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

To: rudedog who wrote (40843)	4/3/2000 7:52:00 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

rudedog - is the ruling what you expected? It was a little harsher than I expected, pretty much no leeway on msft's side here.

To: rudedog who wrote (40843)	4/4/2000 4:15:00 PM
From: William C. Spaulding	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

I thought the discounts only applied to the operating system. I'll check on that. It's true, I don't really know what the exact agreement was between the OEMs and Microsoft (since they were kept secret! I wonder why!). In any case, if the OEMs did get a large discount by taking all of Microsoft's products for every machine sold, then it still has the same effect as predatory pricing. The whole point to antitrust laws is to promote competition, which in turn, promotes innovation and lower prices. Is there anyone here at all who really believes that there is any competition that would cause Microsoft to even consider lowering their prices. I can't honestly believe that there is anyone here that really believes that. It's just too obvious.

To: rudedog who wrote (40843)	4/4/2000 5:05:00 PM
From: William C. Spaulding	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

I checked the consent decree: usdoj.gov It only covers the operating system, although I did find 1 interesting tidbit. Although the emphasis is clearly on operating systems, it would seem to imply that Microsoft did coerce the licensing of its other products, and/or that it prohibited OEMs from distributing non-Microsoft software, either by the terms of the agreement itself, or by some other incentive, such as discounts. Like I said, because the agreements are secret, we can't know the exact details, but, nonetheless, the effect is the same as predatory pricing. E. Microsoft shall not enter into any License Agreement in which the terms of that agreement are expressly or impliedly conditioned upon: (1) the licensing of any other Covered Product, Operating System Software product or other product (provided, however, that this provision in and of itself shall not be construed to prohibit Microsoft from developing integrated products); or (2) the OEM not licensing, purchasing, using or distributing any non-Microsoft product. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) ) MICROSOFT CORPORATION, ) CIVIL ACTION NO. 94-1564 ) Defendant. ) ) FINAL JUDGMENT WHEREAS Plaintiff, United States of America, having filed its Complaint in this action on July 15, 1994, and Plaintiff and Defendant, by their respective attorneys, having consented to the entry of this Final Judgment without trial or adjudication of any issue of fact or law; and without this Final Judgment constituting any evidence or admission by any party with respect to any issue of fact or law; NOW, THEREFORE, before any testimony is taken, and without trial or adjudication of any issue of fact or law, and upon consent of the parties, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED as follows: ... II. DEFINITIONS 1. "Covered Product(s)" means the binary code of (i) MS-DOS 6.22, (ii) Microsoft Windows 3.11, (iii) Windows for Workgroups 3.11, (iv) predecessor versions of the aforementioned products, (v) the product currently code-named "Chicago," and (vi) successor versions of or products marketed as replacements for the aforementioned products, whether or not such successor versions or replacement products could also be characterized as successor versions or replacement products of other Microsoft Operating System Software products that are made available (a) as stand-alone products to OEMs pursuant to License Agreements, or (b) as unbundled products that perform Operating System Software functions now embodied in the products listed in subsections (i) through (v). The term "Covered Products" shall not include "Customized" versions of the aforementioned products developed by Microsoft; nor shall it apply to Windows NT Workstation and its successor versions, or Windows NT Advanced Server. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------