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ORAL ARGUMENT SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 26-27, 2001
Nos. 00-5212, 00-5213
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and STATE OF NEW YORK, et al.,
Plaintiff-Appellees,
v.
MICROSOFT CORPORATION,
Defendant-Appellant
ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
BRIEF FOR APPELLEES UNITED STATES AND THE STATE PLAINTIFFS
|
ELIOT SPITZER
Attorney General of the
State of New York
PREETA D. BANSAL
Solicitor General
HARRY FIRST
Assistant Attorney General
MELANIE L. OXHORN
Assistant Solicitor General
RICHARD L. SCHWARTZ
Assistant Attorney General
120 Broadway
New York, New York 10271
JAMES E. DOYLE
Attorney General of Wisconsin
KEVIN J. O'CONNOR
Lead State Counsel
Office of Attorney General
State Capitol, Suite 114 East
Madison WI 53707-7857
(608) 266-8986
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A. DOUGLAS MELAMED
Acting Assistant Attorney General
JEFFREY H. BLATTNER
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
JEFFREY P. MINEAR
DAVID C. FREDERICK
Assistants to the Solicitor General
MARY JEAN MOLTENBREY
Director, Civil Non-Merger Enforcement
CATHERINE G. O'SULLIVAN
ROBERT B. NICHOLSON
DAVID E. BLAKE-THOMAS
JOHN F. COVE, JR.
SUSAN M. DAVIES
ADAM D. HIRSH
ANDREA LIMMER
PHILLIP R. MALONE
DAVID SEIDMAN
CHRISTOPHER SPRIGMAN
Attorneys
Department of Justice
Washington D.C. 20530
(202) 514-2413
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CERTIFICATE AS TO PARTIES, RULINGS, AND RELATED CASES
- All parties, intervenors and amici appearing before the district court and in this court are
listed in the Brief for Appellant.
- References to the rulings at issue appear in the Brief for Appellant.
- This case was previously before this Court in Nos. 98-5399 and 98-5400, United States v.
Microsoft Corp., 165 F.3d 952 (D.C. Cir. 1999).
There are no other related cases currently pending in this Court or in any other court.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE AS TO PARTIES, RULINGS, AND RELATED CASES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
GLOSSARY
STATEMENT AS TO STATUTES AND REGULATIONS
STATEMENT OF ISSUES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
- Introduction
- Course Of Proceedings
- Statement Of Facts
- Microsoft's Operating System Monopoly
- The Market
- The Applications Barrier To Entry
- Combating The Middleware Threats
- The Attempt To Obtain Agreement With Netscape
- Denying Netscape Access To Crucial Channels Of Distribution
- Excluding Navigator From The OEM Channel
- Contractual Restrictions And Coercion Of OEMs
- Additional Means To Prevent OEMs From Distributing
Navigator
- The IAP Channel
- Apple
- ICPs And ISVs
- Effects Of The Campaign
- Java
- Intel And Others
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
ARGUMENT
STANDARD OF REVIEW
- MICROSOFT VIOLATED SECTION 2 OF THE SHERMAN ACT THROUGH A
COURSE OF ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCT THAT MAINTAINED ITS
OPERATING SYSTEM MONOPOLY
- The Offense Of Monopolization
- Microsoft Has Monopoly Power
- The District Court Correctly Found That The Relevant Market Is
"The Licensing Of All Intel-Compatible PC Operating Systems Worldwide"
- The District Court Correctly Concluded That
Microsoft Has Monopoly Power
- Microsoft's Dominant, Persistent, And Increasing Market Share
Supports A Finding Of Monopoly Power
- Microsoft Is Protected By Barriers To Entry That
Support A Finding Of Monopoly Power
- Microsoft's Conduct Did Not Negate A Finding Of Monopoly Power
- Microsoft Engaged In A Multifaceted Campaign Of Exclusionary Conduct
That Maintained Its Monopoly Power
- The District Court Imposed Liability Based On Microsoft's
Anticompetitive Conduct
- The District Court Did Not Condemn Microsoft For Developing
Or Improving Its Products
- The District Court Correctly Concluded That Microsoft Wrongfully
Excluded Netscape Navigator From The OEM Channel
- Copyright Law Does Not Insulate Microsoft's Restrictive OEM License
Provisions From The Antitrust Laws
- Microsoft's Conduct Was Exclusionary Even Though
It Did Not Completely Exclude Navigator From The
OEM Distribution Channel
- The District Court Correctly Concluded That Microsoft
Wrongfully Excluded Netscape Navigator From The IAP Channel
- The Court's Section 1 Determination Does Not Preclude A Finding
That Microsoft's Exclusion Of Navigator From The IAP Channel
Violated Section 2
- Microsoft's Conduct Was Exclusionary Even Though It Did Not
Completely Exclude Navigator From The IAP Distribution Channel
- The District Court Correctly Ruled That Aspects Of Microsoft's Java
Implementation Violated Section 2
- The District Court Correctly Based Liability On Microsoft's
Course Of Conduct As A Whole, As Well As On Its Individual Acts
- Microsoft's Exclusionary Conduct Contributed Significantly To The
Maintenance Of Its Operating Systems Monopoly
- MICROSOFT ATTEMPTED TO MONOPOLIZE THE BROWSER MARKET
- Microsoft's Proposal To Netscape In June 1995 Constituted Attempted
