SJ Mercury: Potential security risk is key issue

“What may be most important in the nearly 1,500 pages of legal
filings U.S. Justice Department officials and Microsoft Corp.
lawyers dumped on the desk of a federal judge Tuesday is not what’s
in the documents, but what was left out.”

“Government lawyers have maintained that Microsoft illegally
combined its Internet browser and desktop computer operating system
to protect its monopoly power in the market for desktop computer
operating systems. They make the point that by not allowing users
the option of removing the browser, the company has in some
instances increased a user’s exposure to security risks, such as
computer viruses.”

“The government has also introduced evidence that the
non-removable browser harms users by taking up precious room on the
computers of those who don’t want it, and that any additional
complexity makes an operating system more likely to fail, two
arguments that Microsoft has spent a great deal of time
rebutting.”

Complete story.