Microsoft Offers A Modified Settlement

inepom01 writes: "Just read a story here about Microsoft offering a different settlement proposal- this one would have two other companies join in on the foundation MS is establishing- Connectix and Key Curriculum Press. Since Connectix makes software that lets Windows programs work on Macs, seems like same old Microsoft tricks." gnovos points to another story at MSNBC on the shifting terms of this proposal.

Comments

Re:What ever happened to justice?

[Anonymous Coward]

Please explain where Microsoft has been found guilty in this case, considering it has not gone to trial.

This case is one where a bunch of lawyers decided they could get their hands in the cookie jar, so they filed a load of class action lawsuits. But it all is based on an assumption that consumers were overcharged. Something that the DOJ and all it's lawyers was never able to prove in the court of law. Their case was solely about a monopoly, and the default assumption is that the harm of having a monopoly is that the company will overcharge.

But that's never been proven, not with Microsoft, but not ever in the history of anti-trust. Standard Oil brought prices down, so did Alcoa, and AT&T and so forth.

Essentially this case is based upon many false assumptions.

But regardless, this is a pre-trial settlement, Microsoft is trying to get out of going to court. Chances are they would win this case, but it would cost the company a lot more to fight in than the settlement costs.

This isn't about punishment, it isn't about guilt or innocence. I am amazed at the number of people who just plain do not understand this simple fact.

Re:I don't get it

[putaro]

Did you try using Internet Explorer 1.0? Any other company would have folded up and disappeared if that was their product. Sure, Netscape produced some crummy code and went down the tubes as a result. However, Microsoft would also have gone down the tubes long ago without their OS monopoly to prop up all their mistakes. Their ability to play the Terminator and just keep coming is a major factor in stifling innovation in the computer industry. Hey, I've got a great idea for writing new web browser software - now, what idiot wants to fund me to go up against Microsoft?

I think you DO get it..

[SethJohnson]

While others will debunk your mobster analogy by saying, "This is a CIVIL case, not a criminal case," I would like to say you've nailed this. The analogy finds its strength in that the money being used to pay the 'punishment' tax is money that was ill-gotten.

In US criminal drug cases, the accused is not allowed to use money from drug sales to pay a fine. It must be proven that the money came from legal sources.

Obviously, it would be impossible to determine how much money microsoft has made through 'legal' competition, so this won't work here (and again, this is a civil case). But this is similar to the mobster scenario. If a mobster swindles someone out of a bunch of money, and thr victim files a lawsuit (as the states have against microsoft), how just is it for the perpetrator to be punished by returning some of the money earned through swindling? Isn't the goal here to undo the value that has been added to the swindler's life and prevent the swindler from perpetrating fraud against other people? I don't see any of that happening with the proposed settlements.

Re:Mod parent down: -1; Dumbass

[phillymjs]

Macs are just as, if not more flakey than windows boxes.

I beg to differ. I'm an Integrator and though I do Windows stuff, I specialize in Macs. I can go for weeks, sometimes even months without getting a call from my Mac-using clients. I've got their systems running like well-oiled machines. My Windows clients, I'm lucky if I can make it through a week without getting a call that something has blown up, and badly-- and don't even get me started about these fucking Outlook viruses. My Windows-only co-workers continually marvel at how seldom the Macs under my care need fixing, and how quickly and easily they are fixed when they do malfunction.

Macs are much easier to fix. 98% of the time one or more of these things will fix the problem: reboot, rebuild the desktop, run Norton, zap PRAM, trash the faulty app's preference file. 1% of the time, a reinstall or clean install of the OS (which takes significantly less time than a reinstall of Windows, BTW) will be necessary to fix the problem. The remaining 1% of the time, it's a hardware failure.

~Philly