"Ballmer email to MSFT employees (from another thread):"
Message 13291218
What Ballmer told MS employees:
From an email sent out today.
Quote:
Over the past few days there has been a great deal of press coverage concerning the settlement discussions between
Microsoft and the Department of Justice and the States. I am sure many of you have been reading these news stories.
Many of these stories have been largely inaccurate, sometimes reporting that the case has been settled, other times
reporting that Microsoft's settlement proposals are "inadequate." Neither of these extremes are true. Given the nature of this
situation, most of the press coverage reporting on the supposed details of what is being discussed is also unreliable.
What is true is that we are still in talks with the government in an effort to resolve the case. Billg, with lots of help from
Paulma, Bobmu, Jimall and me, is focused on these efforts and we are working closely with our legal team. We have made,
and will continue to make, substantial proposals to settle this case. While we're very sure of our legal position and we're
prepared to take it all the way on appeal, we've learned that discretion is the better part of valor, so we are working very
hard to resolve the case through settlement. We believe we've put more on the table than the judicial process would
ultimately provide, even if we lost the case. Any settlement must preserve our ability to innovate and improve our products.
We do not know if these efforts will result in a settlement or not, but you can be sure that we are working hard and
creatively, and will continue to do so.
In the days ahead, we will see even more rumors and speculation about the settlement process. The federal Judge
mediating this process has ordered all parties to maintain absolute confidentiality about the substance and process of the
mediation effort, and we will continue to honor this obligation. But rest assured that we are working to try to reach a fair
settlement so we can put this case behind us and focus all our energy on building great software. As soon as there is
anything concrete to report, I will send you another email to let you know. Until then, you should take every rumor or
report about the mediation process with a big grain of salt |
