Call It "Never Say Die" Microsoft

May 11 2000

You know the classic definition of "chutzpah"? It's the quality shown by someone who kills his parents and then begs the court for mercy because he's an orphan. Microsoft offed its competition rather than Mom and Dad, but media coverage of the company's steely response to the government's breakup plan found reporters holding little hope for the future of a company too arrogant for its own good.

Microsoft's response was surprisingly brash, even by Redmond standards. It kicked off by requesting that the feds' proposal be tossed out. Barring that, it suggested a four-year maintenance plan to control its monopolistic urges. Its concessions? It would hide the Internet Explorer icon on the Windows desktop, nix restrictive contracts with PC makers so the makers can bundle any desktop software they want, and open access to programming code. Accept those terms, the company offered, and we'll pick up the states' legal bills. Oh, and by the way, we want more time.

The feds and states will file their response to Microsoft's remedy on May 17, and a hearing to weigh all proposals is set for a week later, but Microsoft wants an extension until Dec. 4 to fully respond to the one about the breakup. And don't forget, the company's appealing the decision, too.

In sniffing out responses to Redmond's snarky comeback, most outlets dug up little sympathy. The comment by Mike Pettit, president of the anti-Microsoft industry group ProCOMP, was typical. Using a line he liked well enough to repeat to the Washington Post and USAToday.com, he scoffed that Gates & Company's recommendations were "the equivalent of saying no television for a week." The San Jose Mercury News' Kristi Heim hopped a ferry out of Seattle to mingle with the ordinary folk in the heart of Microsoft country, and still couldn't find any supporters. "Personally, I think if they hadn't been so confident of their position and a little more humble, it could have been over a few years ago and returned to business as usual," shrugged Linda Brower, who is identified as a retired teacher and "longtime Microsoft stockholder who lives just a mile from the company's Redmond campus."

Seattle newspapers eked out more balance. The Seattle Times found a melodramatic voice of support in the pro-Microsoft Association for Competitive Technology. "The fate of small businesses, the high-tech industry, the New Economy and America's position in the world economy all hang in the balance," ACT prez Jonathan Zuck told the Times. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer chimed in with pro-Microsoft comments from local pols and antitrust expert Bill Kovacic of George Washington University, who backslapped Microsoft for its filing. "I think they made a number of wise choices yesterday: making an alternative proposal instead of saying 'Nothing will do; all this is nonsense,' " Kovacic enthused.

But mostly there was wonderment at how far from getting it Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and their legal hounds seem to be. The media consensus was that too much perseverance isn't a good thing. In other words, hey guys, how about an ounce of contrition? Wired News' Declan McCullagh spotted irony in how easily Microsoft could have avoided the whole business. Two years into the litigation, Microsoft has lost every round in its trial, yet is still unrepentant, he pointed out. The New York Times' Steve Lohr said economists, lawyers and other hangers-on can yammer all they want, but in the end this show is all about Judge Jackson, and Microsoft is doing little to woo him to its side.

The San Jose Mercury News' David Wilson handicapped the lawsuit's outcome, painting Jackson as cautious but likely to favor a severe remedy, especially since Microsoft seems genetically incapable of displaying upstanding character. Wilson said it's unclear whether Jackson "will continue to trust Microsoft to abide by the terms of any conduct remedy, or whether he has come to believe, as the government has, that the company cannot be trusted to live up to its promises and must therefore be physically altered in such a way that it can no longer break the law."

Merc columnist Dan Gillmor took a turn at crawling inside Judge Jackson's head to guess his thoughts. "Now they want me to wait seven months even before holding a hearing?" Gillmor role-played. "Are they joking?" No, not joking. Just Microsoft. But for how much longer? - Deborah Asbrand

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