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


To: t2 who wrote (23603)6/3/1999 11:00:00 PM
From: John F. Dowd  Respond to of 74651
 
t2k: I liked the comment where the judge said that these papers were very interesting but did not have much to do with Fisher but rather should be reserved for questioning AOL and NSCP folks. Looks like the judge wants to hear from everyone on this matter. I think he feels that they have been using his court to gain a market advantage. This whole charade is falling apart. This IBM guy will melt like butter in the heat of Warden/Lavorca's sun. MSFT rules!

JFD



To: t2 who wrote (23603)6/3/1999 11:04:00 PM
From: RTev  Respond to of 74651
 
Here's another way to look at the good lawyering happening in that courtroom. It's still much better than what was happening before the break, but it's far too early for either side to claim "the case is history".

Microsoft trial: Strategy shifts toward limiting any sanctions
seattletimes.com

Returning to court after a three-month break, Microsoft's case began transforming into an argument on limiting potential sanctions should a federal judge rule the company has broken antitrust laws.
...
Fisher's concession [on the effect of the AOL's purchase of Netscape], along with statements from Jackson, do not contradict government evidence that Microsoft may have engaged in illegal tactics in the past five years to protect a monopoly in personal-computer operating systems.

Instead, the economist's statements seem to support a case for limiting sanctions, such as breaking up Microsoft into smaller companies or forcing it to auction off the Windows source code to create a new competitor.
...
After what may have been Microsoft's most effective day-and-a-half of cross-examination, however, the company's attorneys think they have done damage to the government's core allegations, not just set the stage for an argument on penalties.
...
Throughout the trial, Jackson's fascination with AOL's $10 billion purchase of Netscape has grown, but not as an example of the competitiveness of the industry and why the government's case is moot, as Microsoft contends.

Instead, his questions are directed at the current state and future of the software industry. That focus strongly indicates he is already mulling potential remedies to Microsoft's practices. Several times yesterday, he asked for the latest figures on the browser wars between Netscape's browsers and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.