Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Appeal Schedule Set
Quite a few people have submitted the the information that the Microsoft Anti-Trust Case has had its schedule set. Nov. 27 is the deadline for a submittal of MS's brief, which will be limited to 150 pages. The Justice Dept has until Jan 12, 2001 with 125 pages. And...you can read the rest.
Although the original spec for the project called for 150 pages, Microsoft announced that they had decided to delay release by an additional 3 months to allow the increased staff to deliver a 450 page product. The new projected release date for Appeal (v2.0) would be February 27th 2001.
A Microsoft spokesman said "We didn't feel that we could do a very good job on the product in only 150 pages, so we decided to push the release date back from the original end of November target to the end of February next year. We believe that we can include considerably more functionality in Appeal (V2.0) in 450 pages than we could if we limited ourselves to the original target."
Microsoft also pre announced Appeal (V3.0) which spokesman said "would be over 3000 pages - a considerable increase." One source close to the Appeal (v3.0) team said that over 1000 pages of Appeal (V3.0) would be a reprint of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged with the "John Galt" character name being changed to "Bill Gates".
Mr. Gates said he was pleased with the progress on Appeal (V3.0), which he said could "revolutionize the legal industry". He strongly hinted that Appeal (V2.0) was a "stopgap" release, and that Appeal (V3.0) would be the release everyone should wait for.
Federal Judges are appointed by the President, as are supreme court justices. It probably matters who you vote for, as GWB has accepted campaign
0 .html
h tm
contributions from microsoft employees (and opposed litigation sometimes. A consultant for him worked at M$)
http://www.democrats.org/news/bulletins/sb03030
while Gore spoke AT Microsoft in FAVOUR of litigaton:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctg675.
In other words, those who are looking for government to give M$ a well deserved slapdown are going to be better supporting Gore.
-Ben
P.S. I don't like public health programs and the current Social Security laws. I'm still voting for Bush.
Ms believes that it is above the law.
Well, as a shareholder in MSFT, of course they do. Heck, they're trying to defeat a shareholder proposal to require them to itemize all their campaign contributions. If that happened, you'd realize how they bought off all the politicians and why they want to drag it on as long as possible, so that they can get their congressmen to kill actions against them.
The law is only for the poor and the middle class. Didn't you learn anything from OJ's trial?
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Yeah, but they built that empire in part by using their monopoly power illegally. Remember that Microsoft isn't being broken up because it's a monopoly. It's being broken up because it used it's monopoly power in restraint of free trade by, for instance, setting pricing policies that essentially required companies to pay Microsoft even when they didn't install a Microsoft OS. It's great that Free Software may eventually be able to beat Microsoft by competing fairly, but that day's going to come a lot sooner if MS is forced to compete fairly, too.
There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.
Both sides are trying to both appear neutral (so as to not to be seen as interfering in legal matters) and at the same time trying to attract\reassure voters with a few hints.
For example, Al shows up on Microsoft's campus, declares that he can't talk about the case and then proceeds to talk about how big businesses who abuse their monopoly power should be stopped. Heck, even Bill Gates would have agree'd with what he said literally but when he said it in the context of a visit to Microsoft it comes off as support for Reno and the DOJ.
With George he says almost the same thing, "big businesses who abuse their power, blah, blah, blah..." but then says on PBS "I hope, though, that whatever settlement is done it won't ruin this company because this company has been a very interesting innovator, and so I hope the judge would keep in mind that this company is an important part of the technological revolution taking place in America". Microsoft, innovative??? Hmm...
Of course, what both these guys are trying to say is "I agree with whatever you believe - please just vote for me" and has little (or nothing) to do with what they'll actually do should they get elected. That's politics folks.
AC.
Larry Lessig presented oral arguments before the same court on Thursday, in Eldred v. Reno.
I sat in the front row and was impressed by the court's computer network that allowed judges to send messages back and forth to their law clerks, who sat to the side. Judge Douglas Ginsburg used his frequently, but the other judges didn't have laptops before them.
Larry was close enough to notice that the laptops were all Apple Powerbooks. Microsoft will have an interesting time there!
The 1999 annual report of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals includes a lot of information about the technological revolution in that court. See the PDF file.
This ought to show that this circuit court can handle advanced technological arguments and information and that there is no need for special courts for computer-related cases. I would have liked to have seen the case go directly to the Supreme Court for answers to some important points of law, but I for one feel this court can render a fair verdict and make the higher court's job easier.
So that's why Epson just came out with a 2880x720 dpi printer....
However, remember that there are 19 states still following this up, and the new Prez can't tell them to drop it. Yes, without DOJ support, the states' case have a bit tougher time of winning, but they've already gotten past the key issue ( the finding of facts) with the DOJ's help.
Another thing in BillG's favor is that there's suggestions that the appealate court might send the case back to the federal level, with the stipulation that Judge Jackson cannot preside over it because of bias he stated in interviews after the trial (and during the trial if rumors are right). Mind you, a new judge could be worse for MS, but I think they'd take their chance with that.
But of course, MS wins mainly because we are now looking at any resolution to this (after appeals and SC hearings) no earlier than Q4, 2001, approximately the scheduled release of .NET. And if Win95 with IE was a problem, .NET would be even worse, and asking MS to halt the use of .NET would be like telling Napster to shut down -- they *could* claim they will go out of business with any unfavorable/breakup/C&D ruling, and most likely, we'll end up with another slap on the wrist case. The DOJ and others need to put pressure on the court system to speed this case up to still allow it to be fair, but to make sure that MS 'innovation' doesn't suck in too many ppl when the ruling is handed down.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
that he supports anti-trust law, will yield to the judges opinion on
the anti-trust case, and dismisses speculation that he is in the
Microsft camp.
Unless people have better information, I think this should put to rest
the `Bush will axe MS case' rumor.
What can George do to derail this thing?
If George Bush wins he said he would do something to "end this anti-trust nonsense" or something to that effect.
Is there anything he can do as Prez to stop this? Could he appoint people to the DOJ to "drop all charges" ??
Bitcoin pyramid: Join here: http://www.bitcoinpyramid.com/r/1427 it's FREE!