Informant38

I'm on a conference call with several state attorneys general, and if I'm hearing it right they're throwing in the towel. They're apparently not going to appeal, though they say they haven't decided on this for sure.

The AGs are claiming a partial victory. Ridiculous. They got skunked in almost every way, and so did competition.

Message: If you are sufficiently rich, mean and unethical -- qualities that fit this monopolist to a tee -- you can get away with anything, especially when you're in cahoots with a government that shares these attributes.

Kollar-Kotelly all but ignored evidence that persuaded eight other federal judges of Microsoft's propensity for lawbreaking. She even decided to let Microsoft itself judge whether it's complying with a deal that has almost no teeth, though she did say she'd keep an eye on things. Sure.

Effectively, she's saying that antitrust law really doesn't apply to technology (though I don't think she would agree). But let's be clear. There's no way to punish a lawbreaker if you can only look backwards in time, and that's what this judge says is required.
Dan Gillmor