Cheryl,
Security issues were not even part of the case and will not go away if there is a breakup so I have no idea what you are trying to say here. The case, as presented, is already out of date. The government has enough trouble getting the mail to my door without stepping into the technology arena. This is truly a sad day for America, when success is punished. It is also a sad commentary that our present administration allowed the DOJ to be used by Barksdale,Ellison(competitors) to further their own respective causes. I honestly do not believe MSFT was treated fairly and also believe(perhaps naively so) that truth will prevail in the appeals court. The truth here is that while many of MSFT's practices were questionable, they were merely that, and not grounds for breaking up a company. Rhetoric aside, nearly all of the allegations of MSFT are practiced daily in technology by many companies.
BK
Microsoft Ruling May Distance Cos.
By CLIFF EDWARDS, AP Technology Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Much of the high-tech industry has been gradually distancing itself from Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) since the software giant's legal troubles began, and that tendency is likely to accelerate regardless of whether a breakup is upheld on appeal.
While still an industry powerhouse, Microsoft's name no longer carries the weight it once did because operating systems have become less crucial components in the increasingly important business of getting the Internet into everything from computers to cellphones to automobiles.
``As new applications are being built for the Internet, people are seeing the tremendous benefits of being able to provide choice,'' said Matthew Szulik, chief executive of Red Hat Inc. (NasdaqNM:RHAT - news), a company that makes a brand of Linux software, a key challenger for Microsoft's family of Windows operating systems.
Speak your mind
Discuss this story with other people.
[Start a Conversation]
(Requires Yahoo! Messenger)
Unlike Microsoft's proprietary operating system, Linux is free to developers, can be downloaded from the Internet at no cost and is already widely used on many of the servers that power the World Wide Web.
Not surprisingly, many of Microsoft's traditional allies and closest business partners reacted cautiously Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's scathing rebuke of Microsoft and order calling for splitting up the company.
``It's our view that it could - and the emphasis is on could - represent a significant change for this industry,'' said spokesman Chuck Mulloy at giant chipmaker Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news), which analysts say stands to become either one of the biggest winners or losers in any Microsoft breakup, depending on how it plays its cards.
``We're confident that the industry will adapt as it has in the past,'' added Mulloy.
Intel has married its best-selling familiy of computer chips to Microsoft's operating systems, but is also quick to adapt to other industry trends.
Many equipment manufacturers already are seeking alternatives to Microsoft's software because the Redmond, Wash.-based company zealously guards the secrets of its programming and does not allow others to tinker with its codes to fit their own needs.
``It appears as if we've maybe reached another stage in this matter, but not necessarily the end-point,'' said Dell Computer spokesman T.R. Reid. ``We'll take care of the business of today and leave the speculation to others.''
Just this week, a San Francisco company called Collab.Net, which brings technology workers together with so-called developers of ``open-source'' software such as Linux, announced it has received $35 million in funding from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Oracle and Sun Microsystems, among others.
Another investor in that company is Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape Communications, the Web browser innovator swallowed up by America Online after losing a bruising battle for dominance with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
That battle was the centerpiece of the Justice Department's case contending Microsoft used its monopoly power to stifle competition.
Andreessen declined comment Wednesday through a spokesman, as did America Online.
But former Netscape chief executive James Barksdale said Microsoft still ``doesn't understand how abusive they are of their monopoly position.''
``Microsoft has crossed the line, and I think this is the only type of remedy that would keep them from the doing it again,'' Barksdale said.
Still, analyst Rob Enderle, who follows Microsoft for research firm Giga Information Group, said a breakup of the company could harm the entire U.S. technology industry.
His reasoning: European and Asian companies such as Sony Electronics and Nokia already are slightly ahead of the competition in developing standards for emerging wireless technologies that could dominate in coming years.
``There's likely to be a great deal of disarray, and we're creating an opportunity for foreign companies to accelerate their efforts, step in and deploy the technologies that people want to buy,'' Enderle said. |
