Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: D.J.Smyth who wrote (6419)	5/3/1998 5:21:00 PM
From: Brian Malloy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

If the DOJ/states have made up their mind that is fine. At this point, they do not own the courts. The transcripts from the appeals court a couple weeks ago did not look very favorable for the DOJ. The judges seemed to be questioning the grounds upon which the DOJ brought the case. They considered the DOJ's "neutral" court appointed software expert to be shall we say, less than impartial. In the next couple of weeks we should see the DOJ's case against MSFT and Win95 thrown out. I don't think the DOJ would then like to use the same flimsy arguments against Win98 and end up in the same appeals court. Do you? The DOJ and state AJ do not have the authority to create laws or interpert laws in outlandish ways, though they do so anyway. The judiciary at some local and federal levels may meekly do the bidding of DOJ and state AJ's but federal appelate courts tend not to do this. They actually do a constitutional review. Companies and individuals that have few resources may knuckle under and not fight thereby not making it to the appeals level. However, this is not the case for Bill Gates and MSFT. I find two sentences in you post rather interesting. 1. the doj believes they are doing corporate america's long term investors a favor - engendering competition 2. the doj is concerned that if they don't act now, the potential for controlling intellectual property over the internet is at stake forever. One and two are somewhat contradictory. I would think that most American's to include corporate America don't want the DOJ to control the intellectual property on the internet. In this country we have or are deregulating airlines, railroads, utilities and so forth and so on. One is going to have a hard time getting any court to agree to controls over the free flow of information and intellectual property. The DOJ would now be fighting the first amendment and that would be a most unpopular fight indeed; a near untenable position from where I sit. In my opinion, Windows98 will not languish. It will ship on time, the DOJ will either come to an agreement with MSFT or the appeals court will send the DOJ to the penalty box, something, the DOJ can ill afford at this juncture if it wishes to maintain its credibility.