Did Microsoft illegally maintain a monopoly in the market for Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)-compatible PC operating systems?
The appeals court agreed with Jackson, with a minor exception. It took the opportunity to zing Microsoft at least twice. Choice lines: “Microsoft lamely characterizes its threat to Intel as ‘advice.’ …Microsoft never overtly retreats from its bold and incorrect position on the law.” This opens the door to new, private-party lawsuits against Microsoft by companies such as Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), and AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL) to name a few. Issue #2: Did Microsoft illegally attempt to monopolize the market for Internet browsers? The court reversed Jackson completely, finding that the government did not define the relevant market for Web browsers nor show that the market contains significant barriers to entry. The court faulted the judge for relying on the analysis used in Issue #1, instead of providing separate evidence and analysis in his opinion. This is not a happy result for the government, but it has even worse implications beyond this one issue. R
