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

To: Bald Man from Mars who wrote (6339)	4/30/1998 2:26:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 74651

States may move quickly against Microsoft BY JOEL BRINKLEY New York Times WASHINGTON -- Attorneys general from 13 states, apparently intent on blocking the imminent release of Microsoft Corp.'s next version of its Windows software, are in the final stages of preparing a joint antitrust action against the company. ''The decision on our action is imminent, and in my opinion some action is likely,'' said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. ''I think it will be in the next couple of weeks.'' While several of the state officials said in interviews that they would rather act in conjunction which the U.S. Department of Justice, which has been pressing its own antitrust suit against Microsoft, they are prepared to proceed without the federal agency. The states intend to act quickly because Microsoft plans to begin shipping the next version of the software, the Windows 98 operating system, to personal computer makers in mid-May and to release it to the general public by late June. The attorneys general refused to say exactly what their suit would charge because the matter is still under investigation. But interviews with officials in all 13 states, as well as three other states that are monitoring the discussions, showed a common interest in preventing Microsoft from using its dominance in personal-computer operating systems to promote the sale of other software products. And the states' concerns go beyond the integration into Windows 98 of Microsoft's Internet Explorer software for navigating on the World Wide Web -- which has been one of the issues for the Justice Department. Microsoft's operating system software provides the basic instructions on nearly nine of every 10 PCs sold. And these days, the PC operating system is not only the control mechanism for an individual computer but also a launching pad into the expanding world of Internet commerce. And the states worry that Microsoft could use its industry dominance to dictate which other companies have access to this launching pad.