MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the host
of anti-trust suits brought against it.

MS may have got a get-out-of-jail-free card from the Bush administration for
their 12 federal anti-trust convictions....but consumers, competitors,
state regulators and the European Union aren't as easily or cheaply bought
off as G W Bush was.

************************************************** ***


Microsoft to pay $23-million (U.S.) to Be
Associated Press

SEATTLE ? Microsoft Corp. agreed Friday to pay $23.3-million (U.S.) to Be
Inc. to settle an antitrust lawsuit that claimed the software giant
negotiated deals with computer makers that cut out the smaller company's
competing operating system.

Microsoft admits no wrongdoing under the settlement. The company did not
disclose further details.

The lawsuit, filed in February 2002, is one of four private antitrust suits
brought against Microsoft after a U.S. federal judge's ruling that
Microsoft had acted as an illegal monopoly based on its dominance in
desktop operating systems.

Redmond-based Microsoft resolved one of the private cases in May, agreeing
to pay AOL Time Warner $750-million to settle its private antitrust lawsuit
on behalf of AOL's Netscape division. The other two, filed by Sun
Microsystems and Burst.com, remain in pretrial proceedings in federal court
in Maryland.

Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler declined to say whether the company is in
settlement discussions with either party.

Microsoft also faces another 12 state class-action antitrust lawsuits filed
on behalf of consumers.

Be, based in Mountain View, Calif., contended that Microsoft violated
California and federal antitrust laws by negotiating deals with computer
manufacturers to use Microsoft's operating system exclusively, cutting out
Be's competing operating system. Be is in the process of shutting down its
business under a dissolution plan approved by its shareholders in 2001.

Microsoft contended that Be failed for reasons unrelated to Microsoft.

"While we believe we would have ultimately prevailed in this case, Microsoft
is very pleased to settle this lawsuit," Microsoft general counsel Brad
Smith said in a statement.

Be's president, Dan Johnston, did not immediately return a call seeking
comment Friday evening.

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

"steve" wrote
> Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the host
> of anti-trust suits brought against it.

$23M.. oohhh, poor microsoft... they probably have more than that in petty
cash.

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

T.N.O. allegedly said:

> "steve" wrote
>> Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the
>> host of anti-trust suits brought against it.
>
> $23M.. oohhh, poor microsoft... they probably have more than that in petty
> cash.

.....crime doesn't pay.

This is just one of their suits.

They are also in danger of being forced to pay US$500m / MONTH in damages to
the EU fines.......

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

Patrick Bold allegedly said:

> "steve" <steve@unowut.org> wrote in message
> news:lF87b.15$tv1.6629@news02.tsnz.net...
>> Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the
> host
>> of anti-trust suits brought against it.
>>
>> MS may have got a get-out-of-jail-free card from the Bush
> administration for
>> their 12 federal anti-trust convictions....but consumers, competitors,
>> state regulators and the European Union aren't as easily or cheaply
> bought
>> off as G W Bush was.
>>
>
> Stick US$1 billion cash in an ordinary savings account for a year and
> the settlement is paid in full. Multiply US$1 billion by 40 (Microsoft's
> cash reserves at the end of 2002) and you have a rough idea of just how
> (un)painful this whole business is for them.

The EU anti-trust fines may be 40 times this - per month.

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

"steve" wrote
> ....crime doesn't pay.

It does if you make more than you pay out, but from what you have mentioned
below, even MS may have trouble with that.

> They are also in danger of being forced to pay US$500m / MONTH in damages
to
> the EU fines.......

What for this time?

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

> steve scribbled:
> Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the
> host of anti-trust suits brought against it.

It's a business decision.
It's probably the least expensive option, after calculating the
costs.....
Oh and it's also the way the legal system works. Surely you're not
suggesting that Microsoft not be allowed to use the legal system like
that?

> MS may have got a get-out-of-jail-free card from the Bush
> administration for their 12 federal anti-trust convictions....but
> consumers, competitors, state regulators and the European Union
> aren't as easily or cheaply bought off as G W Bush was.

You think? By the time everyone else (especially the European Union)
gets around to making a decision, the whole IT world, let alone
Microsoft would have moved on, got over it, and be using the latest OS,
software, and hardware......

BTW How long does it take for Microsoft to earn $23 million? 15
minutes? 30 minutes? an hour?

--
mlvburke@#%&*.net.nz
Replace the obvious with paradise to email me.
See Found Images at:
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/~mlvburke

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

In article <bjj54o$j4v5t$1@ID-183327.news.uni-berlin.de>,
news@dave.net.nz says...
> "steve" wrote
> > Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the host
> > of anti-trust suits brought against it.
>
> $23M.. oohhh, poor microsoft... they probably have more than that in petty
> cash.

What? After they paid AOL $750 million?

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

"Mainlander" <*@*.*> wrote in message
news:MPG.19c80e72ad808ad4989c80@news.paradise.net. nz...
> In article <bjj54o$j4v5t$1@ID-183327.news.uni-berlin.de>,
> news@dave.net.nz says...
> > "steve" wrote
> > > Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the
host
> > > of anti-trust suits brought against it.
> >
> > $23M.. oohhh, poor microsoft... they probably have more than that in
petty
> > cash.
>
> What? After they paid AOL $750 million?

Ok, so they gotta get a cheque signed. Still ain't gonna hurt them much.

Think about it. Would 1 million pcs in nz with $750 ms software in each be
too great a leap? Probably a huge underestimation.

Rob

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

On Tue, 9 Sep 2003 15:21:39 +1200, Mainlander <*@*.*> wrote:

>In article <bjj54o$j4v5t$1@ID-183327.news.uni-berlin.de>,
>news@dave.net.nz says...
>> "steve" wrote
>> > Microsoft is shelling out yet again in order to settle another in the host
>> > of anti-trust suits brought against it.
>>
>> $23M.. oohhh, poor microsoft... they probably have more than that in petty
>> cash.
>
>What? After they paid AOL $750 million?

They still won in this case, didn't they? IE now deployed exclusively
on AOL and Netscape shut down.

Re: MS to settle anti-trust suit with 'Be'
 

At least the desktop OS is resurrected under the Zeta name at
http://www.yellowtab.com/

Of two people who I knew of who used it, one said he had no crashes in
a whole year, the other said he had one crash, which was his own
fault.