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To: Bob who wrote (23234)	4/5/2000 12:40:00 PM
From: Bob	Respond to of 57584

marlinman: IMO MSFT will be able to drag an appeal out until next year. The key then is whether we get a Republican President. If we do, I believe a Republican administration will overturn and rule in MSFT's favor. bobp April 5 2000 UNITED STATES Gates pins hopes on Bush win FROM BEN MACINTYRE IN WASHINGTON BILL GATES emerged bloodied but unbowed yesterday from the anti-trust ruling against his company. Publicly he announced that he would appeal against the judgment and privately he hopes that George W. Bush wins the presidential election and eases the legal pressure on Microsoft. Microsoft shares dropped again in early trading yesterday, the day after Federal Judge Thomas Jackson found the company guilty of abusing its monopoly position to crush rivals and to harm consumers. In the next stage of the marathon legal battle, Judge Jackson will begin to consider what remedies to impose on Microsoft. He could impose drastic sanctions on the company, including breaking it up, but Mr Gates is gambling that time, political change and the speed of technological development will limit the impact of any punishment. "Microsoft placed an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive fortune, thereby effectively guaranteeing its continued dominance," Judge Jackson wrote in a ruling that condemned the "deliberate assault" by Microsoft on rivals in the Internet browser market. Microsoft lost 15 per cent of its value, or $80 billion (œ50 billion), on the day of the ruling. Shares had dropped a further 2.5 per cent yesterday. The verdict was a decisive win for the Justice Department but Mr Gates, a keen poker player, holds some strong cards in his hand. "We believe we have a strong case on appeal," he declared an hour after the ruling. The appeals system is slow, whereas the high-tech industry is developing at breathtaking speed. Many analysts say that Microsoft will strengthen its market position by building software for the booming arena of Internet commerce while the lawyers slog through the courts in a process taking months or even years. "Clearly Microsoft decided to buy time. They figure that time is on their side," Robert Litan, an economist and former Justice Department prosecutor, said. The political climate could improve significantly after the next election. No company executive will say so out loud, but Microsoft's strategy is partly based on the belief that a Bush Administration would take a less aggressive approach. "A sympathetic Justice Department would certainly go a long way to getting a settlement agreement," Bob Levy, industry analyst at the Cato Institute, said.