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

To: t2 who wrote (22372)	5/9/1999 12:16:00 AM
From: JP Sullivan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Isn't unearned revenue a bit like premiums that an insurance company collects up front but has not earned? Similarly, MS collects $$ on the software that it sells, but it has a liability in the form of returns or support that is time limited, just like the insurance company has an obligation to pay up during the life of the policy. As that liability expires, the "unearned" revenue becomes "earned" over time. That, IMHO, is how the company can justify the figures in the unearned revenue provision. Otherwise, the IRS would be going after it for evading taxes, no? Just my naive, non-expert view here. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this. Winston