Monopolization
- Microsoft's Pattern Of Conduct Following Netscape's Failure To Accept Its
Proposal Constituted Attempted Monopolization
- MICROSOFT VIOLATED SECTION 1 OF THE SHERMAN ACT BY TYING
INTERNET EXPLORER TO WINDOWS
- Microsoft Is Liable Under The Supreme Court's Tying Decisions
- Microsoft Is Liable Under The Microsoft II Rationale For Distinguishing
Integrated Products
- The District Court Condemned Tying, Not Integrated Design
- Windows and IE Would Be Considered Separate Products If Microsoft II
Were Applied To The Facts Of This Case
- Microsoft's Tying Had Significant Competitive Consequences
- THE DISTRICT COURT DID NOT COMMIT REVERSIBLE ERROR IN THE
SCHEDULING OR CONDUCT OF THE PROCEEDINGS ON LIABILITY
- The District Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion In Managing Its Docket
- The District Court Did Not Rely On Inadmissible Hearsay In Making
Any Essential Finding Of Fact
- THE DISTRICT COURT PROPERLY ORDERED STRUCTURAL AND CONDUCT
REMEDIES AND FOLLOWED APPROPRIATE PROCEDURES IN DOING SO
- The District Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion In Ordering The Remedy
- Divestiture Of Microsoft Into "OpsCo" And "AppsCo"
- Conduct Restrictions
- The District Court Did Not Err By Entering Its Decree Without A Separate
Evidentiary Hearing On Remedy 135
- JUDGE JACKSON'S OUT-OF-COURT COMMENTS DO NOT MERIT VACATING
THE JUDGMENT OR REMOVING HIM FROM FURTHER PROCEEDINGS
CONCLUSION
ADDENDUM A Statutes And Regulations
ADDENDUM B Index To The District Court's Findings Of Fact
ADDENDUM C Witnesses, Deponents, And Others Named In This Brief
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Cases
(Authorities upon which we chiefly rely are marked with an asterisk)
A.H. Cox & Co. v. Star Mach. Co., 653 F.2d 1302 (9th Cir. 1981)
AD/SAT v. Associated Press, 181 F.3d 216 (2d Cir. 1999)
Adams v. Hinchman, 154 F.3d 420 (D.C. Cir. 1998)
Advanced Computer Servs. of Mich., Inc. v. MAI Sys. Corp.,
845 F. Supp. 356 (E.D. Va. 1994)
Advanced Health-Care Servs. v. Radford Cmty. Hosp.,
910 F.2d 139 (4th Cir. 1990)
Am. Can Co. v. Mansukhani, 814 F.2d 421 (7th Cir. 1987)
Am. Prof'l Testing Serv., Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Legal & Prof'l Publ'ns, Inc., 108 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. 1997)
Am. Tobacco Co. v. United States, 328 U.S. 781 (1946) (67%)
Amadeo v. Zant, 486 U.S. 214 (1988)
Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564 (1985)
* Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585 (1985)
Ass'n for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women v. NCAA,
735 F.2d 577 (D.C. Cir. 1984)
Atari Games Corp. v. Oman, 888 F.2d 878 (D.C. Cir. 1989)
Atchinson v. District of Columbia, 73 F.3d 418 (D.C. Cir. 1996)
Bailey v. Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, 209 F.3d 740 (D.C. Cir. 2000)
Ball Mem'l Hosp., Inc. v. Mutual Hosp. Ins., Inc., 784 F.2d 1325
(7th Cir. 1986).
Barry Wright Corp. v. ITT Grinnell Corp., 724 F.2d 227 (1st Cir. 1993)
Berry v. District of Columbia, 833 F.2d 1031 (D.C. Cir. 1987)
BMI v. CBS, 441 U.S. 1 (1979)
Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U.S. 294 (1962)
C.E. Servs., Inc. v. Control Data Corp., 759 F.2d 1241
(5th Cir. 1985)
Cal. Computer Prod., Inc. v. IBM Corp., 613 F.2d 727
(9th Cir. 1979)
Cardinal Films, Inc. v. Republic Pictures Corp.,
148 F. Supp. 156 (S.D.N.Y. 1957)
Carey Can., Inc. v. Columbia Cas. Co., 940 F.2d 1548
(D.C. Cir. 1991)
Caribbean Broad. Sys., Ltd. v. Cable & Wireless PLC,
148 F.3d 1080 (D.C. Cir. 1998)
Citizen Publ'g Co. v. United States, 394 U.S. 131 (1969)
City of Anaheim v. S. Cal. Edison, 955 F.2d 1373 (9th Cir. 1992)
City of Groton v. Conn. Light & Power Co., 662 F.2d 921
(2d Cir. 1981)
Coastal Fuels of P.R., Inc. v. Caribbean Petroleum Corp.,
79 F.3d 182 (1st Cir. 1996)
Comm. for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 846 F.2d 1485
(D.C. Cir. 1988)
Concord Boat Co. v. Brunswick Corp., 207 F.3d 1039 (8th Cir.),
cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 428 (2000).
Conoco Inc. v. Inman Oil Co., 774 F.2d 895 (8th Cir. 1985)
* Cont'l Ore Co. v. Union Carbide & Carbon Co.,
370 U.S. 690 (1962).
* Data Gen. Corp. v. Grumman Systems Support Corp.,
36 F.3d 1147 (1st Cir. 1994)
* Davoll v. Webb, 194 F.3d 1116 (10th Cir. 1999)
Dial A Car, Inc. v. Transp., Inc., 82 F.3d 484 (D.C. Cir. 1996)
* Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Servs., Inc.,
504 U.S. 451 (1992) passim
Eli Lilly & Co. v. Generix Drug Sales, Inc., 460 F.2d 1096
(5th Cir. 1972)
Ford Motor Co. v. United States, 405 U.S. 562 (1972)
Foster v. Maryland State Sav. & Loan Ass'n,
590 F.2d 928 (D.C. Cir. 1978);
Gen. Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136 (1997)
Gen. Indus. Corp. v. Hartz Mountain Corp.,
810 F.2d 795 (8th Cir. 1987)
Gilliam v. ABC, Inc., 538 F.2d 14 (2d Cir. 1967)
Gracen v. Bradford Exch., 698 F.2d 300 (7th Cir. 1983)
* Greater Kan. City Laborers Pension Fund v. Superior Gen.
