FC: Microsoft and allies counter attack over antitrust accusations

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

********
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 (declan@wired.com)

   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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