Microsoft Admonished by U.S. District Court Judge

An anonymous reader writes "The Seattle Times reports that the judge in the z4 'product activation' patent infringement case has increased the jury's original $115 million verdict against Microsoft by $25 million. Both Microsoft and Autodesk (another defendant) were admonished by the judge for misconduct. The judge wrote 'The Court concludes that Defendants attempted to bury the relevant 107 exhibits ... in a massive pile of decoys' and called one failure to disclose evidence 'an intentional attempt by Defendants to mislead z4 and this Court.'"

Comments

Thumbing their nose at the law?

[crucini]

These actions by MS are indicative of the collapse of the rule of law in the US.

One datapoint does not make a trend. This is not the first time the courts found against a big company, nor is it the first time legal process has been abused. So where's the collapse? Isn't it rather a chronic problem?

As for your draconian punishments, while I see the emotional appeal, they would be foolish. We expect corporations to zealously pursue profit, and lawyers to zealously represent their clients. When they go over the line they are punished like athletes who commit a foul, not like criminals who kill someone. The goal is not to instill horror, but to keep the balance of incentives on the right side of the line.

Remember, brains and capital are mobile. A company like Microsoft won't set up shop in a country with severe punishments for erring executives. Passing such laws is a recipe for turning a first world nation into a third world nation.