Contractors, Inc., 104 F.3d 1050 (8th Cir. 1997)
H.J., Inc. v. Int'l Tel. & Tel. Corp., 867 F.2d 1531 (8th Cir. 1989)
Halberstam v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472 (D.C. Cir. 1983)
Harris v. Rivera, 454 U.S. 339 (1981)
Image Technical Servs. v. Eastman Kodak, 125 F.3d 1195 (9th Cir. 1997)
* In re Barry, 946 F.2d 913 (D.C. Cir. 1991)
* In re Fine Paper Antitrust Litig., 685 F.2d 810 (3d Cir. 1982)
In re IBM Peripheral EDP Devices Antitrust Litig.,
481 F. Supp. 965 (N.D. Cal. 1979)
In re Independent Service Organizations Antitrust Litigation,
203 F.3d 1322 (Fed. Cir.), petition for cert. filed, 69 U.S.L.W. 3087
(July 11, 2000) (No. 00-62),
Ind. Grocery, Inc. v. Super Valu Stores, Inc., 864 F.2d 1409
(7th Cir. 1989),
* Int'l Boxing Club of N.Y., Inc. v. United States,
358 U.S. 242 (1959)
Int'l Salt Co. v. United States, 332 U.S. 392 (1947)
* Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde,
466 U.S. 2 (1984) passim
LaShawn v. Barry, 87 F.3d 1389 (D.C. Cir. 1996)
Lee v. A.R.T. Co., 125 F.3d 580 (7th Cir. 1997)
* Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540 (1994)
Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc. v. Alpha of Va., Inc.,
43 F.3d 922 (4th Cir. 1995)
Los Angeles Land Co. v. Brunswick Corp., 6 F.3d 1422
(9th Cir. 1993)
LucasArts Entm't Co. v. Humongous Entm't Co.,
870 F. Supp. 285 (N.D. Cal. 1993)
M & M Med. Supplies & Serv., Inc. v. Pleasant Valley Hosp., Inc.,
981 F.2d 160 (4th Cir. 1992)
Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Ludwig, 426 U.S. 479 (1976)
Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp.,
475 U.S. 574 (1986)
Milmark Servs., Inc. v. United States, 731 F.2d 855 (Fed. Cir. 1984)
Montgomery County Ass'n of Realtors, Inc. v. Realty Photo Master Corp.,
878 F. Supp. 804 (D. Md. 1995)
Multistate Legal Studies, Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Legal & Prof'l Publ'ns, Inc., 63 F.3d 1540 (10th Cir. 1995)
Multi-Med. Convalescent & Nursing Ctr. of Towson v. NLRB,
550 F.2d 974 (4th Cir. 1977)
N. Pac. R. Co. v. United States, 356 U.S. 1 (1958).
Nat'l Bank of Commerce v. Shaklee Corp., 503 F. Supp. 533
(W.D. Tex. 1980)
Nat'l Soc'y of Prof'l Eng'rs v. United States, 435 U.S. 679 (1978)
NCAA v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Okla., 468 U.S. 85 (1984),
* Neumann v. Reinforced Earth Co., 786 F.2d 424 (D.C. Cir. 1986)
Northeastern Tel. Co. v. AT&T Co., 651 F.2d 76 (2d Cir. 1981)
Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States, 410 U.S. 366 (1973)
Palmer v. BRG of Ga., Inc., 498 U.S. 46 (1990)
Pan Am. World Airways, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co.,
505 F.2d 989 (2d Cir. 1974) 114
Re/Max Int'l, Inc. v. Realty One, Inc., 173 F.3d 995 (6th Cir. 1999)
Rebel Oil Co. v. Atl. Richfield Co., 51 F.3d 1421 (9th Cir. 1995)
Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc.,
490 U.S. 477 (1989)
* Rothery Storage & Van Co. v. Atlas Van Lines, Inc.,
792 F.2d 210 (D.C. Cir. 1986)
Roy B. Taylor Sales, Inc. v. Hollymatic Corp., 28 F.3d 1379 (5th Cir. 1994)
S. Pac. Communications Co. v. AT&T, 740 F.2d 980 (D.C. Cir. 1984)
Schine Chain Theatres, Inc. v. United States, 334 U.S. 110 (1948)
SCM Corp. v. Xerox Corp., 645 F.2d 1195 (2d Cir. 1981)
Simpson v. Union Oil Co. of Cal., 377 U.S. 13 (1964)
Sitka Sound Seafoods, Inc. v. NLRB, 206 F.3d 1175 (D.C. Cir. 2000)
Socialist Workers Party v. Ill. State Bd. of Elections,
566 F.2d 586 (7th Cir. 1977)
Sony Corp. of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc.,
464 U.S. 417 (1984)
* Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan, 506 U.S. 447 (1993)
Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911)
Stearns Airport Equip. Co., Inc. v. FMC Corp.,
170 F.3d 518 (5th Cir. 1999)
Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 21 F. Supp. 2d 1109 (N.D. Cal. 1998),
- vacated, 188 F.3d 1115, 1123 (9th Cir. 1999),
- on remand, 87 F. Supp. 2d 992, 998 (N.D. Cal. 2000)
Swift & Co. v. United States, 196 U.S. 375 (1905)
Taylor Publ'g Co. v. Jostens, Inc., 216 F.3d 465 (5th Cir. 2000)
Tendler v. Jaffe, 203 F.2d 14 (D.C. Cir. 1953)
Times-Picayune Publ'g Co. v. United States, 345 U.S. 594 (1953)
U.S. Healthcare, Inc. v. Healthsource, Inc., 986 F.2d 589
(1st Cir. 1993)
United States ex rel. Modern Elec., Inc. v. Ideal Elec. Sec. Co.,
81 F.3d 240 (D.C. Cir. 1996)
United States v. Alcoa, 148 F.2d 416 (2d Cir. 1945)
United States v. Alcoa, 91 F. Supp. 333 (S.D.N.Y. 1950)
* United States v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 743 F.2d 1114 (5th Cir. 1984)
United States v. Am. Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106 (1911)
United States v. AT&T, 552 F. Supp. 131 (D.D.C. 1982)
* United States v. Barry, 961 F.2d 260 (D.C. Cir. 1992)
United States v. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., 321 U.S. 707 (1944).
