by way of a
printed handout) of all voters' ballots. The voters names were
shielded by using their membership numbers. A total of 39 votes was
cast. Yes, a handout at one meeting, attended by less than 30 people,
isn't broad distribution. But last year's vote results were made
public.

This year's election included some controversy over the approach to
HP's NDA request. One candidate opposed the NDA without some
re-negotiating of it, with the aim of earning OpenMPE more in
exchange for its compliance with an NDA. Other candidates did not
oppose this idea. An outgoing board member, censured for his act of
publicizing an HP e-mail to the board, suggested the results might
show if voters' sentiment supported a No-NDA position.

Here's the new talking point. What do the community members on this
list think about HP's April 9 communique? Isn't this more important
than the details of an NDA? HP has actually said something new on the
OpenMPE mission for the first time in more than a year. Is anyone
encouraged? Or does the offer of cash to OpenMPE and a budget item at
HP mean very little to you?

I've been surprised at how little response HP's communique has
generated. I've got the results of the election here, and frankly,
they're not that interesting. If the board asks, I'll report my
results. But I don't think the numbers say much that is meaningful
about NDAs. That NDA might serve a useful purpose for the MPE user,
if I can believe what I'm hearing from HP. If the MPE community is
lucky, it will be able to steer clear of the new Hewlett Packard
Development Corp. in these negotiations. HPDC, the steward of all
that HP has built, is likely to drive a much harder bargain for the
rights to MPE. Conducting negotiations in the open about MPE rights,
as the no-NDA constituency wants, seems likely to incite HPDC to
demand a voice at the table. The more lawyers at that table, the less
the 3000 community seems likely to earn. Yes, it seems unfair to have
a platform cancelled, then to have to petition HP for the right to
keep using the product. But MPE is HP's property, and no amount of
customers' anger -- and there's a substantial load of that, even
today -- will change those property rights.

I'm a lot more interested in whether HP's latest message gives you
any hope, and what you think will make a difference in deciding your
3000's future. Despite what you may have heard, at least a plurality
of 3000 owners have not yet decided how to compute in 2007. Your
organization is as forward-looking as any in the 3000 community.
Instead of looking back at a nondisclosure arrangement that appears
essential to HP's intellectual property negotiations, why not look
ahead -- to what you will need from HP and OpenMPE to continue as an
MPE user?

--

Ron Seybold, Editor In Chief
The 3000 NewsWire
Independent Information to Maximize Your HP 3000
http://www.3000newswire.com
512.331.0075 -- [log in to unmask]