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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (30453)	10/6/1999 4:30:00 PM
From: pat pasquale	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

RPT-Congressman says break up Microsoft if guilty Reuters Story - October 06, 1999 13:46 (adds background comments of analysts) By David Lawsky WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Tom Campbell, a U.S. congressman and expert in antitrust law, said Tuesday that if Microsoft Corp. is found liable in its landmark antitrust case it should be broken into pieces. Campbell, a Republican from California's Silicon Valley and a professor at Stanford Law School who sometimes teaches antitrust, said that he was not prejudging the outcome of the Microsoft case. But Campbell said he had thought about what should happen if the judge did find broad liability. "The only remedy that makes sense is structural," Campbell said in an interview. "That is, to separate the operating system from the software development." Campbell said he would also be open to hearing arguments on breaking up the company into two or three identical pieces, although he was less certain that would be workable. The Justice Department and 19 states have alleged that Microsoft holds and has abused monopoly power in the market for its Windows operating system that runs personal computers. The government alleges that Microsoft has used its monopoly power to cling to its monopoly and to expand it to other areas of business. Microsoft argues that it is not a monopoly. The Justice Department reached an agreement with Microsoft in 1995 that was supposed to solve supposed abuses. But in 1997 the government went to court and charged that Microsoft had violated the agreement. Campbell said, "Any conduct remedy can be easily evaded." One way to make a conduct remedy work is to apply close oversight, but Campbell said that was a bad alternative. "I don't want a federal court or, heaven forbid, an Internet Commerce Commission" overseeing Microsoft, Campbell said. Campbell said that no one can know the extent of Microsoft's liability, if any, until District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues his "findings of fact," which may come as soon as this month. If Jackson determines that Microsoft's business practices are broad violations of the antitrust law, then Campbell said it would be appropriate to hold a remedies hearing to explore what should be done. Two analysts held similar views in interviews last month. They said it would be preferable to break up Microsoft, rather than regulate it. "Significant regulation makes investors get real nervous real quick," said Erik Olbeter, a senior Internet analyst for the Schwab Capital Markets and Trading Group in Washington. Steve Shepich of Olde Discount agreed and said that heavy regulation "would be bad for the industry." Olbeter said that, in contrast, markets would be "able to figure out very quickly the value of a divestiture." Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (30453)	10/6/1999 5:35:00 PM
From: taxman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

"Dell...short fall" doesn't look like it happened this afternoon. however as a dell long a word to the wise is sufficient. i'm planning on hedging a bit. my gut feel is that they will disappoint this time. still like it long term. thanks. regards