United States v. Crescent Amusement Co., 323 U.S. 173 (1944)
United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.,
177 F. Supp. 1 (N.D. Ill. 1959)
* United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.,
351 U.S. 377 (1956)
* United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.,
366 U.S. 316 (1961)
United States v. Griffith, 334 U.S. 100 (1948)
* United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563 (1966)
United States v. Haldeman, 559 F.2d 31 (D.C. Cir. 1976)
United States v. Loew's Inc., 371 U.S. 38 (1962)
United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164 (1974)
* United States v. Microsoft Corp., 147 F.3d 935 (D.C. Cir. 1998)
United States v. Microsoft Corp., 1998-2 Trade Cas. (CCH) ¶ 72,261 (D.D.C. 1998)
United States v. Microsoft Corp., 84 F. Supp. 2d 9
(D.D.C. 1999) (Findings of Fact)
United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30
(D.D.C. 2000) (Conclusions of Law)
United States v. Microsoft Corp., 97 F. Supp. 2d 59
(D.D.C. 2000) (Remedy Order)
United States v. National Lead Co., 332 U.S. 319 (1947)
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 131 (1948)
United States v. Prod. Plated Plastics, Inc., 762 F. Supp. 722
(W.D. Mich. 1991)
United States v. Studiengesellschaft Kohle, m.b.H, 670 F.2d 1122
(D.C. Cir. 1981)
United States v. Syufy Enters., 903 F.2d 659 (9th Cir. 1990)
United States v. Taylor, 487 U.S. 326 (1988)
United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 340 U.S. 76 (1950)
United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422 (1978)
United States v. United Shoe Mach. Corp., 391 U.S. 244 (1968)
United States v. W. Elec. Co., 900 F.2d 283 (D.C. Cir. 1990)
United States v. Ward Baking Co., 376 U.S. 327 (1964).
United States v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 648 F.2d 642
(9th Cir. 1981)
W. Parcel Express v. UPS, 190 F.3d 974 (9th Cir. 1999)
Walsh v. Schlecht, 429 U.S. 401 (1977)
WGN Cont'l Broad. Co. v. United Video, Inc.,
693 F.2d 622 (7th Cir. 1982)
William Inglis & Sons Baking Co. v. ITT Cont'l Baking Co.,
668 F.2d 1014 (9th Cir. 1982)
Woods v. Bourne Co., 60 F.3d 978 (2d Cir. 1995)
Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., 395 U.S. 100 (1969)
Statutes & Rules
15 U.S.C. 1
15 U.S.C. 2
17 U.S.C. 101
17 U.S.C. 102
17 U.S.C. 106
175 F.R.D. 363 et seq. (1998)
28 U.S.C. 455
Fed. R. Civ. P. 1
Fed. R. Civ. P. 52
Fed. R. Evid. 106
Fed. R. Evid. 611
Fed. R. Evid. 703
Fed. R. Evid. 803
Treatises & Other Authorities
Phillip E. Areeda et al., Antitrust Law
Steve Ballmer, The Microsoft Suit, Wash. Post, Jan. 24, 2000, at A20
Robert H. Bork, The Antitrust Paradox (1993)
Joel Brinkley, A Microsoft Remedy: Antitrust Experts Offer
Prescriptions, N.Y. Times, Nov. 15, 1999, at C1
Joel Brinkley, U.S. and 17 States Ask Judge to Cut Microsoft in 2 Parts;
Serious Curbs Also Sought, N.Y. Times, Apr. 29, 2000, at A1
Joel Brinkley, U.S. Hires Advisory Firm in Microsoft Case,
N.Y. Times, Dec. 3, 1999, at C2
Joel Brinkley & Steve Lohr, Microsoft and U.S. Unable to
Reach Antitrust Accord, N.Y. Times, Apr. 2, 2000, at A1
Joel Brinkley & Steve Lohr, U.S. v. Microsoft (2000)
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Justice Dept. Hires Firm to Study
Microsoft 'Remedies,' Wash. Post, Dec. 3, 1999, at E3
Dartmouth Alumni Mag. Nov./Dec. 2000, at 44
James V. Grimaldi, Microsoft Filing Critical of Judge,
Wash. Post, Nov. 28, 2000, at E1
James V. Grimaldi, Microsoft Judge Says Ruling at Risk,
Wash. Post, Sept. 29, 2000, at E1
John E. Lopatka & William H. Page, A (Cautionary) Note
on Remedies in the Microsoft Case, Antitrust, Summer 1999, at 25
Manual for Complex Litigation (Third) (1995)
Report of the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct (Sept. 1992)
R. Craig Romaine & Steven C. Salop, Slap Their Wrists?
Tie Their Hands? Slice Them into Pieces? Alternative Remedies
for Monopolization in the Microsoft Case, Antitrust, Summer 1999, at 1
Peter Spiegel, Microsoft Judge Defends Post-Trial Comment,
Fin. Times, Oct. 6, 2000, at 4
Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 6026
GLOSSARY
| ACT |
Amici Association for Competitive Technology and Computing Technology Industry
Association |
AOL |
America Online, Inc., an online service (OLS). FF 15. |
API |
Application programming interface. APIs "exposed" by a computer program, such
as an operating system or middleware, provide other computer programs with means
of access to blocks of code that perform particular tasks, such as displaying text on
the computer screen. FF 2.
|
CL |
Conclusions of law. The district court's April 3, 2000 order, 87 F. Supp. 2d 30
(D.D.C. 2000). |
DX |
Defendant's exhibit in the district court.
|
FF |
Findings of fact. The district court's November 5, 1999 order, 84 F. Supp. 2d 9
(D.D.C. 1999).
