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

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (23578)	6/3/1999 3:26:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

I agree with you that Microsoft did not have to do what they did in the browser wars. Management should have put more faith in the IE developers who eventually came up with a great browser that won (or was at least capable of winning) market share on its own merits. But I think you miss the significance of that article to the antitrust case. The article suggests that Netscape's browser presents a minimal long-term threat to the Windows platform since Mozilla is running into serious development problems. That is contrary to the point Microsoft's lawyers are trying to make in the rebuttal phase. The MS lawyers argue that AOL/Netscape/Sun poses a serious challenge. This kind of article doesn't help them make their point.

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (23578)	6/3/1999 4:33:00 PM
From: t2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

JFD, Michael Lacovara, MSFT lawyer, is making a lot of points in this round so far. I hope they continue this gained momentum. It might allow serious settlement talks to finally commence----if MSFT can improve their bargaining position. I feel they will but we will find out after the IBM witness takes the stand. MSFT has to improve its defense and they appear to be on their way in that regard. I bet MSFT spared no expense in preparing for this phase of the trial. IMHO, MSFT doing well since the resumption of the case, possibly to the point where they have a reasonable chance of winning in appeals. That is why I am betting on the stock for at least 1 year. dailynews.yahoo.com Thursday June 3 3:37 PM ET Witness For U.S. Concedes Point To Microsoft By David Lawsky WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government's lead economic witness in its antitrust trial against Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) said Thursday that another witness exaggerated a central point in the government's case. Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Franklin Fisher conceded under cross-examination by a Microsoft lawyer that Microsoft rival Netscape Communications had greater market penetration than claimed earlier by a Netscape executive. James Barksdale, then the chief executive officer of Netscape, said in testimony last Oct. 27 that Microsoft had choked off wide distribution of Netscape's browser by bundling its own Internet Explorer with Windows 95 and Windows 98, the operating systems used to run most personal computers. ''The reason people get their product today is because it comes with the computer from the store,'' Barksdale charged from the witness stand. ''Or the reason they get it today is because it's given to them or presented to them by their Internet Service Provider. That's over half the distribution channel for this industry and we're basically out of that.'' Microsoft lawyer Michael Lacovara confronted Fisher with figures prepared as part of the discussions preceding the purchase of Netscape by online provider America Online in November. ''Is that consistent with what Netscape told AOL three weeks later?'' Lacovara asked Fisher, citing figures that 22 percent of computer makers shipped Netscape Navigator and 24 percent of the top 20 Internet Service Providers offered Netscape. ''If they're at 22 percent and 24 percent, I think this (Barksdale's testimony) is an exaggeration,'' Fisher conceded. A central government allegation is that Microsoft abused its monopoly power by foreclosing competition with Netscape Communications in a bitter battle for control of the market for Web browsers, the software used to surf the Internet. The Justice Department and 19 states allege that Microsoft exercises monopoly power in the market for personal computer operating systems. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------