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

To: JC Jaros who wrote (46642)	6/14/2000 1:54:00 PM
From: sandeep	Respond to of 74651

That's possible. However, you must wonder about what the govt is asking. For the moment, forget about harm to competition: 1) Consumer will not get internet functionality for free. They should pay for whichever one they want; due to fragmentation, it is ok if they can't really see many web sites (e.g. Opera Software's browser - when I saw it, I wanted to buy it. Incredibly zippy one, however, didn't have Java support, at least the one I tried, so didn't buy it). 2) In the future, consumers shouldn't get speech recognition or text-to-speech for free and in an integrated manner. How is speech input different from keyboards and mouse input ? The Govt doesn't say anywhere that mouse and keyboard support is not a part of the OS. This is incredibly myopic or stupid on the govt's part. Either allow integration of speech input in the future or ask Microsoft to rip out keyboard and mouse support. 3) Consumers should not reap the benefits of the money Microsoft has and is spending on research. Currently, Microsoft can afford to absorb the costs throught profits somewhere else. Once the company is broken up, it will have to duplicate research efforts and pass on the extra costs to consumers. But then again, consumers must pay for what they want.

To: JC Jaros who wrote (46642)	6/14/2000 1:57:00 PM
From: johnd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Another big victory for MSFT against the 140 private lawsuits. See below. JC Jaros and other MSFT bashers, I predict that soon you will be off this thread and go back to SUNW thread. ====== Microsoft Price Complaint Dismissed PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Microsoft that claimed consumers paid too much for Windows 98, giving the software maker one of its first victories in a string of antitrust suits filed in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Multnomah County Circuit Judge John Wittmayer based his Tuesday decision on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that consumers cannot sue under antitrust rules if they did not purchase a product directly from Microsoft, according to Rich Wallis, an attorney for Microsoft. Most consumers buy computers with Windows 98 already installed, rather than purchasing the software directly from Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. The Oregon case was one of 137 filed against Microsoft on behalf of millions of consumers nationwide. ``I think it certainly is going to influence other judges,'' Wallis said. David Dean, a Portland lawyer representing Oregon consumers Hafez Daraee and Brooks Cooper, said an appeal is being considered.