|
FJ |
Final Judgment, 97 F. Supp. 2d 59, 63-74 (D.D.C. 2000).
|
GX |
Plaintiffs' exhibit in the district court.
|
HTML |
Hypertext Markup Language. FF 233. The language to create Web pages with hyperlinks
and markup for formatting. |
IAP |
Internet access provider. Includes ISPs and OLSs, which provide computer users
with access to the Internet. FF 15. |
ICP |
Internet content provider. Individuals and organizations that have established a
presence, or "site," on the Web by publishing a collection of Web pages. FF 13.
|
IE |
Internet Explorer, Microsoft's Web browser. FF 17.
|
Intel- compatible PC |
A PC designed to use a microprocessor in, or compatible with, Intel's
patible PC 80x86/Pentium microprocessor family. FF 3.
|
Internet |
A global electronic network of computers. FF 11.
|
ISP |
Internet service provider, such as MindSpring or Netcom, which provides Internet
access to subscribers. FF 15.
|
ISV |
Independent software vendor. A developer of applications. FF 28.
|
Java |
A programming language and related middleware that enable applications written
in that language to run on different operating systems. FF 73.
|
JVM |
Java Virtual Machine. A program that translates Java bytecode (which a Java
compiler has produced from sourcecode written in the Java language) into
instructions that the operating system can understand. FF 73. |
Middleware |
Software that relies on the APIs provided by the operating system on which it runs,
but also exposes its own APIs. FF 28.
|
MS Br. |
Microsoft's opening brief in this Court, November 27, 2000.
|
Navigator |
Netscape Communications Corporation's Web browser. FF 17.
|
NSP |
Native Signal Processing. NSP software enables Intel microprocessors to perform
certain tasks (useful for advanced video and graphics performance) usually carried
out by separate chips called "digital signal processors." FF 95. |
OEM |
Original equipment manufacturer. FF 10. In this brief, a manufacturer of PCs.
|
OLS |
An online service that provides Internet access, various other services, and an array
of proprietary content to subscribers. FF 15. |
OS or Operating System |
A software program that controls the allocation and use of computer resources.
FF 2.
|
PC |
Personal computer. A digital information processing device designed for use by one
person at a time. FF 1.
|
Platform |
Software, like an operating system or middleware, that exposes APIs. FF 2, 69.
|
Port, or Porting |
Adapting an application program written for one OS to run on a different OS. FF
4.
|
Remedy Order |
District Court's June 7, 2000 decision on remedy, 97 F. Supp. 2d 59, 59-63 (D.D.C. 2000).
|
RX |
Plaintiffs' remedy exhibit in the district court.
|
Web |
The World Wide Web. A massive collection of digital information resources stored
on servers throughout the Internet, typically provided in the form of hypertext
documents, commonly referred to as "Web pages." FF 12.
|
Web Browser (or Browser) |
Software that enables a user to select, retrieve, and perceive resources on the
Web. FF 16. In this brief, the term "browser" by itself means "Web browser."
|
Windows |
A family of software packages produced by Microsoft, each including an operating
system. The principal members of this family for purposes of this case are Windows
95, Windows 98, and successors, which include operating systems for Intel-compatible PCs. FF 6-8.
|
STATEMENT AS TO STATUTES AND REGULATIONS
Pertinent statutes and regulations are bound with this brief as Addendum A. Except for the
items in Addendum A, all applicable statutes, etc., are contained in the Brief for Appellant.
STATEMENT OF ISSUES
- Whether Microsoft violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 2, by engaging in a
course of exclusionary conduct that protected and maintained its personal computer operating
system monopoly.
- Whether Microsoft violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 2, by attempting to
monopolize the market for Web browsers.
- Whether Microsoft violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, by tying its
Internet Explorer Web browser to its Windows operating system.
- Whether any of the district court's procedural and evidentiary rulings constituted an abuse
of discretion requiring reversal of the judgment.
- Whether the district court abused its discretion by ordering structural separation of
Microsoft into two entities and transitional restrictions on its conduct.
- Whether the district court's extrajudicial comments about the case require vacating the
judgment or removing the district judge.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
A. Introduction
The United States and numerous States (collectively, the government) sued Microsoft
Corporation to enjoin it from violating antitrust laws that embody fundamental principles of lawful
competition. The government proved at trial that Microsoft had engaged in a broad pattern of
anticompetitive conduct to eradicate a developing threat to its monopoly power in its core business
personal computer operating systems and that Microsoft's conduct had harmed consumers.
Findings of Fact (FF), United States v. Microsoft Corp., 84 F. Supp. 2d 9 (D.D.C. 1999) (JA ____).
The district court determined that Microsoft's conduct violated Section 1 and Section 2 of the
Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, 2, as well as analogous state laws. Conclusions of Law (CL), United
States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000) (JA ____). The court's judgment
imposed a remedy to stop the violations and restore competitive conditions in the marketplace.
United States v. Microsoft Corp., 97 F. Supp. 2d 59 (D.D.C. 2000) (Remedy Order) (JA ____).
The government's case at trial and the district court's findings of fact and conclusions of law
focused on Microsoft's unlawful campaign to maintain its monopoly power in violation of Section
2. The evidence demonstrated that Microsoft engaged not just in aggressive, lawful competition,
but also in predatory conduct to thwart the development of emerging technologies that would allow
"applications," such as word processors, spreadsheets, games, and other useful programs, to be
written so they would run on operating systems other than Microsoft's "Windows" without costly
adaptation. The evidence showed that Microsoft acted out of concern that those technologies would
erode the "applications barrier to entry" that protected its Windows monopoly.
