MICROSOFT'S REACTION

June 7, 2000
		Within moments of Judge Jackson's final judgment in the case against his company, Bill Gate's issued the following statement as part of a video press release.

Online Special: The Microsoft Case April 3, 2000 Judge rules against Microsoft April 3, 2000 Analysis of the court's decision against Microsoft Nov. 8, 1999 Microsoft's Bob Herbold responds to the decision that Microsoft is a monopoly. Nov. 5, 1999 Two legal experts analyze the court's findings in Microsoft antitrust case. April 1, 1999 Efforts to settle Microsoft case failed. Nov. 12, 1998 A discussion on each side's arguments in the antitrust case. May 18, 1998 Justice Department and 20 states launch antitrust actions.   Microsoft Netscape United States Department of Justice US v. Microsoft antitrust filings

This is the beginning of a new chapter in this case. We will be appealing this decision, and we believe we have a very strong case on appeal. We believe this ruling is inconsistent with the past decisions by the Appeals Court, with fundamental fairness, and with the reality of the marketplace. Consumers every day see more competition, lower prices and an economy full of innovation. This is clearly the most massive attempt at government regulation of the technology industry ever, and it was conceived by the government and imposed by this ruling without a single day of testimony or scrutiny. This plan would undermine our high-tech economy, hurt consumers, make computers harder to use, and impact thousands of other companies and employees throughout the high-tech industry. Microsoft feels we have a very strong case on appeal. Its important we stay focused on building great software and that people understand that this kind of regulation would really hurt the high-tech economy. There are many elements of the government's proposal that we think go beyond what's reasonable. It's not just the breakup, but also the fact that when we do innovative work we have to give it to our competitors, rather than get the benefits of our innovation. I think this ruling flies in the face of what consumers experience every day--a high-tech economy that's lowering prices and bringing out lots of great new products. Microsoft is very pleased that the appeals process has begun. We have a very strong appeal, and during that time we're going to keep building great software products that are going to bring the Internet to a whole new level of power and ease of use. Microsoft has an incredible team of developers. By working together, they built the products that created the PC revolution. That team needs to stay intact as we tackle the new frontiers to make the Internet even better. Microsoft has a very strong appeal, because this decision flies in the face of higher court decisions. It's also very unreasonable in terms of breaking the company up and preventing us from doing creative work. Finally, it flies in the face of what consumers experience every day in terms of better products at lower prices.