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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Terry Maynard who wrote (21906)	5/7/1998 12:08:00 AM
From: Paul Fiondella	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

MSFT problems---a reply Gates is no fool. I watched his press conference. Although he is obsessed with his own point of view, he is no Alexander the Great. He is not even a Boris Berenovsky (the Russian billionaire that makes or breaks ministers). Gates will back down. Is integrating a product that isn't really integrated into the operating system really a point worth losing a monopoly business for? I don't think the Justice Department will hit MSFT with Sherman anti-trust until it gets a ruling from the Appeals Court on the previous consent decree. In fact I think they are hoping that a favorable ruling will prevent them from having to go against the wishes of their boss --- Clinton. In my opinion Clinton and Gore are in bed with MSFT and Clinton made the original deal that led to the consent decree during that golf game. The consent decree smelled so bad at the time and was such a gift to MSFT. Well now Gates has to smell the roses. He got a real good deal but now he is insisting on keeping that deal in the face of a tidal wave of negative opinion. Give it up. In politics deals have a limited life span. Time to make a new deal. Agree to anything to avoid Sherman anti-trust. Also asking a Federal Court to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the delivery of Win98 with all of the alleged economic impact and without a lengthy hearing simply doesn't happen in our Federal Court system. I don't believe Win98's release will be prevented. However it's amazing to me and almost everyone else that Gates is being so stubborn. He is daring the Justice Department to do something and demanding victory over a bunch of bureaucrats who are being humiliated daily by their inaction in confronting him. He is a fool to do this. He gets poor advice. Should the consent decree collapse either under the weight of a Win98 release or the Appeals Court action then Justice will have no choice but to say we tried everything, we gave him every break, and he wouldn't cooperate. Now we have to bring a new action.