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Iowa Court May Order Microsoft Refunds

Posted by timothy on from the prime-winners-are-the-lawyers dept.

dowobeha writes: "The Des Moines Register is reporting that thousands of Windows 98 users in Iowa could get $40 refunds from Microsoft. The Iowa Supreme Court has found the big boys from Redmond guilty of price fixing in violation of a 1976 Iowa law. According to the report, this is the first antitrust ruling in any state that favors 'indirect purchasers' (regular consumers who got Windows preinstalled on their newly purchased computer) rather than "direct purchasers" (manufacturers who license Windows to distribute on new machines)."

5 of 316 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Of course... by slamb · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Since there are only about 3 computers in Iowa to being with

    That means the only computers in Iowa are in this room! That's amazing!

  2. Re:A small step? by Linux_ho · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Uh, I haven't read the law, but... how can they make monopolies illegal? I could see making ABUSE of monopoly power illegal, but you can't make monopolies illegal! Hell, that's what patents are for, granting a temporary monopoly to encourage innovation. If a company vastly outperforms its competitors (FAIRLY!) and it's competitors go out of business because they sucked, should the company be punished? Of course not. Not until they start abusing their monopoly power does it become illegal.

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    include $sig;
    1;
  3. Light on details? by nvrrobx · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I think that article was pretty light on details.

    Can someone explain how Microsoft setting the price of Windows at $89 (That sounds about right? I haven't bought a copy since Windows 95) is price gouging?

    According to Outpost.com:

    MacOS X 10.1.3 - $129

    On IBM's site:

    OS/2 Warp 4 - $284

    (I'd prefer responses that weren't full of anti-Microsoft rhetoric, thankyou)

  4. Big deal... by talks_to_birds · · Score: 2, Flamebait
    Price fixing is pretty much universal these days.

    I defy you to take the ads out of the Sunday paper, and find different prices for the exact same items in ads from Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, or any of the big, mass-market, national consumerist chains.

    They've even stopped bothering with the fiction of charging $xx.95 at one chain, versus $xx.99 at another chain - prices are for the most part identical.

    Where's the competition?

    Where's the "free marketplace" that some apologists like to trumpet?

    There is no such thing.

    t_t_b

    --
    I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
  5. Re:Prick by nick_davison · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Damn! I've got moderator access and can't find either -1 Petulent, -1 Chip On Shoulder or even -1 Get Over It, Move On With Your Life.