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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge Friday told Microsoft Corp. he easily uninstalled the company's Web browser without breaking Windows 95 and ordered company officials to explain why they could not do the same. "Windows 95 functioned flawlessly" with Internet Explorer uninstalled, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson told Microsoft.

mistake #1: dont piss off a federal judge --let alone try to show that he is ignorant.

After the hearing, Brad Smith, associate general counsel of Microsoft, was asked about news reports speculating that the company might settle the case.

"There's no discussion that I'm aware of," he said in a telephone interview, adding that he probably would know about such discussions. "The case is continuing."

this is my one big fear: the DOJ will accept a plea bargain like they did last time and it will be back to business as usual for M$ --and they will be back in court within a year having gained even more horizontal and vertical control of the entire communications and information industries --and claiming again that they are misunderstood --and complying with the order, etc. there is only one solution to organizations like M$ which are operated without ethics: treat them to the pleasures of not only the antitrust laws but the exquisite delights of RICO. M$ is a cancer; it has fully metasticized and is gorging itself at the banquet of the vanquished. if the legal juggernaut keeps building momentum at the current rate, there will hopefully be no alternative to carry the investigation to its culmination after the report of the special master in May. the appointment of the special master was a clear indication that the judge wishes to get at the bottom of the tank and examine the underpinnings and motivations of M$ total modus operandi --yes, and M$ is crying foul that the judge is going past the original complaint of the DOJ --but, despite M$' claims, the judge is giving M$ time to be heard --six months. seems to me Jackson inherited the case from Royce Lamberth who was overruled and removed by the appeal court when he refused to OK the DOJ settlement in question. Gary Reback had a hand in educating Lambert to the dangers of M$. Is Reback representing anyone in the case before Jackson as an intervener or in an amicus curiae brief? Lambert's at it again --taking the government head on over Hillary's obfuscation over her health care committee-- "The White House and lawyers defending first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton lied in an effort to keep internal working papers used to develop President Clinton's universal health care plan in 1993 secret, a federal judge said Thursday. "Using blunt language in a written order, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth also accused administration officials at "the highest levels of government" of engaging in a "cover-up" and pressuring the Justice Department to defend its "dishonest" actions." anyway, just think where M$ would be with Royce today! Gate$ and Ballmer might be down at the local MCC for a few free 3 hots and a cot, all expenses paid, "enjoying" a well earned vacation from screwing all of us. Other than the usual ills of a monopoly, what really irks anyone with a modicum of intelligence is that Gate$ intends to migrate the entire package for the benefit of the couch potatoes; Gate$ intends to dictate not only what we use to view his trash, but that only his trash is splashed.

Smith also said that the uninstall mechanism described by the judge actually left 97 percent of Internet Explorer intact, removing little more than the "icon" on the screen known as the "desktop."

so? M$ can fill any hard disk --the more powerful the computer, the more energy the pretty program loader on a boot sector virus base requires. what's a few spare bytes here and there? So, Mr. Smith, just tell us what files are useless and we'll delete them too.

He said that despite what Jackson said about the program functioning flawlessly, the removal breaks a couple of functions in Windows 95, such as the ability to easily download other Web browsers. Smith said Windows 95 is a technologicially complex product that is best left alone by the government. "You simply can't slice and dice it with a legal meat cleaver," Smith said.

well, maybe we can just "slice and dice it" right out the market place. his arguments are pure mumbo jumbo for the unwashed --or, more of Gate$' usual arrogance.

well, of course, you can not pull a web download if you remove the browser... but you can get it with ftp, rz, or standard mail via your ISP (if Netscape wants to make it available that way). more blowing of smoke as usual. M$ would like us to believe that removing Explorer means that PPP, etc. plus basic net utilities must be removed as well. the browser is not the only program that uses the PPP or wired connection. whether or not the judge just removed the icon or not becomes irrelevant rather quickly... the point is that he took the trouble to look at the issue after the DOJ came in complaining that M$ was giving him the freeway salute (both hands off the wheel, too). Secondly, a judge is not prohibited from reading news analysis of the technical issues involved --particularly since the news articles are reflecting the complaints of the competition which has been injured by M$' actions, and the user groups who are complaining about all of M$' competition being literally expunged from the marketplace by M$' predatory actions. all of the news material is clearly relevant in an antitrust action. Even the NYTimes stated in an editorial M$ was defying the judges order and mocking the whole process.

The Justice Department, however, is beefing up its legal team. It has retained David Boies, a highly regarded New York lawyer, to help try the case against Microsoft.

yes, I would say they are serious, and paying close to $300 per hour for his time --but only half his usual rate. keep in mind that his fee is just the tip of the iceberg --consider the enormous staff the man will require just to paw through and analyze the mountains of information on both sides plus the obvious tactic of burying the case in even more mounds of paperwork from M$' legal flunkies, which probably number between 200 and 500 full blown lawyers culled from most of the prestigious firms in the US. then add support staff, researchers, clerks, etc.... I doubt Boies will use that many DOJ staff attorneys --lack of performance as the good ones leave after the initial intern experience for the extra bucks in private firms on the other side of the table. only the lazy and incompetent hang around the DOJ for a career.

After the hearing Friday, Christine Varney, a former Federal Trade Commissioner now representing Netscape, was jubilant. "I think the judge has understood the seriousness of the issue," she said.

she had every reason to be jubilant --so far. even if the judge did not fully understand the technological bullshit M$ was trying to slide on by, the judge fully understands that M$ was trying to blind pitch him --and insulting him to boot. M$' freeway saluting of the judge may have changed the destiny of M$ by that very action. Gate$ pulled his usual arrogance out of his ass and slapped it on the table presuming everybody knew he was the smartest kid on the block --and his shit did not stink.

Microsoft stock closed at $128.69, down $2.19 on NASDAQ, where it was among the most active issues.

yes, down almost 20 points since their fiasco with the DOJ started. before it's over, I hope to see M$ listed with the junk bonds and issues --in the penny stocks. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3i Charset: latin1 Comment: No safety this side of the grave. Never was; never will be iQBVAwUBNJt2FbR8UA6T6u61AQHtVAH/ZuVzmKu+we/vRObBClOVAtqYmLPQmykh 9CzsID7+HETw6/2bkYCL5JXNy12JoyenB19XvYai6WtMt24dCLh0fQ== =sf18 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----