FRAMINGHAM (04/04/2000) - More comments from the ruling and the community:
From Judge Jackson's ruling:
"Microsoft (Corp.) paid vast sums of money and renounced many millions more in lost revenue every year in order to induce firms to take actions that would help enhance Internet Explorer's share of browser usage at Netscape's expense."
"Microsoft bound Internet Explorer to Windows with contractual and, later, technological shackles in order to ensure the prominent (and ultimately permanent) presence of Internet Explorer on every Windows user's PC system, and to increase the costs attendant to installing and using Navigator on any PCs running Windows."
From Microsoft:
"We did everything we could to settle the case." - Chairman Bill Gates, in a statement.
"We are a company with incredible integrity. I know the people. . . . I know how we run the business and the intellectual honesty and personal honesty we demand from our people internally and in dealing with third parties." - Microsoft President Steve Ballmer, who said he was disturbed by what he called the "veiled references to our values" in Jackson's verdict.
"It is a mistake for government regulators or the courts to try to design high-technology products. Government regulation of software product design would surely slow innovation and harm consumers." - Bill Neukom, Microsoft's general counsel From the government:
"It's premature to comment on any specific remedies." - Joel Klein, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department From the user community:
"It's hard enough to coordinate an IT infrastructure, and that's all we need - lawyers and judges to coordinate it." - Jerry Lynch, director of operations at Online Computer Library Center in Dublin, Ohio, which has 1,200 desktops running Windows NT. Lynch allows users to choose between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.
"The stakes here are indeed high for the high-tech industry and consumers. The Nasdaq is off $350 billion today. That's what's in store for us as this case spins out of control." - Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology, a grassroots information technology industry trade group From the financial community:
The ruling burst "the euphoric bubble" that the case could be wrapped up quickly. - Frederic Dickson at Richmond, Va.-based Branch Cabell & Co. Inc.
"Wall Street views Microsoft as a tennis ball - once it drops to the floor it bounces back." Analyst G. Patrick Dunkerley of Securities Corp. of Iowa in Cedar Rapids From the vendor community:
"Now that the verdict is in, the next step is to address the harm that has been done to consumers and the industry. To ensure that the remedies are effective, Sun believes that a combination of structural and conduct approaches should be imposed. The result of our approach will be: Microsoft, for the first time in over 15 years, will be subject to the discipline of the market, competition will be restored and consumers will have access to greater choice, better products and lower prices. Only in this way will the enormous growth potential of the United States technology industry be protected." - Michael Morris, general counsel, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
It's "important that any resolution of the case protects the industry's ability to continue to provide customers the benefits of technical innovation." - Compaq Computer Corp.
"We're eagerly awaiting the opportunity to review in detail the ruling by Judge Jackson in this most important case affecting our industry. We hope that the remedies ultimately imposed or agreed upon will be commensurate with the seriousness of the violation of antitrust law which have now been determined by the court." - Dan Cooperman, general counsel, Oracle Corp.
"The company has made no official comment about the trial so far and will not make any today." - Joe Stunkard, director of media relations for IBM software AOL/Netscape and Apple Computer Corp.: No comment. - Spokesmen Compiled by Linda Rosencrance, Kim S. Nash, Kathleen Ohlson, Craig Stedman and Michael Meehan.