|
Gates: suit is unreasonable
|
 |
May 18, 1998: 6:12 p.m. ET
Microsoft Chairman to invest heavily in defense; expects to 'prevail'
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Federal and state regulators may have stopped short of asking the courts to directly enjoin Microsoft from shipping Windows 98, but their requests to redesign the software will have the same crippling effect, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told CNNfn.
Gates, in an interview with CNNfn's Lou Dobbs, said the preliminary injunction included in the government's lawsuit would stop Microsoft from packaging its Web browser on its soon-to-be-released Windows 98 operating system.
Specifically, the antitrust suit asks the software giant to remove Internet support functionality from Windows 98 or to include competing products to preserve consumer choice.
"They are asking for something really very surprising there," he said. "The preliminary injunction they are asking for is exactly their way of trying to stop what we are doing."
The lawsuits were filed in Washington Monday, two days after talks between the Justice Department, 20 states, and the District of Columbia broke down.
The suits charge Microsoft with using its dominant position in the operating system environment to an unfair advantage, to steamroll competition to the detriment of consumers.
The lawsuits, however, did not request a delay or block shipment of Windows 98, Microsoft's newest product
Gates said the company is prepared to vigorously defend its position and to invest significant resources on the legal battles ahead.
"Standing up for this principal of being able to integrate more functionality on behalf of consumers, that is important enough to us that certainly we will put the resources there," he said. "We are confident we will prevail."
Microsoft began shipping Windows 98 to computer makers early Monday and is aiming for a June 25 consumer release date.
Microsoft's (MSFT) stock closed down 3-3/8 at 86-1/16 Monday on the Nasdaq stock market. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
