If Microsoft had tried to defend their actions, rather than denying them, then perhaps they could have made a stronger case. However, they denied them, and then their denials got discredited.
This, by the way, is only partially the fault of the lawyers. It is pretty clear that Microsoft was not listening to their lawyers and was not letting them handle the case. The greatest doctor in the world can't cure you if you refuse to take your medicine. I leave it for the legal experts to decide whether or not Sullivan and Cromwell should have refused to take the case or quit it once they found out that Microsoft wasn't going to follow their recommendations.
I've been busy and stayed away from this thread for a while. The fact is, and I've been saying this for months, is that Microsoft lost the case the moment that Reno declared the lawsuit--it was just a question of how much they were going to lose, so they should just settle. If they settled early, they would have gotten off with some more agreements with the DOJ, perhaps a bit more strongly enforced, and some loss of face. Now, no reporter in the Western World will believe any press anouncement of theirs for years. They may lose a great deal of control over the code to their OS, they are going to be liable for many billions of dollars in lawsuits, they will not attract the best and brightest like they used to, and they may even have to sell off divisions at cut-rate prices.
And don't think that tying up the courts in appeals is going to do much of anything. In case anyone still doesn't get it, this is the *government* we're talking about taking on Microsoft. The politics of the situation has moved decidedly against Microsoft-- nobody will defend them now. So even if Microsoft has some legal trickery up their sleeve, the government will just move to the legislative branch to fix things.
You can spread butter on Microsoft cuz their toast. |