Microsoft specifically set out to protect its monopoly from erosion by two "middleware"
technologies Netscape's Navigator Web browser and Sun's Java software. Those technologies
had the potential to enable software developers to design a single version of an application that
would run on a wide variety of operating systems. The increased availability of software that could
run on operating systems other than Windows would have made alternative operating systems more
attractive to consumers and would thus have eroded Windows' market dominance. In effect,
Microsoft sought by anticompetitive means to insulate its operating system monopoly from the kinds
of technological and entrepreneurial changes that have characterized other parts of the industry. The
evidence further established that, in the course of taking unlawful steps to maintain its Windows
monopoly, Microsoft engaged in tying and in attempted monopolization of the browser market in
violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.
In response to the public interest in resolving this case expeditiously and in recognition of the
rapid pace of technological change in software markets, the district court conducted a fair and
efficient trial. The court's 412 findings of fact painstakingly and accurately describe the relevant
market (FF 18-32 (JA ____)), Microsoft's power in that market (FF 33-67 (JA ____)), the
middleware threat (FF 68-78 (JA ____)), Microsoft's response to that threat (FF 79-407 (JA ____)),
and the effects on consumers of Microsoft's efforts to protect the applications barrier to entry (e.g.,
FF 408-12 (JA ____)). The court specifically found that Microsoft's conduct harmed the company's
direct and indirect customers, stifled innovation, and would not have been profitable or made
business sense but for its effect of maintaining Microsoft's operating system monopoly. See, e.g.,
FF 409-12 (JA ____). The court's findings of fact are supported by the extensive trial record,
including a wealth of evidence from Microsoft's own contemporaneous documents. The court's
findings also correctly distinguished lawful from unlawful conduct. The court imposed an
appropriate remedy based on its factual findings and the circumstances before it.
Microsoft declines to acknowledge the district court's core findings of fact and instead recites,
as its Statement of the Case, a sanitized description of its actions based largely on its own proposed
but rejected findings. Microsoft, however, is not entitled to re-tender its proposed findings to
this Court. Rather, this Court conducts its appellate review based on the district court's findings,
which "shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous." Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(a). See Anderson v. City
of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573-74 (1985). That standard of review is dispositive of the fact-findings in this case because nowhere in its submission does Microsoft assert specifically that any
fact found by the district court is clearly erroneous. The following description of the case is based
on the trial proceedings and the facts found by the district court.
B. Course Of Proceedings
On May 18, 1998, the United States filed a complaint alleging that Microsoft had violated
Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, 2. The opening paragraphs of that complaint
describe Microsoft's "monopoly power in the market for personal computer operating systems" (US
Compl. § I, ¶ 2 (JA ____)); the "high barriers to entry in [that] market" (id. at § I, ¶ 3 (JA ____);
the "significant potential threat to Microsoft's operating system monopoly" from new technologies
(id. at § I, ¶ 4 (JA ____); and the various "anticompetitive activities" that Microsoft undertook "[t]o
protect its valuable Windows monopoly against such potential competitive threats, and to extend
its operating system monopoly into other software markets" (id. at § I, ¶ 5 (JA ____). Although the
complaint further alleged that some of Microsoft's actions independently violated the antitrust laws
in other respects, the core of the government's allegations was Microsoft's maintenance of its
operating system monopoly. Id. at § I, ¶¶ 2-13 (JA ____). The complaint sought specific injunctive
relief and "such other preliminary and permanent relief as is necessary and appropriate to restore
competitive conditions in the markets affected by Microsoft's unlawful conduct." Id. at § VIII, ¶ 3
(JA ____). Twenty states and the District of Columbia filed a similar complaint the same day (one
state later withdrew), and the district court consolidated the cases at Microsoft's request.
After extensive discovery, the court began a 78-day trial on October 19, 1998, which ended
on June 24, 1999. The court heard testimony from 26 witnesses and admitted depositions of 79
other witnesses and 2733 exhibits. On November 5, 1999, the court entered its Findings of Fact (JA
____). The court then ordered the parties to engage in mediation before Chief Judge Posner of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. On April 3, 2000, after four months of intensive
mediation efforts that ultimately failed, the court entered its Conclusions of Law (JA ____).
The district court held that Microsoft successfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts
to protect and maintain its personal computer operating system monopoly, in violation of Section 2
of the Sherman Act. It also concluded that Microsoft violated Section 2 by attempting to
monopolize the market for Web browsers and Section 1 by tying its Web browser to its operating
system. Moreover, the court found that Microsoft's conduct violated various state laws. The court
rejected the government's claim that Microsoft's exclusive dealing contracts violated Section 1.
(The remedy it ordered effectively terminated and prohibited such agreements, however, because
they were part of the Section 2 violation.)
The court then proceeded to consider a remedy for Microsoft's antitrust violations, inviting
the parties to submit proposals. After reviewing those submissions, and holding a hearing on May
24, 2000, the court noted that the government had offered "a proposed form of final judgment that
would mandate both conduct modification and structural reorganization by the defendant when fully
implemented." Remedy Order at 61 (JA ____). Microsoft rejected the government's proposed
remedy and requested "months of additional time to oppose the relief sought in all other respects"
based on its "surprise" at the scope of the government's proposed remedy. The court explained that
"Microsoft's profession of surprise is not credible. From the inception of this case Microsoft knew,
from well-established Supreme Court precedents dating from the beginning of the last century, that
a mandated divestiture was a possibility, if not a probability, in the event of an adverse result at
trial." Id. (JA ____). The court further noted that "the Court's Findings of Fact gave clear warning
to Microsoft that the result would likely be adverse, yet the Court delayed entry of its Conclusions
of Law for five months" so that mediation on a remedy could occur. Id. (JA ____). "Even
assuming that Microsoft negotiated in utmost good faith in the course of mediation, it had to have
in contemplation the prospect that, were mediation to fail, the prevailing plaintiffs would propose
to the Court a remedy most to their liking and least likely to be acceptable to Microsoft." Id. (JA
____).
On June 7, 2000, the court entered a Final Judgment (FJ) that requires Microsoft, following
the conclusion of this appeal, to submit a plan to reorganize itself into two separate firms: an
"Operating System Business" and an "Applications Business." The court would review that plan
and the government's response prior to its implementation. The "OpsCo" would receive the
operating system business and "AppsCo" would receive the rest of Microsoft's businesses. FJ § 1
(JA ____). The Final Judgment also requires Microsoft to comply with transitional injunctive
provisions until the structural remedy becomes effective. Some of those provisions terminate upon
completion of the reorganization; others, three years later. FJ §§ 1.d, 3 (JA ____). Explaining that
"the proposed final judgment is represented to the Court as incorporating provisions employed
successfully in the past," the court further stated that the remedy "appears to the Court to address
all the principal objectives of relief in such cases, namely, to terminate the unlawful conduct, to
prevent its repetition in the future, and to revive competition in the relevant markets." Remedy
Order at 63 (JA ____).
