WASHINGTON (voa) – A U.S. judge has approved most of the provisions of an anti-trust settlement between computer giant Microsoft, the Department of Justice and nine states.
In issuing her ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected the assertion of nine other U.S. states that the agreement was not in the public interest.
She said those states had presented little justification or economic analysis to back their claims that Microsoft should face harsher remedies. In a statement issued by the Justice Department, Attorney General John Ashcroft, said he was pleased by the judge’s decision.
Microsoft said it was reviewing Friday’s decision and had no comment at this time.
The settlement was reached one year ago. It allows computer manufacturers to make cosmetic changes on the Microsoft-brand Windows operating system to allow it to feature software made by Microsoft rivals.
The settlement also bars Microsoft from retaliating against computer makers who choose rival products or from entering into agreements that require the exclusive support of some Microsoft products.
An appeals court in June 2001 upheld rulings that Microsoft had illegally maintained its monopoly of the Windows operating system, but rejected an order that the company be broken in two. The case was then transferred to Judge Kollar-Kotelly to determine appropriate remedies.
NEW YORK (PRNewswire) – Nationally syndicated radio columnist Andy Martin will host a special worldwide radio/Internet news conference edition of “Andy Martin’s America” Monday, November 4th at 1:00 P.M. to condemn court approval of a Bush Administration/Microsoft settlement. Martin issued a statement today, November 1st, condemning the settlement and saying “the judge caved.”
“Eight (8) years ago I commented at the Justice Department on the ‘first’ Microsoft settlement that it would end up in court again. In 1995, I formed the Committee to Fight Microsoft, the first consumer organization designed to protect the public from predatory computer practices. At that time, state attorneys general had no technical capability; we literally created it from the ground up with path-breaking legal memos and complaints. We pushed for federal action, and eventually it was forthcoming when Joel Klein took action. In the meantime, Microsoft continued to ignore federal law and make monopoly profits.
“The result of today’s ruling will be more court action, more monopoly profits for Microsoft and more grief for consumers.
“Microsoft is a fundamentally unlawful corporate entity dedicated to cheating the public with shoddy products and use of its monopoly profits to fight the government. It is the essence of organized corporate crime, complete with misleading books, arrogant and abusive employees, and contempt for the court system. This arrogance has worked marvelously as a business strategy for Microsoft. Nothing has changed after four years of court action. We will have more of the same. More accusations of anti-competitive activity, more lawsuits, more Microsoft money poured into sending lawyers’ children to college.
“Hundreds of millions of American consumers will spend more hours of agony because Microsoft products are fundamentally bad and work poorly. Microsoft’s history of security-flawed code is worse than the FBI’s.
“Microsoft’s contempt for the marketplace and the court system was recently shown in two ways: they started dictating higher prices to businesses for use of software, mandating upgrades, and they started requiring consumer buyers to ‘register’ their products and limited use of Microsoft products on more than one computer. The bottom line: the public cannot expect protection from the government, which capitulated to political influence in the Bush Administration. The system failed again,” Martin said.
Martin served as an assistant to former Illinois U.S. Senator Paul H. Douglas. He has been involved in various aspects of broadcasting for 34 years. He also served as an adjunct professor of law at the City University of New York.
Web site: http://www.andymartin.com/
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