Those arrangements "help keep the usage of Navigator below the critical level necessary for Navigator or any other rival to pose a real threat to Microsoft's monopoly," the court said, referring to a rival browser made by Netscape Communications Corp, now part of AOL Time Warner Inc.
The judges found that Microsoft broke the law when it restricted computer makers such as Dell Computer Corp from changing the way the Windows operating system was displayed when users turn on their machines.
The restrictions "represent uses of Microsoft's market power to protect its monopoly," the court said.
Microsoft also violated antitrust law by threatening to retaliate against Intel Corp, the world's largest chipmaker, for developing software that could undermine
Windows' dominance, the court said.
"Microsoft lamely characterizes its threat to Intel as `advice,'" the court concluded.
"The government won the big one -- monopolization," said University of Baltimore antitrust professor Robert Lande.
Microsoft said the antitrust violations found by the appeals court "are mainly related to licensing practices, most of which are no longer in practice."
The court largely upheld Jackson's findings that the integration of Internet Explorer into the Windows operating system harmed competition by protecting Microsoft's monopoly. Still, it ordered more hearings on the separate question whether the integration amounted to an illegal tying of two products.
While ordering more hearings on the tying claim, the court said it wasn't concluding that Microsoft's integration was good for consumers "or that it should be absolved of tying liability." Nevertheless, the court said it was concerned that a finding on tying against Microsoft without further proceedings "may not give newly integrated products a fair shake."
Some legal experts have said that the government must win the tying count to sustain the breakup.
The court also reversed Jackson's finding that Microsoft attempted to monopolize the market for Internet browsers by asking Netscape not to offer its Navigator browser for PCs that run on the Windows operating system.
The court rejected as "far too speculative" Jackson's conclusion this arrangement would have prevented any other browser from competing with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Netscape rejected the 1995 offer, according to testimony at the trial.
Jackson came under criticism for talking to reporters about the case before he decided that Microsoft had broken the antitrust laws.
The appeals court said the news reports "convey the impression of a judge posturing for posterity, trying to please the reporters with colorful analogies and observations bound to wind up in the stories they write."
RSS