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Technology Stocks : Macromedia...making a comeback? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nitrous who wrote (2285)	7/23/1998 3:46:00 AM
From: B.B.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2675

Yes. It's an installation option when installing internet components. I too thought this should be hyped! Where was there PR company?

To: Nitrous who wrote (2285)	7/23/1998 5:23:00 AM
From: Altaf Amin Jadavji	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2675

Crushing footsteps of the MSFT giant pounding multimedia ... DOJ investigation, WSJ article below. I bought back a sold portion of my position today and have confidence in the company, their products, management (especialy after recent turnover) and, most of all, in being rewarded for my "sticking around" after much trepidation during the free-fall 4-8 months ago. Once bandwidth issues are resolved and an expanded pipe is more ubiquitous (cable modem mfg and SPs are also in my favour and portfolio), we will fly and see impressive gains. I too was curious (and suspicious) on the lack of a well releases and pumped release on this "strategic" alliance. Such MSFT "partnerships" have popped lesser stocks clinging to thinner ties with MSFT. A weary point and not an impossibiity is MSFT creating their own brand of particular technology after such alliances as evidenced in the past. Read below: U.S. Is Probing Microsoft's Role In Multimedia-Software Market Prosecutors Hope to Learn Whether Software Firm Employed Illegal Tactics By JOHN R. WILKE Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Microsoft Corp. is using illegal tactics to monopolize the multimedia-software market, said lawyers and industry executives familiar with the inquiry. Investigators are examining whether Microsoft tried to persuade Apple Computer Inc. to stay out of the broad consumer market for multimedia software. That echoes a charge in the government's pending lawsuit against Microsoft that it tried to carve up the Internet-browser market with Netscape Communications Corp. That case goes to trial Sept. 8. Join the Discussion: What do you think about the latest twists and turns in the Justice Department's investigation of Microsoft's business practices? Issue Briefing: Microsoft and Justice Company Profile: Microsoft Company Profile: Apple Computer The Justice Department is studying information obtained from Apple indicating that Microsoft executives proposed three times -- most recently in March -- that Apple retreat from its plans for the Windows multimedia market and leave that field to Microsoft, in exchange for an endorsement of Apple software tools, the lawyers and executives said. Apple rejected the proposal, these people said. Also under scrutiny is whether onscreen error messages or other technical incompatibilities in Microsoft's Windows or browser software were intended to thwart Apple and other rivals; whether Microsoft pressured major personal-computer makers to drop Apple's video software; and whether agreements the company has struck with video-programming providers were exclusionary, the lawyers and executives close to the case said. 'Reality of the Industry' A Microsoft spokesman rejected the charges. "Microsoft has had ongoing conversations with Apple about ways to make our multimedia-software products more compatible for consumers, even as we continue to compete against each other," he said. "Any suggestion that Microsoft has tried to divide any market is completely false and probably reflects a lack of understanding of how the software industry works," the spokesman said. "The reality of the industry is that many companies compete vigorously against each other but also cooperate in a variety of ways." This "is good for consumers because it makes products compatible and accelerates the development of new technology," he said. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment; a Justice Department spokeswoman also declined to comment Wednesday. Apple has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department, people close to the case said. But the probe poses a predicament for Apple: Its interim chief executive, Steve Jobs, has sought a closer relationship with Microsoft and last year formed a partnership in which Microsoft took a $150 million nonvoting stake in Apple and paid an estimated $100 million more for access to its patents. Justice Department officials have previously said they are examining terms of that agreement. The antitrust investigation by the Justice Department and 20 state attorneys general is continuing even as both sides race to prepare for September's trial on the Internet-browser issue. They fear Microsoft is seeking to wrest control of standards for multimedia software, which allows computer users to manipulate video or audio as they would other types of data. This emerging technology is seen as a key to the Internet's future, as more sites offer video, sound and interactive content, such as "virtual reality" tours of homes up for sale. Behavior Toward RealNetworks The Justice Department also is investigating Microsoft's behavior toward RealNetworks Inc., the leader in a key multimedia-software technology known as video streaming. The company last fall was ordered by investigators to provide documents and was visited most recently by a Justice Department team "four or five weeks ago," said its president, Bruce Jacobsen. He said the investigators spent the day at the Seattle company, "asking detailed questions about a half-dozen different areas akin to the kinds of things they were looking at in the browser case," which included contracts, exclusive agreements, technical incompatibilities and possible market-division efforts. He said that "they haven't told us they are or are not going to do anything, but they seem to be well informed about this market." A year ago, RealNetworks licensed some of its technology to Microsoft after selling Microsoft a 10% stake in the company. But RealNetworks' relationship with the Redmond, Wash., software giant has become strained: Its chief executive, Robert Glaser, is set to testify Thursday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining Microsoft's tactics. Mr. Glaser is expected to disclose that Microsoft's dominant Windows and Internet software are designed to disable competing software offered by RealNetworks. A Microsoft spokesman said that technical incompatibilities are common in fast-changing technology as companies innovate in different directions, and don't represent an attempt to create barriers to competition. He also denied any effort to pressure computer makers to drop Apple's QuickTime. PC makers "have complete choice of what they provide to their customers. And QuickTime is widely licensed and available on many new PCs," he said.