Gates challenges antitrust ruling against Microsoft<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AFP): Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday
\nhe believes the software giant will prevail in the appeal of its
\nantitrust case because of \"common sense.\"<\/p>\n
The software giant is challenging Monday's ruling by U.S.
\nDistrict Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who found that Microsoft
\n\"trammeled the competitive process\" by using its monopoly
\nposition in PC operating software to gain an unfair advantage in
\nthe Web browser market.<\/p>\n
Gates, speaking on NBC's Today Show, reiterated his confidence
\nin the firm's ability to win on appeal and avert court-ordered
\nremedies that could include a breakup.<\/p>\n
\"I think you can almost turn to common sense and say: When a
\nconsumer looks at what's happened with PCs and the Internet ... I
\nthink they can understand that the marketplace is working for
\nthem the way that it ought to work,\" Gates said.<\/p>\n
\"The fact that PC industry is out there based on what Windows
\nhas made possible has been a huge benefit to everybody in the
\ntechnology sector.\"<\/p>\n
Gates also said the evolution of the Internet and the software
\nmarket had made the government's case less relevant than when the
\ncase was filed two years ago.<\/p>\n
\"When this case was filed two years ago, people might have
\nthought that providing Internet support in Windows was an unusual
\nthing,\" he said. \"But I think as those two years have gone on, as
\npeople have seen how competitive this market is and the
\nimportance of the Internet, that decision is more clear than
\never.\"<\/p>\n
Anticipating the judge's decision, the tech-heavy Nasdaq
\ncomposite fell by 349 points, its largest single-day drop ever.
\nMicrosoft stock lost nearly 15 percent.<\/p>\n
While the ruling is being appealed, the case moves to the
\nremedy phase, in which the judge will weigh proposals to correct
\nthe abuses he has detected in Microsoft's conduct.<\/p>\n
Joel Klein, head of the Justice Department's antitrust
\ndivision, told a news conference Monday that any remedy imposed
\nby Jackson would have to have \"an enduring impact on Microsoft's
\nconduct.\"<\/p>\n
\"I believe it is appropriate that we have a remedy that
\nensures that we not have a continued pattern of antitrust
\nviolations\" by Microsoft, Klein said.<\/p>\n
\"The department is always prepared to settle,\" he added, \"so
\nlong as the remedy will deal with the legal violations fully
\nestablished by the court. On those terms, we are glad to engage
\nin settlement talks.\"<\/p>",
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