As the Apple Turns: Scene 106: SLAM! DoJ Busts M$ (10/21/97)

SLAM! DoJ Busts M$ (10/21/97)

Poor beleaguered Microsoft... Seems they have no end of troubles these days. First, Sun Microsystems, in a heavily-publicized lawsuit, sues them for breach of contract because of the incompatible version of Java in MSIE 4.0. Then consumer advocate Ralph Nader started to kick up dust. And now, Janet Reno and the U.S. Department of Justice have leapt in to take their shots.

The DoJ has noticed that Microsoft is requiring that PC hardware manufacturers include Internet Explorer with every system that they ship with Windows 95. That's right-- in order to license Windows 95, Gateway, Dell, et al must agree to include MSIE as well. The DoJ says this is a violation of a 1995 consent decree in which Microsoft agreed not to use its OS monopoly as leverage to set up yet another monopoly.

Microsoft, predictably, has argued that MSIE is part of the Windows operating system, which we could believe-- if we were wearing Bill-colored glasses. The DoJ will have none of it, though; they, like the rest of the semirational world, realize that a web browser is an application. So, in ten days it'll be up to U.S. District Judge Thomas Jackson who's right and who's wrong. If the judge sides with the DoJ, Microsoft may be fined $1 million a day.

Sun, Nader, and the DoJ: Pig Pile on Microsoft! Who's next?

SceneLink (106)

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The above scene was taken from the 10/21/97 episode:

October 21, 1997: (Sorry—this was before we started writing intro text for each episode!)

Other scenes from that episode:

104: Hypothetically Speaking (10/21/97) My oh my, strong hypothetical words from the Mac Conspiracy. They present an entirely hypothetical situation in which a hypothetical Mac news website hypothetically "shuts down" without reason, inciting suspicion of intervention by the Man, then suddenly (and hypothetically) reappears, with no explanation as to why they were down...
105: Insider Scandal (10/21/97) Another take on the MacInsider drama is MacCentral's amazing coverage, and they're not dealing in hypotheticals. Read the email they received, revealing that MacInsider is not run by ex-Apple employees whom Apple pressured into silence by threatening the jobs of their still-employed friends (pity, we rather liked that scenario-- lots of drama)...
107: Happy Birthday to Us (10/21/97) Hey, it's our one-month birthday! Thanx to all of our faithful viewers for making our pilot a success; with Nielsen Ratings of over 30,000 viewers, AtAT's been picked up for another season. :-) We are working on some interface changes, including better support for Cyberdog, a text-only version, and some other niceties...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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