A number of people have emailed me asking for some background on the negotiations with Microsoft. Here is a PowerPoint file from a meeting held in January 2002. It outlines the success RealNames was having. It includes 2002 forecasts. It also looks at the consequences to various stakeholders should Microsoft choose not to renew the contract.
As you can see from the final two slides, at this time Microsoft were advising us to sell the company. They had made clear that if we did so we would be able to expect ongoing service through the browser. The goal of this presentation was to explain why that would be a poor outcome for all concerned.
