BBC News Online: Sci/Tech

Judge rules against Microsoft browser plans

The district court judge in Washington said the preliminary ruling would remain in effect until issues surrounding an anti-trust case brought by the US Department of Justice against Microsoft were resolved.

Windows 95 is the most widely used PC software in the world, and US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft's plans for its browser amounted to the imposition of yet another monopoly.

He also said the US government had yet to prove that Microsoft violated anti-trust laws - but that it was likely to win the landmark case "based on the present record".

Mark Murray, a spokesman for Microsoft, called the decision _mixed,_ but said the company was gratified that the judge had agreed with it on _several key points._

_We_re confident that once the court has reviewed all the facts it will agree that Microsoft complied fully with the consent decree and that Microsoft_s integration of Internet Explorer with Windows 95 is good for consumers._

Microsoft had warned it would compel licensees of Windows 95 to install its latest browser - Internet Explorer 4 - from February 1998, a move which also influenced Judge Jackson.

"The probability that Microsoft will not only continue to reinforce its operating system monopoly by its licensing practices, but might also acquire yet another monopoly in the Internet browser market, is simply too great to tolerate indefinitely until the issue is finally resolved," the judge wrote.

"Those practices should be abated until it is conclusively established that they are benign," he ruled.

Losing the anti-monopoly case brought by the Justice Department, could cost Microsoft $1m a day in damages - the fine demanded by the Justice Department.

"Let's put that into perspective," says the BBC North America Business Correspondent, Richard Quest, contemplating the bank balance of the Microsoft chairman.

"Bill Gates - the wealthiest man in the world - it would take him 11 years at a $1m a day before he would start to feel the pinch."

Relevant Stories

Microsoft rejects monopoly abuse charges (12 Nov 97 | Business)
PC makers 'threatened by Microsoft' (23 Oct 97 | Business)

Internet Links

Microsoft
US Department of Justice

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Summaries

In this section

Foxes learn aversion therapy over lunch
G8 wages war on cyber-crime
Europa is salty - and may have harboured an ocean
New machine aims to end landmine misery
Fossilised dung raises questions about life on earth
Robots could be the answer to space research
Campaigners call for computer games to be censored