Welcome to The Funny/Alerts Newsletter issue number 010628.

 

THIS IS A SPECIAL ALERT.

Microsoft Breakup Reversed!

 

Associated Press just put this on the wires. I'm simply quoting the AP report.  Here goes:

 

"WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court unanimously reversed the breakup of Microsoft on Thursday, agreeing with the software maker that the trial judge engaged in ''serious judicial misconduct'' by making derogatory comments about the company.

 

The U.S.  Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the conclusion that Microsoft violated antitrust laws but ordered that a new judge decide what penalty the company should face.

 

By a 7-0 vote, the appeals court concluded U.S.  District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson made inappropriate comments to the news media and outside court that gave the appearance he was biased against Microsoft.

 

The judge's actions ''would give a reasonable, informed observer cause to question his impartiality in ordering the company split in two,'' the appeals court said.

 

In a rare rebuke of a colleague, the appeals judges said Jackson ''engaged in impermissible ex parte contacts by holding secret interviews with members of the media and made numerous offensive comments about Microsoft officials in public statements outside of the courtroom, giving rise to an appearance of partiality,'' the court said.

 

''Although we find no evidence of actual bias, we hold that the actions of the trial judge seriously tainted the proceedings before the District Court and called into question the integrity of the judicial process,'' the court added.

 

Though winning a major victory, Microsoft officials in Redmond, Wash., were mum on the decision. Investors, however, reacted with glee.

 

Shares of Microsoft were down 89 cents to $70.25 before word of the ruling began leaking out.  The shares surged $3.82 to $74.96 before they were halted in late morning trading on the Nasdaq.

 

While reversing the breakup, the court refused to overturn the conclusion that Microsoft acted as an illegal monopoly to gain an unfair advantage over competitors, particularly those with rival Web browser software.

 

The appeals judges said they agreed ''with the District Court that the company behaved anti-competitively ...  and that these actions contributed to the maintenance of its monopoly power.'' Jackson had ruled Microsoft had engaged in anti-competitive practices by packaging its Windows operating system with its Explorer Web browser.  He concluded the company was an illegal monopoly and ordered the software giant broken into two as a penalty.

 

By vacating the ruling, the appeals court sent the case back to the lower court but ordered that a different judge decide how to punish Microsoft." By D.  IAN HOPPER, AP Technology Writer

 

Here is a link to the actual PDF with the full Court Ruling.  (125 pages!)

http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=062901-CNN