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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Charles Tutt who wrote (34102)	8/3/2000 12:52:51 PM
From: QwikSand	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

Front page of the WSJ Marketplace section today is a must-read. Remember a couple of years ago there were incessant arguments on this thread about Sun's vision, whether the PC was dying, whether server-centric computing was really the coming thing, etc? MSFT supporters came on this thread explaining why they would never ever want their data anywhere but on their desktop hard drive, twister was in hog heaven harping on the lack of Javastation sales, etc. etc.? Well, the landscape looks much different now. Today, that issue is no longer subject to interesting debate. You won't find any more "I'll never part with my PC" people. Because The Wall Street Journal is basically The Rear-View Mirror: by the time they devote a whole page to something, it has the same forward-looking value as Deuteronomy. The game we debated back then is over. Sun won. Dell is downgraded. Look at the Journal. That's one of the things that bothers me. Sun's vision has made the transition from far-fetched fantasy to yesterday's news. McNealy claims we're in the top half of the first inning for distributed computing. Is it really that simple as far as Sun is concerned? If not, what's the NEXT thing, and is Sun on top of it? This is also the biggest downside to buying both AMD and Intel. At least Intel has a big mobile Pentium program and ARM. I don't know what AMD has in that department. If AMD's value is just pumping out CPU's for desktop PC's, that's an increasingly risky business no matter what their margins are. Could Microsoft's .NET "strategy" actually be non-null? --QS

To: Charles Tutt who wrote (34102)	8/3/2000 3:08:57 PM
From: JDN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

Dear Charles: I am surprised the "Softies" are not all over this thread hollering at us today!! Maybe they are worn out? JDN Microsoft May Face EU Fine in Wake of Sun Complaint Brussels, Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. may face fines in Europe for pushing competitors out of the market for server software, the European Commission said, compounding the legal woes of the world's largest software maker. The commission, the European Union's antitrust watchdog, said its investigation of a complaint by Sun Microsystems Inc., one of the biggest makers of computers that run Web sites, turned up evidence that Microsoft used its dominance of personal computer operating systems to thwart rivals in the server market. EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti gave Microsoft a warning and two months to reply. ``We will not tolerate the extension of existing dominance into adjacent markets through the leveraging of market power by anti-competitive means,'' he said in a statement. Microsoft could be penalized as much as 10 percent of its sales, or $2.3 billion, though the largest fine the EU has imposed for antitrust violations is $100 million. In the U.S., Microsoft is appealing a judge's order splitting the company in two and also faces more than 130 private consumer lawsuits seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Shares of Microsoft have declined 25 percent since a U.S. judge declared on April 3 that the company illegally defended its Windows monopoly. The stock rose 1/4 to 69 5/8 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The EU's statement of objections ``is another step in a long, legal process,'' said John Frank, Microsoft's director of law and corporate affairs in Europe. ``We remain confident that once the commission has had a chance to review the information we will provide, we will find a positive resolution to this matter.'' Commission Findings The EU commission's statement of objections is a tentative finding, said Barry Hawk, a New York antitrust lawyer who practices before the EU. ``They have at this point decided the case against the company'' and shifted the burden to Microsoft to disprove the conclusions, he said. The commission said its investigation of Sun complaints that began in December 1998 show Microsoft breached antitrust rules by engaging in discriminatory licensing and refusing to supply essential information on the Windows operating system to server makers. Microsoft, with a 95 percent share of the PC operating system market, must disclose its interfaces, the function that allows computers and servers to communicate, the commission said. Given Microsoft's ``practically undisputed market dominance,'' its rivals need access to interfaces to develop server systems that can relay information to PCs that run Windows, the commission said. Withholding such information would force computer networks to use Windows server software to ``achieve full interoperability,'' the commission said. Discrimination The commission found Microsoft ``gave information only on a partial and discriminatory basis to some of its competitors'' and refused to give it to others, like Sun. ``Resolution of this case is of the utmost importance, as operating systems for servers constitute a strategic sector in the development of a global market for information technology and electronic commerce,'' the commission said. Microsoft insists it makes its interfaces widely available and even encourages broad distribution. ``Access to this information is readily available at any bookstore, on any Microsoft Web site or at any developer conference, all of which are available to Sun,'' Microsoft said in a statement. Complementary Claims The EU charges complement the U.S. judge's finding that Microsoft crushed challenges to its domination of the PC operating software market. Microsoft is appealing his order that it be broken into a company that makes Windows and another that makes software applications such as games, spreadsheets and word- processing programs. The European Commission said it may eventually merge the Sun case with a similar investigation begun in February that focuses on Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 2000. That case was opened at the behest of small- and medium-sized technology companies and rivals of Microsoft that the commission has declined to identify because they fear retribution. The U.S. Justice Department cited evidence of Microsoft's strategy to use Windows 2000 to dominate the server market in its breakup proposal. The European Commission also is investigating whether Microsoft abused its market position to prevent French software wholesaler Micro Leader from importing Microsoft goods into Europe.