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More Trustbusting Action (1/8/98)
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And Microsoft isn't the only industry giant worried about being taken down a notch. Remember the bitter fight between Intel and Digital? "Previously, on BigTech Law:" Digital sued Intel for patent infringement, claiming that Intel's forthcoming Merced chip incorporated proprietary technology stolen from the design of Digital's Alpha processor. So Intel did what any red-blooded technological megacompany would do in such a situation-- they countersued Digital, for roughly the same types of infringements. But just like in a Shakespearean comedy, these little tiffs always end with a wedding of sorts: in late October, a settlement was reached in which Intel agreed to buy all of Digital's semiconductor manufacturing plants, which effectively transformed the Alpha from a competitive chip into an irrelevant one-- at least from Intel's standpoint.
But in today's episode, there's a kink in this diabolical plan. According to the L.A. Times, the Federal Trade Commission has found "serious antitrust problems" with Intel's plan to buy Digital's plants, and may not allow the deal to go through. Basically, with the Alpha no longer really competing with the Pentium, those dancing clean-room engineers are the only game in town for certain applications, like running Windows NT. Yes, Intel's agreed to build Alphas for seven more years, but to us that sounds like if Apple agreed to get all its Macs built by Compaq, which they would then sell against Compaq's own systems-- interesting, certainly, but not really particularly competitive. The FTC is expected to finish its investigation later this year.
My, oh, my... Microsoft and Intel both facing antitrust difficulties at the same time. Sure makes for a fun week, doesn't it?
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 1/8/98 episode: January 8, 1998: (Sorry—this was before we started writing intro text for each episode!)
Other scenes from that episode: 339: "Bite Me, Wall Street!" (1/8/98) We at AtAT were totally unaware of the potentially disastrous ramifications of Steve Jobs' sudden departure in the middle of a CNBC interview the other day. (If you happen to be running Internet Explorer 4.0, you can see the infamous moment yourself, in NetShow format.)... 340: Sucking Up Pre-Hearing (1/8/98) Seems to us that Microsoft may be getting just a wee bit nervous about Tuesday's contempt hearing. After weeks of public statements and court filings that could only be charitably described as outwardly hostile and disrespectful of both Judge Jackson and the Department of Justice, a Reuters story today has Chief Operating Officer Robert Herbold apologizing for his company's rhetoric. Herbold says he is "sorry" for any company statements that "suggest [they] do anything but respect [the judge and the DoJ]."...
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