With MSFT's Windows controlling 95% of desktop ..
...MSFT charged IBM a pollution fee for OS2:
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" Microsoft quintupled royalties for IBM to $220 million after the company surprised Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates by refusing to drop a rival operating system, an IBM witness testified Thursday.
International Business Machines Corp.'s Garry Norris, who will be a key rebuttal witness for the government when Microsoft Corp.'s antitrust trial resumes next week, answered questions from Microsoft lawyers for three hours under oath at a deposition in Raleigh.
The questioning elicited bits of a tangled story about a bitter falling out among the two giants of the computer industry in 1994 and 1995, offering details of charges, threats and retaliation as Microsoft fought for the dominance of its Windows operating system over IBM's 0S/2 system. "
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dailynews.yahoo.com
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David then stood on Goliath's chest and ... , well here's what IBM's Norris said happened:
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" Norris said he was told by Microsoft, ''As long as you're shipping competitive products...you will suffer,'' in pricing terms, conditions and support programs.
For example, IBM paid $40 million in royalties in 1995, but when it came time to renegotiate the company wound up paying Microsoft $220 million in 1996, he said.
In addition, Microsoft set a host of other costly conditions, such as requiring IBM to redesign its screen and make hardware changes.
And simple tests that IBM needed from Microsoft took 60 to 90 days instead of a week or two, he said. "
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IBM is not without sin , but IBM feels MSFT's monopoly sinning requires corrective therapy .
Jim K. |
