Wow HN, talk about blaming the victim here. I guess Plurk was totally asking for it?
They either need to sue MS if they really think they've been aggrieved or get over it.
Moaning on their blog accomplishes absolutely nothing positive and has started to lose them sympathy.
See the series which ran on steveblank.com about a competitor stealing their IP which was prominently featured here as an example about how to use adversity in a constructive manner.
part1: http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-id...
part2: http://steveblank.com/2009/12/07/someone-stole-my-startup-id...
part3: http://steveblank.com/2009/12/10/someone-stole-my-startup-id...
Dwelling on adversity with a "woe is me" attitude is fundamentally antithetical to the entrepreneur/startup mentality as evidenced by the hostility they're starting to encounter in these comments.
A hard-working craftsman is selling his goods at market, when a thief in servant's livery grabs something from his stall and runs away. Leaving his son to guard the stall, he pursues the thief, following him to the house of a rich man, where guards forbid him to enter.
He wails at the loss of his precious goods, attracting the sympathy of a crowd who have followed the chase out of curiosity. Hearing the commotion, the rich man comes to the gate and is embarrassed. He fires the dishonest servant and apologizes fulsomely to the craftsman, praising his handiwork.
Now, should the humble craftsman berate the rich man in front of a crowd for the fact of his poor hiring decision, or compliment him on his wealth and taste? Would it help if the rich man was reputed to have a beautiful daughter with a substantial dowry, who had been unable to find a suitable husband?