About Windows monopoly

Published: 24 September 1999 y., Friday
A government attorney intoned a litany of what he called Microsoft offenses against antitrust laws Tuesday morning before a packed courtroom. David Boies, the lead attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in its quest to reign in Microsoft practices, focused particularly on a June 21, 1995, meeting at which, he said, Microsoft tried to divide the browser marketwith Netscape Communications. He pointed to notes by then-Netscape chief technology officer Marc Andreessen as proof. "Look at the documents," Boies said. As has become his custom, Boies spoke fluidly, without notes, calling up documents at will to reinforce his points. He highlighted e-mail messages from Microsoft senior vice president Jim Allchin that talk of the company_s need to use Windows as a competitive advantage. "We must use Windows - it_s the one thing they do not have," Allchin wrote. Boies said Microsoft was so intent on using its Windows monopoly that it was willing to hold back new technology from OEM partners, even if those partners -- and, by extension, their customers -- would suffer as a result. In an e-mail message, Allchin wrote that the company should withold certain other technologies in Windows 98 so the company could get its Internet Explorer browser integrated with the OS. There was a market for a separate browser and an OS, but Microsoft not only integrated the browser into Windows, but also "welded it so OEMs and customers couldn_t change it," Boies said. Boies hammered home three points: that Microsoft monopolized the OS market, that it attempted to do the same with browsers --both in defiance of section two of the Sherman Antitrust Act -- and that it practiced unreasonable constraint of trade, a violation of section one. Toward the latter point, he said Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft entered into exclusive deals with ISPs to distribute and maintain its browser and to refrain from distributing Netscape Navigator. Microsoft will have its turn to present its key points later Tuesday afternoon.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Volcanic ash cloud crisis: Commission outlines response to tackle the impact on air transport

European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, today presented to the College a preliminary assessment of the economic consequences for the air transport industry of the volcanic ash crisis. more »

EU draft budget 2011: The future beyond the crisis

Boosting economic recovery, investing in Europe's youth and in tomorrow's infrastructures are the priorities of the 2011 draft budget adopted by the Commission on 27 April 2010. more »

Vice President Almunia welcomes Visa Europe's proposal to cut interbank fees for debit cards

European Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia welcomes proposed commitments by Visa Europe to significantly cut its multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) for debit card payments. more »

Volcano impacts flower business

Because of the Icelandic volcano, flower growers in Colombia couldn't get their stems to markets in Europe. more »

Salgado expresses conviction that all EU countries will support aid for Greece

The Second Vice President of the Spanish government and Minister of Economy and Finance, Elena Salgado, on Sunday played down the importance of apparent fissures within the EU concerning the Greek financial crisis, expressing her confidence that all countries would support the aid package for this country, which will be accompanied by a tough budget-tightening plan. more »

The European conformity mark

Commission launches an information campaign on the CE conformity mark - designed to ease the free movement of goods around Europe and protect consumers. more »

Airport security - who will foot the bill?

If Europe's airports ever open again the introduction of new security measures like body scanners will be expensive. more »

Learning the lessons from Greece

After Eurozone Finance Ministers agreed measures to address Greece’s financial woes last Sunday, MEPs quizzed leading economic figures, including the chairman of Goldman Sachs - former financial advisors to the Greek government - on how to strengthen EU economic governance and improve reporting of national statistics. more »

A new strategic vision for the EU's Tourism Policy

The European Tourism Stakeholders Conference, being held in Madrid today and tomorrow, will explore ways and means to strengthen the visibility of tourism at a European level and to verify how the actions to promote a competitive EU tourism industry. more »

EBRD, IFC, FMO, and ADM Capital Launch Fund to Help Companies in CEE, Central Asia, and Turkey Recover from Crisis

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), World Bank Group member IFC, and The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) have joined up with the Asia Debt Management Hong Kong (ADM Capital) to establish a regional fund to invest in midsize companies facing financing difficulties as a result of the financial crisis. more »