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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rupert1 who wrote (61457)	5/17/1999 8:19:00 AM
From: rupert1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

WSJ article on potential settlement of the MSFT law suit. This is an extract that applies to COMPAQ. ______________________________________ The two sides also have discussed measures designed to alter Microsoft's relationship to PC makers, who must have Windows to stay in business. The government wants to curtail Microsoft's ability to reward some firms and punish others with secret pricing deals and heavy-handed Windows licensing terms; in the trial, the government alleged that companies close to Microsoft, such as Dell Computer Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp., paid less for Windows than companies like Gateway Inc. and IBM, which wanted more freedom to customize the opening screens of their PCs or offer rivals' software. De Facto Distributors If the government gets its way, PC makers also would be free to customize the Windows start-up screen as they wish, which in theory would limit any advantage Windows might have in e-commerce. That's important to PC makers, which would then be free to install more software from Microsoft's rivals and offer new online services. For years, PC makers have been in effect merely Microsoft distributors, with severe limits on their ability to differentiate their products. A Microsoft executive had earlier indicated that the company might agree to some further limits on the company's ties to PC makers but wouldn't elaborate on how far the company might go along with what the government wants. (Such provisions could, for example, force Microsoft to agree to nondiscriminatory pricing among PC makers.) Under a 1995 antitrust agreement, Microsoft's contracts with PC makers already are limited, but the provisions have been widely criticized as weak.