__/ [ Rex Ballard ] on Monday 18 December 2006 04:53 \__
> I'm not sure if this is new or not?
>
> It appears to be dated December 17, 2006
> And was from PCWorld
> http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/PCWorld/story?id=899809
>
> Microsoft will pay IBM $775 million and give it another $75 million in
> credit under an antitrust settlement announced by the two companies
> Friday.
>
> The settlement resolves all discriminatory pricing and overcharging
> claims stemming from the U.S. government's mid-1990s antitrust case
> against Microsoft, the companies say in a press release.
>
> The settlement also resolves most other IBM antitrust claims, including
> those related to its OS/2 operating system and SmartSuite products.
> IBM's claims of harm to its server hardware and server software
> businesses are not covered by the settlement, however.
>
> It's a fraction of the damages actually inflicted, but at least it
> includes a public admission of guilt.
Wasn't there some similar exchange last year where IBM accepted this guilt
money in the form of software coupons? The value was approximately a billion
dollars.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&sourceid=mozclient&num=50&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=ibm+microsoft
Produces nothing which corroborates...
The page you cited is not in Google's cache, so it definitely seems to be new
(or an island). As you said, such payments are an admission of guilt. There
are more on the queue...
Jury Hears Microsoft Competition Suit
,----[ Quote ]
| A judge on Friday told jurors they must accept as fact that a
| federal court found in 1999 that Microsoft holds a monopoly over
| computer operating systems and that it restricted computer
| manufacturers' ability to use competing systems.
|
| [...]
|
| She said she'll show that the company used its monopoly power
| to exclude competition and control prices and that it conspired with
| other companies to restrain trade, maintaining what she called a
| chokehold on software competitors and computer manufacturers.
|
| "It isn't illegal to be successful," Conlin said in opening
| remarks. "We applaud that. ... But you can't freeze out competitors
| and punish and retaliate against people who cooperate with
| competitors. Microsoft did all that and more."
|
| Conlin warned jurors that she would say some unflattering things
| about Microsoft and its billionaire founder Bill Gates, who
| serves as company chairman.
|
| [...]
|
| Conlin's first 3 1/2 hours of opening arguments delved deeply into
| computer industry history and how Microsoft fought off competitors
| attempting to design rival software.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061201/microsoft_trial.html?.v=1
I wonder how much Conlin relied in the Internet when putting together her
evidence. Too much information is yet to bite Microsoft in the rear end.
--
~~ Kind greetings and happy holidays!
Roy S. Schestowitz | Windows O/S: who ownZ you tod4y?
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|
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