[Am-info] Down the River

[Mitch Stone]

Does anyone who thought this wasn't going happen care to comment?

=====

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011102/tc/microsoft_dc_3.html

Friday November 2 10:49 AM ET 

U.S. Reaches Settlement with Microsoft

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Friday said it had 
reached an antitrust settlement with Microsoft Corp. that calls for the 
software giant to give computer makers more flexibility and share the 
inner workings of its Windows operating system with other software firms.

The pact, which must be approved by a federal judge and is not yet 
endorsed by the states that joined the case, is a far cry from splitting 
the company in two, a remedy sought by the previous administration under 
President Clinton.

The settlement would allow computer manufacturers to work with other 
software developers and place their products on Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT 
- news) Windows system, and prevent the software giant from punishing 
anyone who makes or uses competing products, the department said.

It would also require the software giant to provide software developers 
the necessary interfaces to inter-operate with Windows as well as offer 
uniform licensing terms to key computer makers.

``This historic settlement will bring effective relief to the market and 
ensure that consumers will have more choices in meeting their computer 
needs,'' U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement.

At a hearing on Friday, District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly 
granted the 18 states still in the case until Tuesday to examine the 
settlement.

If approved, the pact would bring to an end a three-year-old legal battle 
in which Microsoft was found to have illegally maintained its monopoly in 
personal computer operating systems.

Microsoft shares rose slightly at the start of trading on the Nasdaq 
stock market but then fell back. They were off 60 cents, to $61.24, after 
jumping more than 6 percent on Thursday on reports of a tentative 
settlement. The shares have risen about 50 percent this year but remain 
below a 52-week high of $76.15.

SETTLEMENT SEEN FAVORABLE TO MICROSOFT

Alan Loewenstein, a portfolio co-manager at John Hancock Technology Fund, 
which owns shares in Microsoft, said the proposed settlement looked very 
favorable to the company.

``It's the best thing for the company. They didn't split the company up. 
They didn't say you have to unbundle things,'' said Loewenstein.

[...]

 Mitch Stone  
 mitch@accidentalexpert.com