IP: Love it

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

Government uses Microsoft's own dictionary against it 

Copyright © 1998 Nando Media
Copyright © 1998 Reuters News Service 

WASHINGTON (December 9, 1998 3:33 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - The government entered Microsoft's own dictionary into evidence at its antitrust trial Wednesday, which the government alleges is proof that the software giant regarded its Web browser as separate from its operating system.

...

Microsoft says the Web browser no longer exists and that Web browsing functions are part of the operating systems. 

Taking aim against that viewpoint, government lawyer Denise De Mory entered into evidence the Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, 3rd Edition, published in 1997. 

The Microsoft dictionary defines the company's Internet Explorer as a "Web browser." A Web browser is defined in turn as a "client application," that is, a separate program. 

"Is that your definition?" De Mory asked Farber, a computer science professor at the University of Pennsylvania. 

"It repeats exactly what I've been saying -- it's an application," said Farber. 

Antitrust law forbids any company from tying a monopoly product to another product. But a company can defend itself against a charge of "tying" by showing that it integrated two products to achieve efficiencies that benefit consumers.

....

[same thing happened with Operating System definition  djf]