"The right to innovate on behalf of customers, no matter how badly it hurts Microsoft's competitors, has been the company's battle cry throughout this antitrust case. Yesterday, Microsoft made it clear it will continue to make that argument all the way to the US Supreme Court. And some industry experts say that the company's chances aren't as bleak as they might at first appear."
"High-tech companies had complained for years about Microsoft tactics they considered ruthless and unfair. But because of the software Goliath's stranglehold in the high-tech field, they believed they could do little to counter the company. Many feared Microsoft would exact revenge if they complained too loudly."
"Even after the long-awaited judgment that Microsoft Corp. has violated antitrust laws, only one outcome seems certain: The legal battle will rage for years to come."
"Microsoft has 'a strong case on appeal,' co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates told reporters and employees. Those appeals, sure to be time-consuming, undercut Attorney General Janet Reno's assertion that Jackson's 43-page decision meant 'consumers who have been harmed can now look forward to benefits'."
"In failing to reach a settlement over the weekend, Microsoft is wagering that either it will once again find a more sympathetic appeals court bench or that advances in technology will make the case moot. Indeed, if the case still takes several years to reach a conclusion, any remedy short of a breakup of the company could prove largely irrelevant. The company may also benefit from a change in the White House since Governor George W. Bush, the expected Republican candidate for president, has suggested that antitrust enforcement should be confined mainly to price-fixing cases."
"Microsoft's biggest enemies cheered Monday's ruling that the software giant broke federal antitrust laws, but the only immediate impact on the industry may be emboldened sales pitches from rivals. Observers on all sides of the debate agreed that U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's decision still doesn't resolve the uncertainty over how Microsoft might be punished or whether its dominant Windows operating systems might lose market share any time soon."
