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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=415050409-03112001>What was the Justice
Department thinking? "Take that, Bin Laden! You thought you'd split Microsoft
eh?" Or is it letting MS off for good behaviour like blocking Opera
and Mozilla from MSN? (That last crude ploy only served to increase
downloads of non-MS browsers :-)) Or could the DoJ be saying "The
victorious forces of global monopoly capitalism spit on pinko liberal judges and
their rulings. And thanks for those campaign contributions, Bill."? I'm
confused.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=415050409-03112001></SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=415050409-03112001></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001>Hakki</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=415050409-03112001><A
href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/22621.html">http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/22621.html</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001>---------------------------------</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=415050409-03112001>
<DIV class=storyhead>DoJ to cut MS 'sellout' deal without States'
blessing?</DIV>
<DIV class=storybyline>By <A href="mailto:john.lettice@theregister.co.uk">John
Lettice</A></DIV>
<DIV class=indexposted>Posted: 02/11/2001 at 11:08 GMT</DIV><BR>
<DIV class=storybody>As the cries of 'sellout' over the DoJ's proposed antitrust
settlement with Microsoft grow louder, it looks increasingly likely that the 18
US States that have been party to the action will refuse to sign up for the
deal, and peel off. <BR><BR>The judge's deadline for a negotiated deal falls
today, 2nd November, but the most the States will do will be to ask for an
extension, so they can consider the offer further. <BR><BR>One of the more
significant pieces of news to leak out of the process in the past couple of days
was that: "All references to plaintiffs in court documents will be changed from
the plural to the singular to reflect the altered status of the case," according
to a Bloomberg report. <BR><BR>Changes of this sort would reflect an MS-DoJ deal
that left the States to do their own thing, so if the report is correct then the
DoJ has <I>already</I> decided that the States won't be coming along, but that
it should still cut its own deal and get the hell out of the kitchen.
<BR><BR>That would be a pretty despicable thing to do to the people who've been
at least theoretically fighting on the same side as you for the past few years,
even if you don't take into account the largely negative reactions the proposed
deal has been getting. The people who <I>do</I> like it are of course the
analysts, who strangely enough feel that it won't damage Microsoft's operations
at all. As Thomas Weisel Partners tellingly concludes: "a major win; no
substantive change in business model or R&D practices; maintain Buy."
<BR><BR>The critics agree, sort of. The Consumer Federation of America,
Consumers Union and the Media Access Project coalition (get yourselves a snappy
acronym people, will you?) said in a statement yesterday: <BR><BR>"It is
outrageous that the federal government, armed with a 7-0 decision by the U.S.
Court of Appeals that Microsoft illegally quashed rival software makers, would
decide to settle in this fashion. The reported settlement fails to address the
fundamental issue of Microsoft's efforts to mingle its code with its software
applications... The potential for Microsoft to continue to misbehave under this
reported arrangement is enormous. If the government does not push for a
substantial penalty should Microsoft continue to behave in an anticompetitive
manner, Microsoft is likely to continue to break the law in the future.
<BR><BR>"If there were at least some semblance of a reasonable legal framework
in place, the presiding judge could fill in the loopholes and fix the problems.
But this framework appears to be fundamentally flawed. Given the problems with
this framework, we would urge the state attorneys general to reject this deal
and continue to litigate in order to ensure that the Windows XP program is both
convenient to consumers and functioning in an open and competitive market."
<BR><BR>Which just about sums it up. Computer & Communications Industry
Association CEO Ed Black described the deal as capitulation, and said the deal
was weaker than could have been obtained before the trial started (which surely
cannot be true, unless there are some really big loopholes in there).
<BR><BR>"Microsoft has been declared an illegal monopolist by nine Federal
judges," he said, "including one who determined it was necessary to break up the
company. They should be held accountable for their unlawful actions, and
prevented from further abusing their monopoly position. The provisions of the
proposed settlement are an invitation to further abuse. Microsoft will be free
to continue their illegal practices, only now the Justice Department will have
been complicit in this activity." <BR><BR>But the heaping of ordure probably
won't stop the DoJ, which will leave the States to pursue the action on their
own. If they do, they'll surely take a more hawkish attitude, but Microsoft will
probably find them easier to handle. They have fewer resources, and it should be
possible for the company to induce at least some of them to peel off, as indeed
has happened already. Onwards to an inglorious ending? ® <BR><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001>---------------------------------</SPAN></DIV></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=415050409-03112001><A
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32665-2001Nov2.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32665-2001Nov2.html</A> :</SPAN></FONT></P><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=415050409-03112001><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001>---------------------------------</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN class=415050409-03112001><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001></SPAN></SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=415050409-03112001>(....)</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>During the campaign, President Bush expressed
reservations about whether the case should ever have been filed, raising
concerns in some quarters about whether his administration would abandon the
case. Critics have also worried that Vice President Cheney's son-in-law has
oversight responsibility for antitrust issues at the Justice Department. And
Microsoft contributed heavily to a variety of Republican
campaigns.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said any
suggestion that politics influenced the agreement is "totally false."<SPAN
class=415050409-03112001>'</SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN><BR> </P>
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