Microsoft wins another private antitrust
suit
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Bloomberg) - Microsoft Corp. said it has
won the dismissal of a fifth consumer class-action antitrust
lawsuit accusing the software giant of charging monopoly
prices for its Windows operating system.
The decision by a Kentucky state court judge is the latest in a
series of Microsoft legal victories on the ground that
consumers who didn't purchase the Windows software
directly from the company are not entitled to press antitrust
claims they were overcharged for the program that powers
95% of the world's personal computers.
Microsoft has successfully pointed to a 1977 Supreme Court
decision outlawing antitrust claims by indirect purchasers to
persuade state judges in Oregon, Hawaii, Nevada and Iowa to
dismiss similar suits. The issue could prove important to
Microsoft's defense of nearly 130 consumer cases filed in the
wake of a federal judge's finding that the software giant has
illegally defended its Windows monopoly for operating
software.
The software giant, which is appealing U.S. District Judge
Thomas Penfield Jackson's order to break the company in two
in a case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, will ask
the Supreme Court this week to send the case to a federal
appeals court here. Jackson, who ordered the breakup, granted
a government request to send Microsoft's appeal directly to
the high court, which can decide whether to consider the case.
The company is optimistic that Monday's decision by Judge
Judith McDonald-Burkman in Louisville will help the
company beat back the private lawsuits, Microsoft spokesman
Jim Cullinan said.
Most of the cases were filed on behalf of consumers, who
either obtained Windows when they purchased PCs or from
retailers. A U.S. judge in Baltimore who is overseeing
pre-trial proceedings in more than 30 cases filed in federal
courts around the country last month questioned whether any
of the claims would survive if he invoked the 1977 Illinois
Brick decision of the high court.
Under the Illinois Brick doctrine, computer manufacturers
such as Compaq Computer Corp. or Dell Computer Corp.,
that licensed Windows from Microsoft to install in the PCs
they ship to retailers, or directly to customers, could sue
Microsoft. So far, these companies have not chosen to press
such claims.
Fifteen states, including California, have passed laws allowing
consumer antitrust claims by indirect purchasers.
Shares of Microsoft dropped $1.69 to $70.63 in afternoon
trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. |
