[muglo] Re: Mac vs PC

Here's an excerpt of the battle of MicroSoft & the courts. Bill is clever ...


> Apple Slams Microsoft Proposal
> 
> By PAUL OWENS
> Associated Press Writer 
> 
> BALTIMORE (AP) -- Apple Computer Inc.'s Steve Jobs, whose blunt criticism of
> Microsoft has tempered in recent years after his archrival Microsoft Corp.
> invested millions in his company, on Tuesday said he was ``baffled'' by a
> proposed settlement to the software giant's consumer class-action lawsuits.
> 
> Under the proposal unveiled last week, Microsoft and some plaintiffs agreed
> the company would provide more than $1 billion worth of Microsoft software,
> refurbished personal computers and other resources to more than 12,500 of
> the nation's poorest schools.
> 
> Critics contend the proposal will only serve to enhance Microsoft's access
> in schools while doing little to meet the poorest schools' extensive needs.
> 
> ``We're baffled that a settlement imposed against Microsoft for breaking the
> law should allow, even encourage, them to unfairly make inroads into
> education -- one of the few markets left where they don't have monopoly
> power,'' Jobs said in a statement.
> 
> 
> Educators, lawyers and technology experts on both sides were in court
> Tuesday to argue the settlement's merits before U.S. District Judge J.
> Frederick Motz in Baltimore in a hearing that was expected to go into the
> evening. It wasn't clear when he would make a ruling.
> 
> Some lawyers who attended Tuesday's hearing, including the lead counsel for
> plaintiffs in California, have objected to the settlement, calling it
> inadequate.
> 
> And Apple, which says it controls about 47 percent of the K-12 education
> market, filed a brief arguing that the settlement would only further
> Microsoft's monopoly power -- the concern that prompted the lawsuits in the
> first place.
> 
> ``If this is a settlement against harm that occurred in the marketplace the
> last thing you want the settlement to do is now bring that harm to the one
> sector where there's been a very broad choice,'' said Linda Roberts, who
> directed the Clinton Administration's educational technology program and now
> consults for companies including Apple.
> 
> Microsoft said the deal does not impede competition because it allows
> schools to choose to spend money on training and resources for non-Microsoft
> products. But the company concedes that those who go with Microsoft products
> will be given more resources, such as free software.
> 
> ``The actual settlement is made up of a basket of resources,'' said Mark
> East, worldwide general manager of Microsoft's education solutions group.
> ``The software component is just one of the elements.''
> 
> Microsoft and Apple, once fierce rivals, have been on relatively friendly
> terms since 1997, when Microsoft made a $150 million investment in its rival
> to help keep Apple afloat. Apple's overall share of the desktop operating
> system market is down to just 4 percent, while Microsoft's Windows controls
> more than 90 percent of the market.
> 
> Analyst Rob Enderle of Giga Information Systems said he wasn't surprised
> that Apple is responding so aggressively. ``Apple is clearly the company
> that could be the most damaged'' by the proposal, he said.
> 
> In court, Keith Leffler, an economist who specializes in antitrust issues,
> argued that the dominance of computers that operate using Windows software
> is based on simple user preference.
> 
> ``The world is moving toward PCs, away from Apple. It has nothing to do with
> this,'' said Leffler, who testified on behalf of lawyers' who negotiated the
> settlement.
> 
> And Michael Hausfeld, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers in favor of the
> settlement, said it would help close the ``digital divide'' -- the gap
> between affluent students, who generally have easy access to technology, and
> poor students, who do not.
> 
> Hausfeld said if consumers pursued their claim against Microsoft and
> eventually won the case, they would stand to recover as little as $6 each,
> before court costs were deducted. ``We clearly have a choice: We can spend
> several years, and a great deal of money, fighting the private antitrust
> cases in the courts for a few dollars benefit per claimant, or we can force
> Microsoft to assist economically challenged children now,'' Hausfeld said.
> 
> A number of educators are questioning whether the proposal as it stands will
> truly meet the schools' needs, though.
> 
> ``I would much rather that they be able to implement those plans with some
> sort of Microsoft funding, rather than be given specific things that they
> don't necessarily need,'' said Helen Soule, director of technology for the
> state of Mississippi.
> 
> The class-action settlement hearings comes as Microsoft continues to attempt
> to reach a deal with nine states seeking a remedy against the software giant
> for violating antitrust laws.
> 
> However, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal became the latest
> official to back away from the proposed settlement in that case -- already
> agreed to by the Justice Department and nine other states -- saying Tuesday
> it ``has too many gaps and ambiguities.''

-
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Barry Takayesu
Prestige Print & Graphics                        ph:  (519) 631-8800
9 Anderson Avenue                                 fax: (519) 631-6316
St.Thomas, Ontario, Canada  N5P 4A2     mailto:prestige.print@xxxxxxxxxxx
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