Justice Department beveelt opsplitsing Microsoft aan

CNN meldt in dit interessante bericht dat het Amerikaanse Justice Department en 19 staten een brief hebben gestuurd naar rechter Thomas Penfield Jackson waarin ze een aanbeveling doen om Microsoft op te splitsen in twee delen. Microsoft werd al eerder schuldig bevonden aan het misbruiken van zijn monopolie positie, het wachten is nu op de uitspraak van de rechter. Hieronder een gedeelte:

Federal District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson on Friday is expected to receive details of a last-minute proposal by the Justice Department and 19 states for antitrust violation sanctions against Microsoft.

The judge will consider that filing and the software giant's response in advance of a hearing on the proposed breakup of Microsoft on May 24.

The government and attorneys general are expected to file a single proposal by Friday's deadline: That Microsoft be broken into two parts, to prevent it from engaging in any anti-trust behavior in the future.

The government's proposal is expected to forbid the split companies from combining for 10 years.

Jackson ruled earlier this month that Microsoft repeatedly violated anti-trust laws and "placed an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive fortune, thereby effectively guaranteeing its continued dominance in the relevant market."

Sources close to the talks suggest that a single proposal will be filed with the court, rather than separate briefs submitted by the government and the states -- an option offered by the judge.

"There will be one document which will be the voice for the Department of Justice and virtually all of the states," said a source, although "one or two states may choose to put in an appendix or footnotes" to record their differences of opinion in some areas.

Bedankt Snowy voor de link.