Blatant Evidence from McSoft Reinvigorates Antitrust Action

[Charles Behney <charlesaugust@theriver.com>]

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/reut/0406/304442.html

DOJ wants to settle with another consent decree, bundled to the previous
one. If this happens, will McSoft announce that they are 'partnering'
with DOJ, a la Intel? Maybe they can create a new antitrust standard,
fresh out of Beta.

snip.....


> Antitrust chief Joel Klein was
>               weighing legal tactics and had not
>               decided whether to file a new case,
>               the paper newspaper said. Klein is
>               expected to give Microsoft's lawyers
>               a final opportunity to head off new
>               charges against the company in a
>               face-to-face meeting late next week.
>
>               Investigators obtained internal
>               Microsoft documents that supported
>               a broader case against Microsoft, the
>               Journal said. One striking example
>               was a confidential 1996 strategic plan
>               calling for a six-month attack on
>               Netscape Communications Corp.'s
>               lead in Internet software, which the
>               plan called "scary."
>
>               The plan directed managers to gain
>               "exclusive licensing of Internet
>               Explorer" to the five largest
>               Internet-service providers; these
>               companies are major distribution
>               channels for Internet software.
>
>               "You should be able to break most of
>               Netscape's licensing deals and return
>               them to our advantage because our
>               browsers are free," the Journal
>               quoted the plan saying. It also called
>               for squeezing Netscape sales to
>               corporate buyers by exploiting
>               companywide Windows licenses that
>               include the rights to Microsoft's
>               Internet software at no additional
>               cost.
>
>               "We should have absolutely dominant
>               browser share in the corporate
>               space," the plan said, according to
>               the Journal. "Many of our customers
>               already have a license for Internet
>               Explorer but don't know it."
>
>               Salesmen pitching corporate users,
>               Netscape's largest sales channel,
>               "must make it clear that it does not
>               make any sense to buy Netscape
>               Navigator."
>
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  cab