FC: Microsoft may become the first regulated software monopoly

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46619,00.html
   
   Microsoft Still Faces Feds' Regs
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   2:00 a.m. Sep. 7, 2001 PDT
   
   WASHINGTON -- Microsoft has dodged a breakup, but it may soon become
   the software industry's first regulated monopoly.
   
   Justice Department officials announced Thursday they had abandoned
   their original goal of carving Microsoft into halves, saying they now
   want a complex set of "conduct-related" regulations to govern the
   company's future behavior.
   
   The goal, according to the government, is to avoid the legal wrangling
   involved in defending a breakup order and to "streamline the case with
   the goal of securing an effective remedy as quickly as possible."
      
   Those regulations, described in a court filing by the government in
   April 2000, set prices for current and future versions of Microsoft
   Windows and impose severe restrictions on the company's day-to-day
   operations. Originally designed to last only until a breakup happened,
   the Justice Department now hopes to make them permanent.
   
   If U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agrees, the government
   regulations that would take effect include:
   
     Microsoft can't sell computer makers discounted copies of Windows,
   except for foreign-language translations. It must open a "secure" lab
   where partners and competitors may examine the previously internal
   Windows specifications.
   
     Microsoft can't give discounts to hardware or software developers in
   exchange for promoting or distributing other company products. For
   instance, Microsoft would be barred from inking a discount deal with
   CompUSA to bundle a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator with a
   Microsoft joystick.
   
     Microsoft must monitor all changes it makes to all versions of
   Windows and track any alterations that would slow down or "degrade the
   performance of" any third-party application such as Internet browsers,
   e-mail client software, multimedia viewing software, instant messaging
   software, and voice-recognition software. If it does not notify the
   third-party developer, criminal sanctions would apply.
   
     State and federal government lawyers can visit Microsoft's campus
   "during office hours" to "inspect and copy" any document, e-mail
   message, collection of source code or other information they find
   relevant.
   
   That's not all. On Thursday, the Justice Department said in a
   statement that it wanted to "evaluate whether additional
   conduct-related provisions are necessary" since the breakup wouldn't
   happen.

   [...]




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