Nothing I have read in the so-called "liberal" press is as damaging to MSFT as Judge Jackson's own words, and he is well known as a Republican with conservative leanings. His findings of fact, regardless of how the rest of the trial turns out, will provide a basis for big time lawsuits from companies like IBM, Apple, Sun, and AOL (via Netscape), whose business was damaged. Furthermore, Judge Bork, who is about as conservative as anyone in the field, has already posited a legal precedent justifying a ruling against MSFT.
Right now, the investment community in general is saying very little against a company that is widely held by institutional investors. But, speaking as an investment advisor running the oldest online investment service, and also as a person trained in computer and related sciences, I believe the factfinding document will ultimately be extremely costly for MSFT. I can see claims upwards of $2 billion . . . |
