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Preparing for War (3/8/98)
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If there was any question before about whether or not the Department of Justice was planning to extend its case against Microsoft, there now seems little doubt that the software company is the DoJ's new white whale. While the current "Redmond Justice" case stretches ever onward into the uncertain future, the DoJ keeps sniffing around Microsoft's business practices, in search of more evidence of unkosher activity. According to a ZDNet article, a "full-scale antitrust assault" may be in the works, and it may hit sooner rather than later.
Just last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee (which oversees the Justice Department) held a highly-publicized hearing that, while it didn't settle anything one way or the other, did apparently send a message to the DoJ to continue its actions against Microsoft. The DoJ is now sending out feelers to look into whether using a non-MS browser in Windows 98 would introduce any performance degradation, and they're also investigating the contracts Microsoft has arranged with web content creators to support the proprietary "Active Channel" format. The DoJ is currently trying to decide whether the next lawsuit should be targeted just at Windows 98, or at the general anticompetitive practices of Microsoft itself. Either way, they hope to file the next suit before Window 98 ships, which is expected to come out in early May, so we don't have long to wait to find out.
The other tricky decision the DoJ faces is what avenue they'll take to fix Microsoft's wagon, should they win their upcoming case. Will they break Microsoft up into lots of "BabySofts?" Or will they simply place and enforce restrictions on Microsoft's business practices? All assuming, of course, that they could win the case in the first place... Stay tuned, because it looks like the drama's just beginning...
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SceneLink (518)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 3/8/98 episode: March 8, 1998: The Apple Store's long-lost identical twin returns from school this April 30th. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems dumps their Macs, but at least they're dumping them somewhere useful, and the Justice Department prepares for all-out war with Microsoft...
Other scenes from that episode: 516: Progressive Education (3/8/98) Confirming rumors that have been flying for months at various Mac web sites, Apple finally announced the Apple Store for Education. Set for an April 30th launch, the Apple Store for Education will bring the same easy build-to-order configuration options currently available for consumers to the education market... 517: Yin and Yang (3/8/98) And Apple's new educational online store isn't the only reason that schools should celebrate. According to MacCentral, Cisco Systems is planning on donating more than 3700 Macs to some 300 public schools in the Bay Area over the next couple of years...
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