C. Statement Of Facts
The district court's detailed findings of fact show that Microsoft undertook an extensive
campaign of exclusionary acts to maintain its operating system monopoly. The findings are based
on the court's consideration of the entire trial record and its assessment of the credibility of the
witnesses' testimony. See 84 F. Supp. 2d at 12 (JA ____). The court had access to the
government's 875-page proposed findings of fact, including a hyperlinked CD-ROM version, which
compiled in detail the evidentiary support for the government's case. (Copies of that CD-ROM are
being lodged with this Court.)
- Microsoft's Operating System Monopoly
A personal computer (PC) is designed for use by one person at a time. It consists, inter alia,
of central processing components (a microprocessor and main memory), software, and data storage
(e.g., a hard disk). FF 1 (JA ____).(1) The software on a PC largely consists of an operating system
(OS) and applications. An application is designed to accomplish a specific task, such as word
processing. The OS "controls the allocation and use of computer resources" and serves as a
"platform" for applications by exposing interfaces (application programming interfaces, or APIs)
that applications invoke to perform crucial tasks such as displaying text on a screen. FF 2 (JA
____).
- The Market
For the maintenance of monopoly and tying claims, the district court found that the relevant
market for evaluating Microsoft's monopoly power was the "licensing of all Intel-compatible PC
operating systems worldwide." CL at 36 (JA ____); FF 18 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 62 (JA ____).
"Intel-compatible" PCs are designed to function with Intel's 80x86 and successor family of
microprocessors (or compatible microprocessors). FF 3 (JA ____). Operating systems designed
for Intel-compatible PCs do not run on other PCs, and OSs designed for other PCs do not run on
Intel-compatible PCs. FF 4 (JA ____). Consumers are very reluctant to substitute away from Intel-compatible PCs (for any reason, including an increase in OS prices) because to do so would entail
incurring substantial costs and would not result in a satisfactory substitute. FF 19-27 (JA ____).(2)
Thus, a monopolist of OSs for Intel-compatible PCs "could set the price of a license substantially
above that which would be charged in a competitive market and leave the price there for a
significant period of time without losing so many customers as to make the action unprofitable."
CL at 36 (JA ____); FF 18 (JA ____).(3)
The court concluded that "the proof of Microsoft's dominant, persistent market share
protected by a substantial barrier to entry, together with Microsoft's failure to rebut that prima facie
showing effectively and the additional indicia of monopoly power, have compelled the Court to find
as fact that Microsoft enjoys monopoly power in the relevant market." CL at 37, citing FF 33
(Microsoft "could charge a price for Windows substantially above that which could be charged in
a competitive market") (JA ____); see Fisher ¶ 62 (JA ____).(4) The court highlighted four important
factors. First, "Microsoft possesses a dominant, persistent, and increasing share of the worldwide
market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems." FF 35 (JA ____). "Every year for the last
decade, Microsoft's share of the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems has stood above
ninety percent [and] [f]or the last couple of years, the figure has been at least ninety-five percent."
Id.(5) Even if the market were broadened to include operating systems for the Apple Macintosh,
which is not an Intel-compatible PC, Microsoft's share "would still stand well above eighty
percent." Id.(6) Second, an "applications barrier to entry" prevents competitors from attracting
significant consumer demand and "would continue to do so even if Microsoft held its prices
substantially above the competitive level." FF 36 (JA ____). Third, original equipment
manufacturers of PCs (OEMs) "uniformly are of a mind that there exists no commercially viable
alternative" to Windows. FF 54 (JA ____).(7) Fourth, through a range of actions over several years,
"Microsoft has comported itself in a way that could only be consistent with rational behavior for a
profit-maximizing firm if the firm knew that it possessed monopoly power, and if it was motivated
by a desire to preserve the barrier to entry protecting that power." CL at 37, citing FF 67, 99, 136,
141, 215-16, 241, 261-62, 286, 291, 330, 355, 393, 407 (JA ____).(8) The court rejected Microsoft's
arguments regarding alleged constraints on its monopoly power and its contentions that its pricing
and innovation were inconsistent with monopoly power. CL at 37 (JA ____); FF 57-67 (JA ____).
- The Applications Barrier To Entry
The OS serves principally two functions: It enables the computer's hardware to operate; and
it serves as a platform for applications programs, such as word-processing and spreadsheets. The
latter function is the source of what the district court found to be an "applications barrier to entry"
that protects Microsoft's monopoly power in the OS market. FF 30-52 (JA ____).
This barrier results from "an intractable 'chicken-and-egg' problem . . . . Users do not want
to invest in an operating system until it is clear that the system will support generations of
applications that will meet their needs, and developers do not want to invest in writing or quickly
porting [i.e., adapting] applications for an operating system until it is clear that there will be a
sizeable and stable market for it." FF 30 (JA ____).(9) As the district court found, that "self-reinforcing cycle" is sometimes referred to as the "network effect," a "phenomenon by which the
attractiveness of a product increases with the number of people using it." FF 39 (JA ____).
