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To: Harvey Allen who wrote (23910)	4/25/2000 6:36:00 AM
From: Exciton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Investigate Justice Department Lawyers' Stock Holdings!! Does anyone know what the rules are for government lawyers in a case like this where their stock holdlings--for instance Netscape/AOL, Sun Micro, Apple, and the other list of "why can't I be a monopolist like Bill" whiners--could compromise their objectivity. To my knowledge the press has not pursued this question, but it seems like a logical avenue of investigation considering that the complaint came from Microsoft's competitors and not from consumers. As I recall, the antitrust investigation began not too long after Netscape went public and the hype machine on the stock was in full gear. I have a feeling that a lot of the lawyers involved in this case participated in the run up and then saw their stock value dwindle as Microsoft regained market share. In walks Jim Barkesdale, Scott McNeally, and company at just the right time to spur on the anti-Microsoft religious fanatics. As far as I'm concerned, the only consumer harm that I have felt on this issue has been caused by the Justice Department as they continue to pursue a remedy to a market condition that no longer exists as the industry and the technology have moved on.

To: Harvey Allen who wrote (23910)	4/26/2000 5:52:00 AM
From: Daniel Schuh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Microsoft Management Tells Workers There Will Be No Breakup nytimes.com As Scarlet O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day". For amusement only, I liked Monday's close, $66.625 . Meanwhile, somebody got out while the getting was good: Paul Allen nearly divested of M$ stock theregister.co.uk Acting on a tip from one of our beloved readers, The Register took a peek at the recent securities trading history of Micro$oft Co-founder, Director and all around mysterious character Paul Allen. Allen, we confirmed, has unloaded roughly US $8 billion in company stock over the past twelve months, which leaves him holding a paltry 53 thousand shares, worth now a piddling $3.7 million due to recent unfavourable market forces. He appears not to have traded since early March, so the bulk of his roughly forty sales were in the very attractive range of $85--$95 per share, and typically in the range of 2--4 million each in volume. Apparently he needed a bit of pocket change. But we wonder why he's elected to divest so completely. Micro$oft now represents his smallest stake in any company by which he's listed as a principal. Surely it couldn't have anything to do with pessimism over the inevitable effects of numerous anti-trust remedies now being contemplated with devilish joy by the US Department of Justice. No, certainly not.... © And somebody else has been putting his Microsoft shares to good and timely use. From nytimes.com, a very nice and favorable article on Bill's philanthropy: In January, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation edged past Britain's Wellcome Trust to become the largest in the world, with assets of $21.8 billion. Even the greatest philanthropists of the past did not give away as much in real dollars over their entire lifetimes as Gates has at the age of 44. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Andrew Carnegie made gifts amounting to $350 million before he died in 1919 -- a sum that would be worth about $3 billion in today's dollars; and the $540 million that John D. Rockefeller dispensed before his death in 1937 would amount to more than $6 billion today -- less than a third of the Gates total so far. As a percentage of the gross national product, Gates's gifts do not yet match those of his predecessors, but he is just getting started. That Gates began adding to the foundation in huge ($5 billion) increments over the past 14 months, as the government prosecution took its damaging course, led to a widespread conviction that his philanthropy was just part of a public relations campaign. Then, on April 3, Federal District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft violated the law with "predacious" anticompetitive behavior, and the stock market knocked $80 billion off the company's value. Gates himself reportedly lost $12 billion to $14billion that day, but the foundation's endowment remains intact: its donations come in the form of Microsoft stock and are immediately converted to cash. What effect, if any, the lawsuit will have on future contributions to the foundation is unclear. Microsoft intends to appeal, and the battle could go on for years. I wonder who was buying those 5 gigabuck blocks of MSFT during the past 14 months? Cheers, Dan.