IP: Microsoft may become the first regulated software monopoly

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>
>http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46619,00.html
>
>    Microsoft Still Faces Feds' Regs
>    By Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)
>    2:00 a.m. Sep. 7, 2001 PDT
>
>    WASHINGTON -- Microsoft has dodged a breakup, but it may soon become
>    the software industry's first regulated monopoly.
>
>    Justice Department officials announced Thursday they had abandoned
>    their original goal of carving Microsoft into halves, saying they now
>    want a complex set of "conduct-related" regulations to govern the
>    company's future behavior.
>
>    The goal, according to the government, is to avoid the legal wrangling
>    involved in defending a breakup order and to "streamline the case with
>    the goal of securing an effective remedy as quickly as possible."
>
>    Those regulations, described in a court filing by the government in
>    April 2000, set prices for current and future versions of Microsoft
>    Windows and impose severe restrictions on the company's day-to-day
>    operations. Originally designed to last only until a breakup happened,
>    the Justice Department now hopes to make them permanent.
>
>    If U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agrees, the government
>    regulations that would take effect include:
>
>      Microsoft can't sell computer makers discounted copies of Windows,
>    except for foreign-language translations. It must open a "secure" lab
>    where partners and competitors may examine the previously internal
>    Windows specifications.
>
>      Microsoft can't give discounts to hardware or software developers in
>    exchange for promoting or distributing other company products. For
>    instance, Microsoft would be barred from inking a discount deal with
>    CompUSA to bundle a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator with a
>    Microsoft joystick.
>
>      Microsoft must monitor all changes it makes to all versions of
>    Windows and track any alterations that would slow down or "degrade the
>    performance of" any third-party application such as Internet browsers,
>    e-mail client software, multimedia viewing software, instant messaging
>    software, and voice-recognition software. If it does not notify the
>    third-party developer, criminal sanctions would apply.
>
>      State and federal government lawyers can visit Microsoft's campus
>    "during office hours" to "inspect and copy" any document, e-mail
>    message, collection of source code or other information they find
>    relevant.
>
>    That's not all. On Thursday, the Justice Department said in a
>    statement that it wanted to "evaluate whether additional
>    conduct-related provisions are necessary" since the breakup wouldn't
>    happen.
>
>    [...]
>
>
>
>
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