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DoJ Lacking Appeal (7/13/98)
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Not that it's a big shock or anything, but word has it that the Department of Justice does not plan to appeal the last decision in the "Redmond Justice" case. They reportedly feel that they would have relatively little to gain if they win, and a lot to lose if the appeal fails. You can read all the gory details in the San Jose Mercury News.
For those of you who have misplaced your scorecards, the decision we're discussing is the June 23rd overturning of last December's preliminary injunction, which required Microsoft to provide an Internet Explorerless version of Windows 95 to PC manufacturers. The DoJ apparently has forty-five days in which to appeal the appeal (!), but plans not to pursue the option, preferring to focus on its "Redmond Justice II" sequel, which is the much broader antitrust action against Microsoft, undertaken with the attorneys general of twenty states. Unfortunately for the DoJ, the overturning of the injunction validates Microsoft's claim that Internet Explorer is an inseparable part of Windows, and not a separate and distinct product (despite the fact that Microsoft gave away thousands of CD-ROMs of Internet Explorer for the Mac at last week's Expo, with no Windows on the disc). Rather than risk losing the appeal, which would pretty much let Microsoft cling to that argument forever, Justice plans to focus instead on other anticompetitive practices in the upcoming September 8th trial.
Sounds like a good move, and one that lets them try to use the "bundling as abuse of monopoly" argument even though it's been weakened. Other than to set precedent, why appeal a decision that affects Windows 95 when pretty much every PC manufacturer is shipping Windows 98 now instead?
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 7/13/98 episode: July 13, 1998: Don't stare straight at it, but Newer's got a 400 MHz surprise waiting in the wings. Meanwhile, Mac OS X continues to wear the "G3-only" label, and the Department of Justice decides to focus on its broad action against Microsoft rather than appealing its last setback...
Other scenes from that episode: 850: Copper Equals Speed (7/13/98) Time to start drooling... According to Reality, Newer Technology was showing off a top secret new upgrade card to selected MacWorld Expo guests last week. (Apparently somebody didn't take their non-disclosure agreement very seriously.)... 851: Backward Incompatibility (7/13/98) While we're on the subject of upgrade cards, it's probably a good time to mention what you've likely already heard from other sources, but it bears repeating: we heard from several Apple representatives at last week's Expo that Mac OS X, next year's breakthrough operating system, will not run on any hardware other than Apple-branded G3 systems and higher...
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