[Am-info] Re: MS Depositions

[Mitch Stone]

--- From a message sent by John J. Urbaniak on 1/31/02 5:44 AM ---

>
>Paul Rickard wrote:
>
>> ========== On 2002.01.30 04:45 PM, John J. Urbaniak typed: ============
>>
>> >I don't mean settlement.  Has there ever been a case where the Judge or 
jury
>> >ruled in favor of Microsoft?
>> >
>> >If, as I think, the answer is no, why are all these lawyers so terrified to
>> >take the bastards on?
>>
>>     They won the lawsuit Appled filed against them over the look and feel
>> of Windows. That's all I can think of, and it was probably 10 years ago.
>>
>
>Are you sure?  Didn't they settle that suit about 3 years ago with Apple 
>getting
>lots of money and MS getting 15-20% of Apple stock?

Good lord no. The suit settled in 1997 with the Microsoft investment was 
over stolen Quicktime code. The settlement was the $150 million purchase 
of non-voting shares (and probably more straight cash behind the scenes) 
and amounted to nothing close to 15-20% of Apple's stock. At most 5%, 
based on Apple's market value at the time. 

This myth never seems to die as it should, but instead grows and 
transmutes over time into one grotesque horror story after another. The 
version I hear most frequently is that Apple was broke and Bill Gates 
bailed them out. Of the people who have ever heard of this transaction, 
I'd estimate half believe this version of the story. Most of the rest 
believe some other looney-tunes version.

 Mitch Stone  
 mitch@accidentalexpert.com