“The Supreme Court on Monday handed Microsoft Corp. a defeat by refusing to rule on the software giant’s request to halt an antitrust suit against it,” Christopher S. Rugaber reports for The Associated Press.
“The suit was brought in 2004 by Waltham, Mass.-based Novell Inc., which said in court papers that Microsoft “deliberately targeted and destroyed” its WordPerfect and QuattroPro programs in order to protect its Windows operating system monopoly,” Rugaber reports.
“Novell alleged that Microsoft targeted the programs because they could run on alternative operating systems and therefore could enable alternatives to Windows to gain market share,” Rugaber reports.
“Microsoft argued in court filings that Novell did not compete in the operating systems market, and therefore cannot claim to have been harmed by alleged anticompetitive conduct by Microsoft in that market,” Rugaber reports. “A federal district court and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va., sided with Novell and allowed the suit to proceed.”
More in the full article here.
Gee, that’s too bad, huh? 
Too bad so sad.
Bolt the chairs to the ground!
I guess Ballmer forgot to make his “donation” to da Judge.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
The “system” is finally seeing through Microsoft’s anti-competitive shenanigans. The E.U., the U.S. Supreme Court, the states, etc. are all saying, “Yo, we’re onto you, asshole. Don’t even try it; this ain’t the 90’s.”
Ballmer better open the vault that he knows the combination to so well because they’re about to un-ass some more moolah.
Has the Vista-ready/Vista-capable class-action hit yet? Bolt down the chairs indeed!
Don’t you love it? I do!
Peace.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Olmecmystic
Whatever. This will be thrown out too.
Another liberal, activist court getting all full of themselves but it won’t work. Microsoft’s marvelous innovation and focus on customer needs speaks for itself. It’s called capitalism people. Sore loser Novell has sour grapes.
Your potential. Our passion.™
“Gee, that’s too bad, huh?”
yeah thanks MDN, take my lines…
Oddly enough, ZT, 9 of the 14 judges on the 4th are Republican appointees.
I’m not sure why there are so many vacancies……
It’s the liberal revisionist judges that legislate from the bench. Now with a set of really conservative judges and justice department, M$ will get its just deserts. Blame Clinton and the hapless Janet Reno for not taking care of the M$ back in the 90’s. Again if you haven’t seen the origins of internet on the Science Channel please watch the episode on the Browser Wars. It is obvious the Clinton administration gave M$ a pass. Gates was lying about M$’s tactics against Netscape, while being video’d by the D.O.J. And they show the actual tape.
Just my $0.02
P.S. I am from Miami. My Mom used to shop in the same Supermarket as Mrs. Reno did. When I was growing up D.A. Reno was the toast of the town. The Clinton administration took advantage of Mrs Reno’s illness and she was too proud to resign…Hence Waco..Hence Ruby ridge..Hence M$ getting away with murder.
MS and novell can wither and rot, they deserve it. Novell raped Groupwise from WordPerfect, and then allowed WP to die on almost every platform except windows.
Back when Apple was switching to OS X, Novell wouldn’t even recompile the linux version of WP that they were trying to push to keep the Mac WP users, Novell didn’t care.
When it comes to Mac, they still don’t. They give great lip service to Mac clients, while farming out the development to ProSoft. The new Mac GW client is just the worst POS ever.
Novell and MS, they deserve each other and the death that awaits them as they circle the bowl on their trip to oblivion.
Actually, it was not the Clinton administration that , as Ray writes, “gave M$ a pass”. It was the incoming Bush administration’s John Ashcroft that decided to settle the anti-trust suit on such easy terms. Personally, I thought the focus of the trial was too narrow, but the judge did end up finding against Microsoft almost across the board. (I still have a copy of the “Findings of Fact”.) Had Judge Jackson not spoken so candidly to a journalist during the trial, he wouldn’t have been removed. A more lenient judge was put in his place.
The irony is that while Justice was fighting Microsoft in court, internally it was pushing Windows and Office as their standard.
@ Ray,
Thanks for your oh so incisive commentary. Now, perhaps, you should go look at the backgrounds of your “liberal revisionist judges” to discover just what credentials they really do sport and by whom they were mostly appointed. Maybe then you’ll quit spouting talking-points and base your comments on facts. Or maybe not.
Not only that, Ruby Ridge happened before the 1992 elections–under George H. W. Bush.
Ray only said the obvious, If the Clinton administration would have just finished the job, pussy, oops, I mean Bushy wouldn’t have had the chance to let MS off the hook. Clearly a screwup by the Clinton administration.
The real crime here is that the judicial system allows these cases to be delayed. By the time it goes to court, MS has already achieved their objective. Four years to simply deny their ability to halt a case is pathetic. How many more years will it be before a ruling is actually made?
Yeah oops…Ruby Ridge did happen under Bush 41. You try to write a dissertation and sarcastic Apple Fanboy comments at the same time….:p
Just my $0.02
Did I say “liberal, activist court”?
I think Ray put it best when he said “liberal revisionist judges that legislate from the bench”. That has a more fearful, divisive and conspiratorial ring to it.
It’s us against them.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Boy this looks like deja vu.
Yummy. This will be absorbed as well.
Another court of justice going and defends capitalism from the evils of monopolism. The winning side will prevail once again and will continue to do so until MS either changes or is locked behind bars forever.
Your crime. Our Justice.™
MDN: Man oh man I like you Balmer chair animation
You all make good points – or at least most of you. But what you fail to see is that there is starting to be a precedent here. The EU will have its fun with Apple soon and some of that might also start to spill into the U.S.. You can say what you like about M$ but they tried fairly hard to protect themselves and put down precedent for U.S. companies in regards to the EU. They failed and a lot of people here cheered, just remember all that when Brussels sinks its bloody fangs into Apple.
@Matt
So you want the US Justice system to leave M$ alone?
Or do you mean that the US Bloody Fangs of Justice are ok, but when it’s the EU it is not?
I think you mean the former, but am not sure…
So what is Microsoft claiming? That only operating system makers can sue them for monopolizing the market?
You wish!!!!!
Ray,
Do us all a favour and take a long walk off a short pier.
@ A bit confused
IMHO – I think M$ got and will get karma retributions in the US. But I also feel that what took place in the EU was BS and the EU has extended and will continue to extend their powers.
You can say what you want about M$, but I think they saw what the EU was doing and what the ramifications would be if they lost. They spent a lot of money fighting for US company rights in a global market. There were a lot of people on these pages that were cheering them on – “Down with M$”. But what those Cheering failed to see is that in the next couple of years, those decisions will have a major impact on all US companies that participate in the global market – including Apple, who is on Brussels list.
wow Ray,you win the “not to bright” award! congrats!
Pay back’s a bitch, isn’t it?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />