[MSFT being investegated RE recient internet video company investments]
Microsoft's investment in Apple gets U.S. scrutiny
WASHINGTON (August 20, 1997 04:58 a.m. EDT) - The U.S. Justice
Department said early Wednesday it was studying Microsoft Corp.'s $150
million investment in Apple Computer Inc. to determine whether it could
squlech competition in the technology.
"The Justice Department is looking into Microsoft's planned investment in
Apple," John Russell, a department spokesman, said in reply to a query from
Reuters.
But Russell could not confirm a Washington Post report that cited an
unnamed Justice Department spokeswoman as saying that federal antitrust
regulators also were examining three recent deals between Microsoft and
smaller companies that have developed technology to transmit video images
over the Internet.
On Tuesday Microsoft said it was once again the receiving end of a Justice
Department investigation -- this time into the software giant's multiple
investments in streaming-media companies.
"Microsoft is seeking to promote compatibility and inter-operability among
streaming-media products from all vendors, which will benefit customers and
further intensify competition," explained William Neukom, the company's
senior vice president for law and corporate affairs. "We are confident that the
Justice Department will conclude that competition is robust once it reviews
the facts."
Microsoft took its first step into streaming last year when it picked up a 5
percent stake in VDONet. A more substantial commitment to the technology
came in July when the company purchased 10 percent of Progressive
Networks, maker of RealAudio and RealVideo. Then, earlier this month,
Microsoft plunged headfirst into the stream with its full acquisition of video
concern VXtreme.
Although a Microsoft spokesman could not confirm this was so, "The Wall
Street Journal" reported that the Justice Department was also looking into
the software company's recent purchase of a 7 percent stake in Apple -- a
largely symbolic deal intended to signal a new era of detente in the computer
world. The grounds for regulators looking askance on the Apple holding are
not yet clear. |
