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

To: The Duke of URL© who wrote (37979)	2/16/2000 9:43:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Respond to of 74651

REDMOND, Wash., Feb 16, 2000 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A lobbyist for Microsoft Corp. peppered lawmakers on Capitol Hill with e-mails, pushing for a settlement in the company's federal antitrust case and lambasting the U.S. Department of Justice for discussing the possibility of a company breakup. In the e-mails, sent Friday by Microsoft lobbyist Kerry Knott, the company said it was willing to accept a 'common sense' settlement, but accused the Justice Department of fronting for the company's competitors. 'Their reason is clear enough -- slow Microsoft down with the equivalent of a regulatory death sentence while the high-tech economy whizzes by on Internet time,' Knott wrote. Representatives from Microsoft and the Justice Department continue to meet in Chicago with U.S. Appeals Court Judge Richard Posner, appointed as mediator by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who is presiding over the case. Microsoft President and CEO Steve Ballmer, in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, would not comment on the status of the talks, but said the e-mail was simply the company's way of keeping lawmakers informed. 'There's a potential for (lawmakers) either to look into these issues, or not to look into these issues,' Ballmer said. 'We believe the laws are fine, and we want to make sure that the people who represent our interests, our shareholders' interests, our employees' interests, our partners' interests -- that those people are well educated on our point of view.' In the e-mail, Microsoft cited its own friend-of-the-court briefs, filed to help Jackson determine if Microsoft violated antitrust law, and also cited Jackson's one-time special master, Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig. The e-mail also cited public opinion polls, at least one of which was commissioned by a pro-Microsoft lobbying group, which said Americans did not favor breaking up the company or a great deal of federal oversight or regulation. The Justice Department would not comment on the e-mail. According to media reports, the DOJ is seeking to split the company up, either along its various product lines, or into two to three different companies -- dubbed 'Baby Bills' after Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates -- each with a full share of Microsoft's products. Copyright 1999 Associated Press, All rights reserved.

To: The Duke of URL© who wrote (37979)	2/16/2000 9:44:00 PM
From: taxman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Microsoft Windows 2000 May Clash With Chinese Rules, AWSJ Says quote.bloomberg.com regards

To: The Duke of URL© who wrote (37979)	2/16/2000 9:46:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Respond to of 74651

And we really wonder 'why' the stock sinks nearky daily-- I wonder if Jackson shorted,, LOL!!! Feb 16, 2000 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Microsoft takes center stage in two very high-profile events in a matter of days: its long-awaited Windows 2000 rollout Thursday, and final arguments before a federal judge in its landmark antitrust trial next Tuesday. Microsoft's reputation, product quality, and business practices are on the line in both its Windows 2000 release and the final courtroom step in the Justice Department's lawsuit. The Redmond, Wash., software giant has spent $1 billion and more than three years to market its latest operating system, which will target the lucrative large corporate and server markets. Unlike the environment at its last major release, Windows 98, Microsoft now has competition, however nascent, from upstart Linux and perennial but more focused rival, Sun. Innovation is also moving to platforms that may commoditize the operating system. The Gartner Group has forecast that companies will adopt Windows 2000 slowly because of concerns over compatibility with existing software, the cost of updating sprawling networks, and the size and scale of those networks Attorneys for Microsoft and Justice argue their case one final time before U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson next Tuesday, unless there is movement toward settlement. Jackson will rule if Microsoft violated federal antitrust law sometime after that. He agreed in his findings of fact with most of the government's charges that Microsoft had abused its operating system monopoly to extend its dominance to Internet browsers. "Win200 has moved forward and has not been influenced at all by the case," said Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan. "Win2000 is a reliable, scalable operating system that our customers have asked for and we have delivered. It's a different issue from the case," he said. It would be in its competitors' interests if Microsoft stopped innovating, he said. "Win2000 is what we're betting the company on. The reality is that things change so quickly that if Microsoft doesn't continue to innovate and integrate capabilities, we'll be left behind. This just reinforces Microsoft's position that the market changes so fast," Cullinan said. "It's fair to say the litigation casts a shadow over Win 2000," said William Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. If there is a guilty verdict, the question is how deep into Microsoft's product line will a remedial solution penetrate, he said. The government says Microsoft is extremely adaptable and could perpetuate its dominant position by executing variations of its previous Windows strategy. "In a remedy phase, you have to do something that looks out to the future and at new products. New product development is likely to be implicated in any remedy," he said. It might help a little how Microsoft conducts itself in marketing Windows 2000. "But self-restraint is not going to satisfy the government's concerns," Kovacic said. "It's hard to imagine the litigation will be resolved in way that does not influence marketing and development, including Windows 2000," he said. A major implication of the government's stand is that an acceptable remedy would shape how Microsoft can sell new products. The solutions would affect the business tactics the company can use, he said. "It's hard to imagine a remedy that would not reach into the present and touch Windows 2000 and other products in the pipeline," Kovacic said. The antitrust case will not affect whether people buy Windows 2000, said Mike Pettit, executive director of the Project to Promote Competition & Innovation, or ProComp, an industry group that supports the Justice charges. But the case has hurt the company's overall reputation, he said. "People are now more aware of the campaign of predatory acts they engaged in, more aware of claims about why their software products don't work a little better, and what kind of bugs are in there that I don't know about," Pettit said. If Jackson finds Microsoft guilty, he may look at Windows 2000 during a remedy phase for any additional technical tricks embedded in the software that will allow them to expand their monopoly into the server market, Pettit said. He also may watch how Microsoft conducts itself to advance its latest operating system.