hakkin@sarin.com (Khoder bin Hakkin) writes:
[ If I were Bill G. I'd double the price of an OS sold to one of these States. Since I'm not, but still resent these States, I hope they get all the Windows OS they deserve. ]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011205/tc/microsoft_settlement_dc_1.ht ml
States May Ask for Unbundled Version of Windows
By Peter Kaplan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State attorneys general pressing the antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) may ask a judge to order the company to offer a cheaper, stripped-down version of its Windows operating system, a source familiar with the case said on Wednesday.
The nine states still suing Microsoft are eying the requirement as part of a proposed antitrust remedy they are scheduled to submit to U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Friday.
Requiring an ``unbundled'' version of Windows is one of several ideas the states are considering as they try to come up with sanctions that will be tougher than those agreed to by Microsoft, the U.S. Justice Department (news - web sites) and nine of the other states who have signed on to a settlement of the case.
The draft remedy also would strike down a long list of loopholes in the current settlement deal and do more to ensure that Microsoft discloses key source code in Windows to other software makers, the source said.
The draft also contains a provision that would require Microsoft to include Sun Microsystems Inc.'s (Nasdaq:SUNW - news) Java programming language in its new Windows XP (news - web sites) operating system and ensure that its Office software is compatible with other software platforms, the source said.
Microsoft had included Java in its operating system for years but dropped it from Windows XP because of legal problems with Sun Microsystems.
Lawyers representing the hold-out states held meetings today with antitrust experts and industry officials to get feedback on a draft remedy proposal, sources said.
'GETTING AN EARFUL'
``They're getting input from lots of different players, and they're getting an earful,'' the source said.
The hold-out states are California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, West Virginia and Utah.
Representatives of those states declined to comment on what kind of remedy they will propose.
In addition, the draft remedy proposal would require Kollar-Kotelly to appoint a ``special master'' to oversee the remedy, according to the same source.
Under the current settlement, that task would go to a three-person technical committee.
``I think they're seriously committed to getting an effective remedy,'' said another source who has met with the attorneys general lawyers.
The hold-out states will present their remedy proposal as an alternative to the settlement reached by the Justice Department.
In the settlement, Microsoft has agreed to take steps to give computer makers more freedom to feature rival software on their machines. The deal also requires the company to share parts of the inner workings of its Windows operating system with other software makers.
The settlement would be enforced by a three-person technical committee and would stay in effect for at least five years.
The department says the existing settlement terms are strong enough to stop the company's monopolistic practices and would provide ``the most effective and certain relief in the most timely manner.''
ABUSED MONOPOLY
A federal appeals court ordered the remedy hearings in a June 28 ruling, having concluded that the company abused its monopoly in personal computer operating systems.
Continuing to litigate could drag the case out for another two years, the department says.
But Microsoft rivals and some consumer groups have panned the deal as weak and ineffectual. They say the agreement will not stop Microsoft from retaliating against personal computer makers that promote non-Microsoft software.
Critics also worry the settlement does not ensure that Microsoft will allow a level playing field for other companies' add-on ``middleware'' products; and does not ensure that Windows will work well with computer servers running non-Microsoft software.
Kollar-Kotelly has scheduled a hearing for March to determine what--if any--further--sanctions should be imposed against the company.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler declined to comment specifically on what might be in the remedy proposal on Friday. But he said the settlement ``represents a fair and reasonable compromise'' and that the case had been ``drastically narrowed'' by the appeals court since the original ruling against the company last year.