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Microsoft Settles Minnesota Antitrust Suit
An anonymous reader writes "According to the Star Tribune: 'The Microsoft antitrust suit in Minnesota was settled out-of-court Monday seven weeks after it began, but before the plaintiffs even finished putting on their case before the jury. Terms of the settlement won't be disclosed until they are finalized and presented to a Hennepin County judge for preliminary approval 'in early summer,' Microsoft said in a statement. The antitrust suit in Hennepin Country District Court sought as much as half a billion dollars from Microsoft for alleged overcharges of more than 1 million Minnesota consumers and businesses who bought Microsoft Windows, Word or Excel software between 1994 and 2001.'"
Don't forget Microsoft previously paid $1.55 billion to settle similar suits in nine other states and the District of Columbia.
Opera Watch - An Opera browser blog.
So thats pretty much an admission of guilt, isn't it? As well as a simple fine, wouldn't it make sense for the law to introduce checks and balances to prevent companies taking advantage like this again? What is to stop Microsoft overcharging and just paying fines? Oops, they did it again...