Justice dept says it won't persue MS breakup.

[seth_wilde]

"The government told Microsoft that it does not intend to pursue a breakup and will drop the bundling issue"

I just hope the states don't take the same line of action

[news.excite.com...]

[Laisha]

>I just hope the states don't take the same line of action

From MSNBC [msnbc.com]:

>The 19 state Attorneys General involved in the case publicly backed the decision.

However, MS is not going completely back to where they started. The first steps ordered by Judge Jackson included "allowing PC makers to remove icons for Microsoft products like Internet Explorer and install competing software, forbidding Microsoft from punishing any computer maker that installs competitive software on PCs, forcing Microsoft to disclose certain technical information about Windows, and barring Microsoft from entering into exclusive contracts."

My understanding of all the news reports is that they're just not going to be forced to break the company up. To my mind, that's a good set of decisions: it rights the major wrongs committed by MS while not further hurting the economy.

Hopefully, this will undo the tech stock slide it started. Then I can finally sell these worthless pieces of paper. :)

[grnidone]

I am confused by this whole thing.

My understanding is that Microsoft is still considered a monopoly, but the justice department hasn't figured out how they are going to 'punish' Microsoft for it.

I also thought I heard on the news that one of the reasons that the Justice department did not decide to break up MS is so the case could be pushed through the courts more quickly, although, I just don't see how that could be possible.

?

-G

[seth_wilde]

Two states participating in the Microsoft antitrust case [zdnet.com] have a message for the Justice Department: If you go soft on the software giant, we're ready to push for stronger sanctions on our own.

<shortened link>

(edited by: Marcia at 6:25 pm (gmt) on Sep. 10, 2001

[awcabot]

Unfortunately this forum is not the place to discuss economic theory, however I will give in my two cents.

If MSFT was broken up, I would have immediately bought the stock and held if for the long term, looking forward to the same collective growth of AT&T and the Baby Bells had over the past 15 years. The competitive drive inherent in the people at MSFT, the capital (financial, intellectual and brand)of the present company, the possibilities of software in general would have led the MicroBabys to become even more important than the current MSFT could ever possibly hope to become.

But a unified MSFT which has to pull a heavy legislative load can not continue to be the company it was in the past 15 years, but will have to turn into a company run by lawyers, not managers or even programmers. This will make it into a meek company in which all processes will have to be approved by internal management and then a government supervisory body.

If I were Gates, I would have opted into a split.