FC: Microsoft and allies counter attack over antitrust accusations

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Thu May 31 2001 - 06:59:52 PDT

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    ********
    Dueling briefs, pro- and anti-Microsoft:
    http://www.actonline.org/pubs/ProComp%20Response.pdf
    http://www.procompetition.org/headlines/WhitePaper5_15.pdf
    
    Photos from appeals court oral arguments:
    http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/microsoft-antitrust-appeal.html
    ********
    
    http://www.wired.com/news/antitrust/0,1551,44170,00.html
    
       MS Launches Counter PR Attack
       By Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
    
       2:00 a.m. May 31, 2001 PDT
       WASHINGTON -- When the Clinton administration accused Microsoft of
       myriad antitrust wrongdoings in a 1997 lawsuit, the company appeared
       to have been taken by surprise.
       
       Top Microsoft executives confessed at the time that they
       underestimated competitors' abilities to convince Justice Department
       lawyers to start a legal struggle that culminated in a breakup order,
       and an appeal that's still under way.
       
       Four years later, Microsoft's enemies are wagging fingers once again,
       pointing at the company's ambitious plans for .NET, the launch of
       Office XP on Thursday, and the scheduled introduction of Windows XP on
       Oct. 25 as additional examples of Microsoft's attempts to maintain its
       operating system monopoly.
       
       This time, however, Microsoft and its allies don't view the threats as
       idle ones. Since the 1997 antitrust case began, Microsoft has
       dramatically expanded its Washington presence, moving its lobbying
       office downtown and hiring dozens more lobbyists and lawyers.
       
       On Wednesday, two groups and one attorney who receive money from
       Microsoft -- the Association for Competitive Technology, the Computing
       Technology Industry Association, and conservative superlawyer C.
       Boyden Gray -- organized a conference call to deny allegations of
       Microsoft wrongdoing.
    
       [...]
    
    
    
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