55 words at heart of Microsoft case news.com
But despite the strong focus on whether IE is one or two products, U.S. District Judge Thomas Jackson, the Washington jurist assigned to the case, is likely to consider a number of other factors in his decision, such as economic effect on consumers, antitrust attorney Ronald Katz said.
"It's hard for me to believe that the judge is just going to look at the one product/two product question without looking at what was the purpose of the decree," said Katz, a lawyer at Coudert Brothers in San Francisco. "I think he's going to look under that and try to put some flesh on this analysis."
Or, as I've said a few times, it's time to tell it to the judge. I haven't argued for any particular interpretation here, the closest I've come to saying anything about the legal issues is some wonderment about it being ok for Microsoft to go after Compaq for removing the sacred icon, while they'd be in trouble if they'd gone after Compaq for actually removing the program. And, of course, I'm continually bemused by people who are always saying what a great monopoly Microsoft is coming up with various arguments how Microsoft is absolutely, without a doubt, completely in the right here. Who knows. But remember, this is just one battle in a long war, and there are other antitrust investigations underway, on many fronts.
Cheers, Dan. |
