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

To: nnillionaire who wrote (4248)	12/12/1997 4:24:00 PM
From: John Donahoe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

For arguments sake let's say MSFT offers two versions of WIN95/98. One with a fully integrated IE for say $75 and the other without IE for $75. Does this violate the judge's ruling? And which one do you think the OEM would buy? JD

To: nnillionaire who wrote (4248)	12/12/1997 4:25:00 PM
From: Sowbug	Respond to of 74651

I am a lawyer. The following might help everyone understand exactly what's going on here (John got it essentially right): In intellectual property law there's something called "tying," and it's almost always illegal. For example, I have a patent on a machine that washes dishes. The machine needs (1) water softener, (2) dishwashing detergent, and (3) machine oil. Suppose I sold the dishwasher, but ONLY if you bought a two years' supply of water softener, dishwashing detergent, and machine oil. Furthermore, the expected lifetime of the washer is two years. This is tying. I have a patent on the machine, but I'm trying to extend the power of the patent over three completely non-patented things, thereby eliminating all supplier competition. What I have to do to avoid getting hit with an antitrust penalty is sell all the following packages: 1. The machine separately; 2. The machine with supplies; 3. The supplies alone. I can give wonderful discounts for the supplies if you buy it all together, but you have to give your competitors a chance to sell your machine's supplies. The MSFT situation isn't exactly like tying, but the judge's ruling is essentially similar to what a tying antitrust remedy would be.