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Strategies & Market Trends : Zeev's Turnips - No Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frederick Langford who wrote (2415)	10/31/2001 11:11:08 PM
From: Softechie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99280

Microsoft, US/Tentative Deal-3:Trade Grp Says `Sell Out' 31 Oct 22:22 An industry trade group that has been critical of Microsoft's business practices braced for the deal, issuing a statement late Wednesday accusing the Bush administration of "selling out" by seeking weak penalties. The Washington-based Computer and Communications Industry Association charged the administration wasn't pushing for tough enough penalties such as requiring Microsoft to disclose its source code blueprints for its flagship Windows operating system. "The Justice Department isn't settling this case, it is selling out consumers, competition, and all those who want a vibrant, innovative high tech industry contributing strength to our economy," the group's president, Ed Black, said in a statement. Microsoft and Justice officials would not immediately comment on the group's charges, but a pro-Microsoft trade group, the Washington-based Association for Competitive Technology, said only Microsoft's competitors don't want to see a settlement. The head of the group, Jonathan Zuck, said a settlement is desirable "particularly in this time of economic downturn and national crisis." Lawyers and executives for Microsoft have previously bristled over suggestions that any settlement would require them to disclose the "source code" blueprints for the company's monopoly Windows operating system, the underpinnings of its multibillion-dollar business. Microsoft officials also have warned they wouldn't accept any broad prohibitions against bundling new features into Windows. James, the antitrust chief, recently announced the government won't seek to break up Microsoft and will not pursue that part of the original lawsuit that was thrown into question by a federal appeals court over the summer. He also decided not to try to block Microsoft from releasing Windows XP, its newest version of its operating system. The original judge in thecase, Thomas Penfield Jackson, ordered the breakup of the software giant into two companies after concluding Microsoft violated antitrust laws by illegally stifling its competitors. But a federal appeals court reversed that penalty this summer, and appointed a new judge to determine a new penalty in one of the most significant monopoly cases in American history. The new judge strongly urged both sides to settle the case last month and gave them a deadline of Friday. One person who had been briefed on some of the draft settlement proposals being discussed in recent days, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ideas being discussed included: _Letting Microsoft add new features into its flagship Windows software, but requiring the company also to offer a version that doesn't include those additions. _Banning restrictive contracts that would force computer makers to buy versions of Windows with new features, but allowing financial incentives such as discounts to make those versions more enticing. _Forcing Microsoft to reveal parts of its Windows blueprints relating to its Internet browser software, but not the blueprints to Windows. (END) DOW JONES NEWS 10-31-01 10:22 PM

To: Frederick Langford who wrote (2415)	11/1/2001 3:48:38 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 99280

* 01:15 ET Microsoft (MSFT) 58.15: Company has reached a tentative settlement in landmark antitrust case with the government, reports Wall Street Journal... According to report, settlement would a) require essentially no changes in the design on MSFT's Windows software and b) leave company's market power largely intact... Government working to get the 18 states that are co-plaintiffs to join in the settlement; if they object case could be forced back to court... While settlement arrangement could still fall apart, expect MSFT, and the market, to respond favorably to the news.