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

To: Bearded One who wrote (4547)	12/30/1997 12:39:00 AM
From: Jim Lamb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The Justice Department said on Monday that Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) twisted, tortured and defied a court order and must now be compelled to offer computer makers Windows 95 software separate from the company's Web browser. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered Microsoft on Dec. 11 to offer its Windows 95 operating system eparately from its Web browser. But the company appealed his order, saying it made ''little sense.'' It offered computer makers the option of taking either an old version of Windows 95 or one it said would not work. Arguing that the software giant had intentionally twisted the ruling to subvert it, the Justice Department in a court filing said Microsoft ''improperly seeks to rewrite the Court's injunction. The Court should end Microsoft's disobedience and bring it into compliance.'' The Justice Department said the company's position was a '''tortured construction' of the Court's order that renders it 'a nullity.''' In an earlier court filing, Microsoft had argued that Jackson had defined its Web browser as the computer code it sells retail as Internet Explorer. As it turns out, removing that code causes problems with Windows 95, but Microsoft said: ''Microsoft has done exactly what the Court ordered it to do.'' But the government said Microsoft had obstinately zeroed in on a snippet of the reasoning within the judge's 19-page decision, rather than complying with his order. Jackson had ordered the Redmond, Wash.-based company to cease ''the practice of licensing the use of any Microsoft personal computer operating system software (including Windows 95 or any successor version thereof) on the condition, express or implied, that the licensee also license and preinstall any Microsoft Internet browser software (including Internet Explorer 3.0, 4.0 or any successor versions thereof) ....'' The Justice Department said Jackson had given Microsoft leeway on how to best carry out his order, and had not ordered the company to offer an unworkable or obsolete product. ''The injunction does not compel any particular mode of compliance with its proscription as long as Microsoft avoids the forbidden conditioning,'' the Justice Department said. Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray disagreed and said that in order to understand the ruling the company had to dig into the body of his opinion. ''The judge's order is very spare langauge so it's pretty sensible to look back into the opinion to understand the order,'' he said. The government underscored its point by including as exhibits analyses of how to remove Internet Explorer, from Wired News, the ZDNet Web site and Computer Reseller News. A Justice Department spokesman said the brief, along with the articles, would be available on Tuesday at the Justice Department's Web site, http:/www.usdoj.gov. Jackson will conduct a hearing on the case on Jan. 13. The Justice Department is seeking a $1 million-a-day fine for the company's alleged contempt of Court. For the past few months the Justice Department and Microsoft have been in a battle arising from a 1995 consent decree aimed at promoting competition in the software industry. Under that decree, Microsoft was prohibited from tying the purchase of one product to another. The Justice Department at the time sought a separate $1 million-a-day contempt citation against Microsoft, contending it bundled its Windows 95 system with Internet Explorer. Microsoft is in bitter competition against Netscape Communications Inc. <NSCP.O), for the market in Web browers, which permit access to the World Wide Web. Microsoft argued its Web browser is an integral part of Windows 95. Under the consent decree, Microsoft may sell integrated products. But its competitors and the Justice Department argue the Web browser is a separate product. In his Dec. 11 ruling, Jackson issued a preliminary injunction against Microsoft forbidding it from requiring computer makers to accept its Web browser with its operating system. Most computer manufacturers must have Windows 95 in order to stay in business. He also appointed a special master, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, to conduct inquiries into the matter and advise him by the end of May. Microsoft has filed court papers saying it believes Jackson improperly appointed Lessig, whom it said may be biased against it. Both parties were set to meet with Lessig on Tuesday in New York. Microsoft stock rose $5.56 to $126.31 Monday on Nasdaq. It was the third most active issue on the market, which saw a general rise in high-technology companies. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------