Massachusetts continues push on Microsoft antitrust appeal

Nancy Weil, IDG News Service   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Legislation/Regulation Stories  

Gain a faster, cheaper way to manage workload From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center Google's Universal Search for Business Extending COBOL to SOA, Web Services and Beyond Extend, Replace, or Convert; which is the best way forward for COBOL Applications? Should You Install Messaging Security Software on Your Exchange Server? The Business Value of Tape Storage Computerworld Technology Briefing: An open-source path to optimal virtualization Learn-Fast Guide: Get Up to Speed on Green IT Sign up to receive Legislation/Regulation Resource Alerts

July 18, 2003 (IDG News Service) -- The U.S. District Court remedy in the Microsoft antitrust case doesn't stop the software maker's anticompetitive behavior, nor does it "deprive Microsoft of the marketplace benefits achieved through its misdeeds," and so it should be tossed out by a federal appellate court, the Massachusetts attorney general argued in a document filed Wednesday.
"If this is the remedy in a case of this magnitude, then there is little reason why any monopolist or would-be monopolist should hesitate to embark on a similar course of unlawful conduct," says the document, filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court filing is the latest in a series of briefs filed by Massachusetts and Microsoft Corp. concerning remedies proposed by the state that are more stringent than those in the settlement approved by the District Court.
Microsoft has argued that the Massachusetts proposal would benefit the company's competitors and not consumers and that its recommended remedies are "extreme."
Massachusetts remains the lone holdout state in the antitrust case, refusing to sign on to U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's remedy ruling of last November that approved a settlement agreement worked out by plaintiffs and Microsoft. Eighteen states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Justice were plaintiffs in the antitrust case, in which Microsoft was found to have an illegal monopoly through which it anticompetitively used its market dominance in operating systems to make inroads into other areas and to squelch competition.
West Virginia dropped its appeal of the settlement ruling last month, leaving Massachusetts to continue its fight alone. State Attorney General Tom Reilly earlier this month announced that his office is investigating whether Microsoft is violating terms of the settlement agreement (see story).
The Massachusetts appeal is set for oral arguments on Nov. 4.
The appellate court brief takes the existing settlement agreement and the District Court to task, arguing that "Microsoft's illegal conduct was serious, its consequences were serious, and the failures of the decree are serious.
"The failures of the district court's remedy are profound," the document says. "It fails to stop Microsoft's illegal conduct and does nothing to restore competition to the monopolized market or to prevent Microsoft from engaging in similar means to the same unlawful end. It is predicated upon findings and conclusions that reflect critical misunderstandings of the liability theory in this case, and upon a record devoid of evidence that it would accomplish anything meaningful."
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said yesterday that it is notable that Massachusetts stands alone in refusing to accept the final judgment in the case. "It's been very clear through this process that the court thoroughly reviewed these issues and rejected many of the additional sanctions that Massachusetts seeks because they [the sanctions] were not good for the software industry or the economy," he said.
The company will continue to "underscore the potential harm of the sanctions that Massachusetts seeks," he said, adding that "our real focus remains on full and complete compliance of the terms of the court's final judgment."
Massachusetts has proposed that Microsoft be required to unbundle its operating system from all middleware products and also contends that Kollar-Kotelly erred by not making Microsoft disclose certain Windows application programming interfaces to third-party developers and release Internet Explorer code in an open-source license.
The final judgment approved by Kollar-Kotelly sets up restrictions related to Microsoft's licensing agreements, orders the company to release some of its intellectual property and forbids retaliation against PC and software makers that offer, or consider offering, products that compete with Microsoft.

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2008 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

Read more posts or See all Blogs

At 10, Google reiterates commitment to CIOs Microsoft explains Seinfeld-Windows TV ad: just a 'teaser' Continuing coverage: Google's Chrome browser More top stories...

iPhone 3G owner sues Apple, AT&T over dropped calls, app crashes Mozilla: Firefox is faster than Chrome Upcoming Microsoft patch lineup could be 'massive,' says researcher

Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3 Users of Windows XP SP3 who try out IE8 Beta 2 won't be able to uninstall either one under certain circumstances. Opinion: Why Google has lost its mojo -- and why you should care Google has gone from innovative upstart to fat-and-happy industry leader in what seems like record time. Preston Gralla explains. Review: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 offers some nifty new features Microsoft's latest beta of IE8 includes better tab management, new services such as Web Slices and Accelerators, and the new 'porn mode.' IT Schools to Watch 2008 These leading-edge graduate schools are moving at the pace of the IT workplace, delivering coursework that's relevant to today's IT professionals. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone Identity & Security Management Zone See your link here

Computerworld Executive Briefing: The Compliance Era Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. The new Computerworld report, The Compliance Era, explains why regulatory compliance has zoomed to the top of the IT agenda and shows how real-world IT executives are dealing with the storage, security and privacy challenges. Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. Download this executive briefing  From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center Register for this complimentary live webcast today! Go to the webcast  Qualified Security Assessors are not created equal Download this whitepaper, free for a limited time, compliments of VeriSign! (Source: VeriSign) Learn how a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) can help you acheive full compliance and security in this white paper, presented by VeriSign and Computerworld. Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Death to PST: Hidden Cost of Email Mismanagement Extend, Replace, or Convert; which is the best way forward for COBOL Applications? The Trend from Unix to Linux in SAP Data Centers View more whitepapers

• At 10, Google reiterates commitment to CIOs
• iPhone 3G owner sues Apple, AT&T over dropped calls, app crashes
• Microsoft explains Seinfeld-Windows TV ad: just a 'teaser'
• More top stories 

Since You Asked A weekly storage column from storage analyst, Steve Duplessie of the Enterprise Strategy Group Click here to read the latest column by Steve Duplessie

Eliminate SPAM, Gain Productivity Learn all about the dangers and the costs of spam in all its forms – from stock-touting to spreadsheet. Also, understand the drawbacks of traditional hardware- and software-based defenses – and the unique benefits of MessageLabs multi-layered, managed Anti-Spam solution; as illustrated by a real-world case study where MessageLabs stopped spam cold. Download this white paper now!  See more Whitepapers

The Spy Files For Congress to do anything that helps protect consumers and the critical Internet infrastructure as a whole, it must pass laws that require proactive processes to protect computers, not that tell people how to deal with the resulting mess, says Ira Winkler. Click here to read the latest column by Ira Winkler

Customer Satisfaction with Email Archiving Systems Osterman Research conducted a primary survey asking organizations about a variety of archiving systems to understand the level of satisfaction that customers of Sunbelt Exchange Archiver (SEA) and other email archiving offerings report on a variety of metrics related to product and vendor performance. Download this white paper now!