Word: antitrusters
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Thus was set the pattern of two tortured days of talks among the three parties in this complex dance: Justice trying to cover every last base before launching one of the biggest antitrust actions ever; Microsoft hoping to learn as much as possible about the DOJ's case without actually surrendering any serious ground; and those state attorneys general, who at the Monday press conference distributed bios along with their press releases, clearly relishing their role as Joel Klein's conscience. "Quite frankly," Vacco confides, "until last week we weren't 100% sure the Department of Justice was going...
...these alleged misdemeanors constitute violations of antitrust law or vivid illustrations of the company's take-no-prisoners business ethic? Or both? To support its case, Justice has amassed reams of testimony from Gates' business partners about strong-arm tactics and restrictive licensing deals. But perhaps the most damaging evidence comes from Microsoft's own words: smoking-gun memos, e-mails and offhand remarks in which executives admit that since their browser is unlikely to win market share on its own merits, they had better tie it to Windows. "We are going to cut off [Netscape's] air supply...
Will such evidence be sufficient? Early handicapping from antitrust experts gives Klein high odds in the first part of his case--proving Windows is a monopoly, duh--but rates his chance of overall victory as fifty-fifty at best. "Justice will have to show Microsoft has achieved a dangerous amount of control of the browser market," notes George Mason law professor William Kovacic, a former Federal Trade Commission antitrust enforcer. "That's a fairly demanding test...
...those s.o.b.s get to watch and wait, just like the rest of us. In this era of megamergers, Joel Klein already has plenty of antitrust enforcement on his plate. Last week he announced his intention to fight a proposed partnership between American Airlines and British Airways; the DOJ's case against the proposed merger of Lockheed-Martin and Northrup-Grumman also begins this September; and the chipmaker Intel is said be next in the cross hairs of his colleagues over at the FTC. But the resolute Klein seems determined to make Gates a test case for reinterpreting the 19th century...
...winning several awards. He and his wife have three young children and, he says, "worry endlessly about how we're going to pay for their college educations. We've laid that task squarely at the foot of the stock market." His column this week finds investing opportunities in the antitrust suit against Microsoft...