[ale] [SE2600] [news] Microsoft Takes It in the Ass on Monday (fwd)
Ben Phillips
pynk at cc.gatech.edu
Sat May 16 22:51:53 EDT 1998
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 20:21:40 -0600 (CST)
From: CyberVox <cybervox at mindless.com>
Reply-To: 2600 at martek.net
To: se2600 <2600 at martek.net>
Subject: [SE2600] [news] Microsoft Takes It in the Ass on Monday
(Reuters) - Talks collapsed Saturday between Microsoft
Corp. and government officials, making likely the filing of a big
antitrust suit against the software giant Monday.Representatives of the
U.S. Justice Department and 20 states held two days of talks in
Washington in a bid to explore whether a settlement could be reached to
avoid a lawsuit."It appears that it's over," for a negotiated
settlement, said a source close to the state attorneys general. "It
looks very likely that the state attorneys general will file on Monday,"
he added."It seems pretty clear that everybody is going to sue on
Monday," the source said.The Justice Department confirmed in a brief
statement that the talks were over. "At this point they are not expected
to resume," it said.Federal and state governments had been poised to
file antitrust suits on Thursday but agreed to talks in return for
Microsoft agreeing to delay Friday's shipment of its Windows 98
operating system to computer makers until Monday.Microsoft chairman Bill
Gates said he was "very disappointed" by the breakdown in the talks.He
said the company had "worked hard for 10 days" to make the negotiations
succeed because he felt it was likely a compromise could be reached."But
the government made some non-negotiable demands that were very surpising
to us," Gates said in a viedeotaped response distributed by Microsoft.
"The government is going to file a lawsuit. Microsoft is innocent of any
of these charges and we're certainly going to defend ourselves
vigorously," he added.Gates said the company would go ahead with its
planned June 25 public release of the updated version of the enormously
popular Windows 98 software "now that the government has decided to
sue." Shipments will begin Monday.The states and the Justice Department
have readied a major complaint accusing Microsoft of abusing its power
and driving competitors from the lucrative software market.Microsoft's
critics charge it has unfairly competed by incorporating more and more
features into its Windows operating systems and using its dominance to
dissuade computer makers from removing its screen icons and products.But
the company says it is giving consumers the best operating systems
possible by integrating features like its Microsoft Explorer web browser
into Windows 98.The source close to the states said the talks ended when
Microsoft withdrew a major concession it had offered Thursday to allow
computer makers to modify the startup screen consumers see when they
switch on their computer for the first time. "They (Microsoft) walked
away from the discussion," the source said.But Gates said state and
federal lawyers had wanted to force computer makers to ship Windows 98
with a rival Internet browser made by Netscape Communications Corp.,
among other unreasonable demands.Microsoft has been battling with the
Justice Department for several years now. In 1994 it signed an agreement
which says it cannot require computer makers who license Windows to also
license any other software product, but Microsoft may develop
"integrated products."Experts expect the next round of Microsoft versus
the Justice Department to rank among the top antitrust cases in U.S.
history such as the 1982 AT&T agreement to split into the Baby Bells or
the 1911 dismantling of Standard Oil.But the government failed in its
other foray into computers, dropping a case against International
Business MachinesCorp. in 1982 that it opened back in 1969.
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