The applications barrier to entry increases the dependence of both consumers and software
developers on Windows and thus perpetuates Microsoft's OS monopoly.(10) For consumers, the
applications barrier to entry limits the choice of an operating system. "The consumer wants an
operating system that runs not only types of applications that he knows he will want to use, but also
those types in which he might develop an interest later." FF 37 (JA ____). "The fact that a vastly
larger number of applications are written for Windows than for other PC operating systems attracts
consumers to Windows, because it reassures them that their interests will be met as long as they use
Microsoft's product." Id. "The overwhelming majority of consumers will only use a PC operating
system for which there already exists a large and varied set of high-quality, full-featured
applications, and for which it seems relatively certain that new types of applications and new
versions of existing applications will continue to be marketed at pace with those written for other
operating systems." FF 30 (JA ____).(11)
For software developers, the applications barrier to entry creates disincentives to write
programs for operating systems other than Microsoft's. "An application that is written for one PC
operating system will operate on another PC operating system only if it is ported to that system, and
porting applications is both time-consuming and expensive." FF 38 (JA ____).(12) Consequently,
applications developers "tend to write first to the operating system with the most users Windows"
and will write applications for other operating systems "only to the extent that the marginal added
sales justify the cost of porting." Id. (JA ____).(13)
For competitors, the applications barrier to entry causes "a vicious cycle. For just as
Microsoft's large market share creates incentives for ISVs [independent software vendors] to
develop applications first and foremost for Windows, the small or non-existent market share of an
aspiring competitor makes it prohibitively expensive for the aspirant to develop its PC operating
system into an acceptable substitute for Windows." FF 40 (JA ____). Accordingly, "there is a
strong chance that the new operating system could stall; it would not support the most familiar
applications, nor the variety and number of applications, that attract large numbers of consumers."
FF 42 (JA ____).(14)
- Combating The Middleware Threats
Although an operating system serves as a platform for applications, the terms "OS" and
"platform" have distinct meanings. As Microsoft's economist put it, "conceptually, there is a
difference, and an important difference," between OSs and platforms. Schmalensee Tr. 6/21/99 am
at 19:15-20:9 (JA ____). A platform need not drive the computer's hardware directly, so long as
it properly functions with an OS that does. And an OS need not provide the APIs that support a
particular application, so long as a platform that operates on the OS provides the APIs that allow
that program to run.
A "middleware" program is not an operating system; rather, it is platform software that runs
on top of an operating system i.e., uses OS interfaces to take advantage of the operating system's
code and functionality and simultaneously exposes its own APIs so that applications can run on
the middleware itself. An application written to rely exclusively on a middleware program's APIs
could run on all OSs on which that middleware runs. FF 68, 29 (JA ____); Tevanian ¶ 45 (JA
____). Applications developers would have incentives to write for widely used middleware; and,
if the middleware ran on a variety of operating systems, users would not be reluctant to choose a
non-Windows operating system for fear that it would run an insufficient array of applications. FF
29, 68 (JA ____); Fisher ¶¶ 86, 89 (JA ____). As Microsoft acknowledges, if middleware became
a leading development platform, operating systems could become "commodities," i.e., essentially
fungible, and Windows would lose the benefits of the applications barrier to entry that has protected
its monopoly. MS Rev. Prop. FF ¶ 214 (JA ____).(15)
Microsoft "was concerned with middleware" because middleware could weaken the
applications barrier and thereby threaten the dominance of Windows. FF 68-78, 29 (JA ____).
Microsoft focused "on two incarnations of middleware that, working together, had the potential to
weaken the applications barrier severely without the assistance of any other middleware. These
were Netscape's Web browser and Sun's implementation of the Java technologies." FF 68 (JA
____).(16)
- The Attempt To Obtain Agreement With Netscape
In December 1994, Netscape first marketed a Web browser called Navigator. A Web browser
is "software that, when running on a computer connected to the Internet . . . enables a user to select,
retrieve, and perceive resources on the [World Wide] Web." FF 16 (JA ____); GX 1050 at 505 (JA
____); Farber ¶ 11 (JA ____). Within months, Navigator was the preeminent Web browser; and
Microsoft soon saw it as a threat to the OS monopoly. FF 72 (JA ____). In May 1995, Microsoft
CEO Bill Gates wrote to Microsoft executives that Netscape was "pursuing a multi-platform strategy
where they move the key API into the client [the Web browser] to commoditize the underlying
operating system." Id. (JA ____); GX 20 at MS98 0112876.3 (JA ____). As the court found, "[b]y
the late spring of 1995, the executives responsible for setting Microsoft's corporate strategy were
deeply concerned that Netscape was moving its business in a direction that could diminish the
applications barrier to entry." FF 72 (JA ____).(17) Microsoft thus decided to eliminate the threat that
Navigator would become a viable alternative platform for applications. FF 133, 142 (JA ____); GX
521 (JA ____); Fisher ¶¶ 91-92 (JA ____).
The court found that Microsoft first tried to reach an agreement with Netscape in June 1995,
which the court called a "market allocation" agreement, pursuant to which Netscape would have
stopped efforts to develop Navigator into "platform-level" (i.e., API-exposing) browsing software
for the Windows 95 operating system that was to be released later that summer; in return, Microsoft
would refrain from competing with Netscape in developing browsers for other OSs. CL at 45 (JA
____); FF 79-89 (JA ____); see, e.g., GX 540 at MS98 0010341 (Maritz: "we . . . hoped . . . to
leverage a relationship with Netscape . . . whereby they would be prepared to cede the client
[browser] to us") (JA ____).(18)
Microsoft "warned" Netscape that timely access to critical technical information about
Windows APIs information that Netscape needed to make its browser run well on Windows 95
depended on its acquiescence. FF 82, 84, 90-91 (JA ____).(19) Had Netscape acquiesced in
Microsoft's proposal, it would have become "all but impossible" for Navigator or any other browser
rival to pose a platform threat to Windows. FF 89 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 99, Warren-Boulton ