Word: microsoft
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When the case lands back in district court, it will get a new judge. That's good news for Microsoft, since Jackson's pursuit of Gates was beginning to resemble Ahab's pursuit of a certain whale. But the bad news is that the appeals court asked for potentially prolonged new hearings on issues, especially the question of whether it was legal for Microsoft to tie its browser to its operating system. The last thing Microsoft wants is to have this case to drag on for years...
...Microsoft camp once hoped that after this ruling, President Bush, who expressed skepticism about the case during the presidential campaign, might back away from this Clinton-era holdover. But that will be harder to do now that a Republican-majority court has attested that Microsoft broke the law. And even if the Bush Administration does cave, that won't end the case. Nineteen state attorneys general are part of the lawsuit, which would proceed as long as they continued to press their claims...
That still leaves another possibility--a negotiated settlement. The appeals court seemed to be pushing both sides back to the bargaining table. It's likely that Microsoft and the government will start talking sooner rather than later. But that doesn't mean they will get to yes. The parties tried to make a deal last year, with federal Judge Richard Posner as mediator. But the states and Microsoft reportedly could not agree on the remedy. In any new negotiations, that same stalemate may occur again...
...Microsoft wants no more than a "conduct" remedy--restrictions on how it behaves in the future. But at least some states will probably push for a "structural" remedy--like splitting Microsoft. "The court gave some cautionary language about breakup, but I don't think they fully took it off the table," Iowa attorney general Tom Miller, who has been a leader among the AGs, told TIME. "One of the ways you get to a structural remedy is by process of elimination. You see that other remedies won't work...
...what does all this mean for consumers? The decision could lead Microsoft to make last-minute changes in the XP operating system, the latest version of the Windows software that runs nearly 95% of all PCs. Just before the ruling came down, Gates & Co. said they were removing Smart Tags, a controversial feature of the new software. Smart Tags turn words on websites into links to Microsoft-approved sites. Critics charge they are Microsoft's attempt to use its browser market dominance to drive traffic to its own sites. If Microsoft is worried about the ruling, it might modify other...