Microsoft To Pay IBM In Antitrust Settlement

Pankaj Arora writes "A settlement has been reached in IBM's private antitrust case against Microsoft. According to the terms of the settlement, Microsoft will pay IBM $775 million cash in addition to $75 million in credit. From the article, 'The settlement resolves all discriminatory pricing and overcharging claims stemming from the U.S. government's mid-1990s antitrust case against Microsoft, the companies said in a statement. The settlement also resolves most other IBM antitrust claims, including those related to its OS/2 operating system and SmartSuite products. IBM's claims of harm to its server hardware and server software businesses are not covered by the settlement, however.'"

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Translated into English...

[jd]

Microsoft will agree that OS/2 was murdered in the dark, if IBM agrees to install $75 million dollars worth of Windows products.

And this helps which company, again?

What about everyone else?

[It doesn't come easy]

In the course of the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust suit against the software giant, the government claimed that IBM suffered from Microsoft's discriminatory pricing and overcharging practices, according to a Microsoft statement released Friday.
And what software competitor didn't suffer from Microsoft's discriminatory pricing and overcharging practices?

Speaking of the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust suit against Microsoft, what I want to know is: Has the Microsoft approved penalties for the antitrust trial they lost fulfilled the requirements of antitrust law?

The law requires that a remedy:
Stops The Unlawful Conduct
Prevents Recurrence Of Unlawful Conduct
Restores Competitive Conditions To The Market

Has this happened? What's your opinion?

Re:Piffle

[MarkByers]

But the point is that it will not at all affect their revenue stream, so since they are still making huge profits, they have no incentive to change their ways.

It's like successfully convincting bank robbers go after then letting them go with a fine of 50% of the money they stole, but letting them keep the other 50%. If they can get away with illegal activities and make a profit from it, what is the point in having a legal system at all? Surely there should be some sort of detterent to prevent them doing it again?

Intel should worry... AMD suit

[phorest]

From an AP article explaining the basis it sounds possible AMD might prevail if the same standard is applied... let's hope so!

The payout is one of the largest that Microsoft has made since U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled in 2000 that Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive practices. Jackson's ruling cited IBM as a company that Microsoft had forced to "desist from certain technological innovations and business initiatives."

For example, Microsoft didn't charge all computer makers the same amount for its Windows operating system, allegedly using higher prices as a cudgel against PC companies that didn't comply with Microsoft's wishes