Wilhuf Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 US Dept. of Justice and Microsoft have come to a settlement of the antitrust charges. The deal would require Microsoft to give independent monitors full access to its books and plans for five years to ensure compliance and to provide information to help rivals make products compatible with its dominant Windows operating software. See The Washtech.com artcle. Sorry to burst your bubble, but, not surprisingly, Microsoft isn't going to be broken up, at least not by the Feds. Must be dissapointing to those who have it in for Micrsoft. Now can US taxpayers get their cash back for the wasted legal fees? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhuf Posted November 3, 2001 Author Share Posted November 3, 2001 Followup story in Washington Post: The tentative deal largely bypasses more radical remedies that had been proposed to curb the company's monopoly power over the market for operating-system software. No longer were authorities talking about breaking up the company or assigning a judge to supervise its day-to-day activities. Instead, the proposed agreement focuses on forcing the company to do something it says it does already: play nice and share. Microsoft would have to give hardware makers more power to control which icons appear on the first screen users see when they start their computers. The company also would have to reveal more of its computer code to software firms that want to develop applications that would run under the Windows operating systems. ... Under the compromise deal between Microsoft and the government, the company would have to share its Windows source code in a secure facility where Microsoft's technical experts would be on hand to answer questions. The company would not have to send out copies of the code. The idea is to protect Microsoft's intellectual-property rights by allowing programmers to only peek at the code. Disputes would be resolved by a three-member technical committee. Source. At the risk of being overly political: let this be a warning to you guys. Get off yer duffs and vote. In both local and national elections. Changes in administration do make a difference. [ November 02, 2001: Message edited by: Wilhuf ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millions o' Monkeys Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 sooo...in english what does that mean something like "microsoft we want you too stop releasing crap" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 More like... 'Here Microsoft. Take this slap on the wrist, and continue to dominate the market.' Somehow I can't see those items being enforced in any big way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.