“It may have seemed like a good idea to Bill Gates and Steve
Ballmer to pursue the antitrust case to the bitter end, but it
looks less and less so by the day. It seemed at one time that
Microsoft was making every mistake that IBM made in its history of
dealings with the US government; denying a monopoly position,
insisting that the government never understood its business, having
to provide all its documentation for government lawyers to analyse
and so on. However Microsoft has gone much further because
eventually IBM settled the issue and walked away, whereas Microsoft
has decided to pursue it to the bitter end in the belief that it
can win.”
“Apart from the collateral damage to its public image, which it
seems to be blissfully unaware of, Microsoft is now suffering the
onslaught of the legal vultures, who are attacking it with class
action suits. … Actually the class action case seems to expand by
the day. It brings together 170 separate cases against Microsoft on
behalf of millions of customers. Although there is no basis in US
law for a global class action (yet), the US legal vultures have
decided to sue on behalf of the world, citing UN statements on the
principles of competition and recommendations by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development.”
“…it was all very predictable and indeed it was predicted
by legal commentators as the case progressed. Once Microsoft
refused to settle with the DOJ, it opened itself up to these
actions. It ensured that if it were to lose then it would lose
big. … The higher courts may reverse some of the findings of
the lower court, but it is unlikely to reverse them all.”
Complete
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