“Immediately after the judge’s verdict yesterday Microsoft said
it would appeal. Said Bill Gates: “While we did everything we could
to settle this case, and will continue to look for new
opportunities to resolve it, we believe that we have a strong case
on appeal.” But how strong is it? In his Conclusions of Law Judge
Jackson spends some considerable time on Microsoft’s case, and does
his best to torpedo it.”
“Microsoft’s most recent pitches have been based on its
interpretation of the copyright protection it has for Windows. This
case is however comprehensively blown out of the water in the
judge’s Conclusions, and yesterday Gates was instead stressing that
“the Appeals Court has already affirmed Microsoft’s right to build
Internet capabilities into the Windows operating system to benefit
consumers.””
“As the case will almost certainly end up in the Supreme
Court, aside from trying to undermine Microsoft’s preferred appeals
strategy, Jackson is putting up big signposts for the Supreme Court
itself. It will surely have trouble disagreeing with itself,
right?”