MEDIA GROK
Maneuvers Before the Microsoft Ruling
Jun 22 2001 08:12 AM PDT
While awaiting the appeals court's antitrust decision, 2 states' attorneys general raise alarms about Windows XP.
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Just as an appeals court is about to come out with a ruling in the Microsoft antitrust case, two of the state officials who brought the lawsuit are eyeing Microsoft's plans for Windows XP. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday evening that attorneys general Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Tom Miller of Iowa are considering filing a new antitrust suit based on Microsoft's plans to bundle new Internet features into XP.
In later coverage, such as that on ZDNet, Blumenthal and Miller denied that they are preparing a second lawsuit. But the pair stood by their view that Microsoft "may be repeating its efforts to maintain and extend its monopoly," according to ZDNet. Reporters Rachel Konrad and Ian Fried quoted an outside lawyer who interpreted the lawmens' move as a tacit admission that the appeals court is unlikely to uphold the lower-court judge's draconian findings against Microsoft. Another lawyer speculated for ZDNet that Blumenthal and Miller's move signifies the deep uncertainty over whether the Bush administration will continue to pursue the case aggressively. InternetNews cited Goldman Sachs analyst Rick G. Sherlund speculating that the recent negotiation impasse between Microsoft and AOL Time Warner may have piqued the state officials' interest. The Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Buckman grounded her coverage of Microsoft's expansive plans for Windows XP in a closed-door meeting that the company held for venture capitalists last week. Buckman illustrated the skepticism VCs hold towards the Redmond company by reporting an ad-hoc poll of attendees, only 40 percent of whom "agreed that (Microsoft) would make a good partner for the fledgling companies in their investment portfolios." But, chances are the other 60 percent are running Microsoft software, too.
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