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Tim O' Brien: 'More good news than bad' for Microsoft

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CNN Correspondent Tim O' Brien  


The Justice Department announced Thursday that it would not seek a breakup of the software giant Microsoft in the still pending antitrust case. CNN Correspondent Tim O' Brien discusses the decision and its impact with CNN Anchor Leon Harris.

LEON HARRIS : What have you found?

TIM O'BRIEN: Well, it's kind of a mixed bag, but certainly more good news than bad for Microsoft. You are correct, the Department of Justice -- the antitrust division -- says it's not going to pursue the breakup of Microsoft as it had originally, nor will it peruse that tie-in claim that Microsoft had unlawfully tied its Web browser to its operating system. They were an essential part of its case initially, and a district judge did rule in the government's favor on both of those counts.

But as you may recall, the court of appeals reversed. The Justice Department said today it is quite satisfied with the court of appeals ruling. After all, the court of appeals did find that Microsoft had engaged in a broad pattern of antitrust violations aimed to keep out the competition. It's going to pursue that claim in the district court.

The practical effect of the department's announcement today is to speed things up, simplify the case, move things along. The department also indicated that it's going to look into developments since the trial began that clearly suggest the development and the marketing of Microsoft's new XP operating system due out in October. But this is good news for Microsoft, that the breakup is not going to be challenged. Microsoft is still appealing to the Supreme Court. There is a chance that the high court could still get involved and we should get some clue about that, I would guess, sometime in the next month.

HARRIS: Was this a surprise for anyone outside of Microsoft?

O'BRIEN: I think everybody at Microsoft was waiting on pins and needles to see what the government was going to do. There is certainly relief but whether it is a surprise or not, I rather doubt that it is, but everyone was waiting for it -- I'm sure they're relieved that it happened today.







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