The (Tiger August's Eve), October 19, 1998, Microsoft against the U.S. government.



this pulled unclear lawsuit seems to indicate that the old order and the reality has been a rapid development in the 20th century, the irreconcilable contradictions
after more than a year of back and forth, the U.S. District Court of Washington in 1O May 19 court hearing the Department of Justice and 2O state government to prosecute the world's software giant - Microsoft case of violation of the federal antitrust laws. Since October last year, the U.S. Department of Justice began to invoke the antitrust laws of the relevant provisions of the Microsoft investigation, that the Microsoft cases of its Internet browser into Windows 95 and later Windows 98 operating system with sales suspected of monopolizing the market, resulting in lengthy disputes between Microsoft and the Department of Justice. Battle
between Microsoft and the U.S. government just should the old Chinese saying: "tree attracts the wind. The face of this is known as the largest ever in the United States anti-trust lawsuit, Microsoft's stock plummeting, the company's total loss of more than $ 8.3 billion in property (lssjt.cn) - Bill Gates I also reduced the $ 1.8 billion . (L $ dj��.��r��)
However, Bill - Bill Gates and his Microsoft is mythology. The Microsoft 98 fiscal first quarter financial report quietly introduced when the side of Microsoft and the U.S. government's lawsuit Dadehuore. Surprising: lawsuits, Microsoft's first-quarter profit unexpectedly rose 58%, much higher than the company's own estimates! This growth rate: Microsoft Corporation in the first fiscal quarter of the total profits of $ 1.052 billion. Many economic analysts have to admit, in Washington in this century, the lawsuit did not affect Microsoft.
this century, the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the anti-monopoly law enacted in 1890, has a number of large companies sued. In 1906, the Justice Department prosecution of Standard Oil of New Jersey, which eventually led to the company was dismembered into several companies Exxon, Mobil, and U.S. oil company. In 1969, the Justice Department accused IBM's hardware and software bundling, but later the development of science and technology makes this lawsuit becomes meaningless, announced the termination of the last in 1982. In 1972, the Justice Department accused the American Telephone and Telegraph Company monopolistic behavior 10 years later after losing the company was forced to be divided into eight small company.
"Standard Oil, the past has been dismembered by the U.S. government and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, Microsoft almost nothing tangible entity divided. Stanford University economist, (on cn) Nobel laureate in economics, Kenneth - Eero admits: "I see no reasonable basis to dismember Microsoft. "According to the old way, Microsoft should be broken down into two companies, a company responsible for operating the system, another company responsible for software use and development. The new idea of ​​the U.S. government now is dismembered into two or more "Little Bill" Microsoft, each company may be involved in the software market. However, whether old ideas or new ideas will produce a new one simply can not solve the problem: how to divide the 27,000 Microsoft software engineers, programmers, researchers and other employees of the "human assets"? 9O early, the U.S. federal antitrust judicial officers tried to dismember Microsoft, but had to give up because ultimately, can not solve this problem. Moreover, the U.S. antitrust laws so that place has its own contradictions, that is: the AMA at the same time protecting some companies, in turn, limits the development of some enterprises. As Microsoft's lawyers Worden said in court: "In the past, 'Netscape' browser market accounted for 90% of the time, why the United States Department of Justice would not say it to engage in monopoly it? "
U.S. government actually play in the lawsuit is the role of the sniper. Not only does it require Microsoft removed the "Windows 98" will be "Explorer" browser, but also the installation of the "leader" of the company Netscape browser. No wonder - Bill Gates is not without irony: "This is tantamount to asking the Coca-Cola Company with three bottles of Pepsi to sell half a dozen products. "
Bill Gates
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