cyril_kearney - 2:21 pm on Apr 25, 2002 (gmt 0)

The States did not produce any evidence to show how consumers in their States were harmed. None.

The technology sector of the stock market has plummeted as a result of this case. This has harmed the stockholders and the lost equity has harmed many companies.

Now, a large number of businesses that rely on performing services for clients that use Microsoft products will be impacted if the States prevail.

Who wins in this case besides a few large companies like AOL-Time Warner, Sun and Oracle? They will win in the courts what they couldn't win in the marketplace.

When Standard Oil was broken up the resulting companies sold as much oil as before.

When ATT was broken up the resulting companies handled as many phone calls as before.

This case is not about breaking Microsoft in half with each half continuing to earn as much as before. This case is aimed at reducing Microsoft's market advantage. They want to make Microsoft less viable.

That is what the prior restraint part of the case is all about. That is why they want to transfer Microsoft's IE intellectual property to AOL-Time Warner, Microsoft's intellectual property on IM to AOL and Yahoo, Microsoft's intellectual property on streaming media to Real.

They want to restore the Java Virtual Machine that Sun sued to get removed, so that Sun can keep its marketshare.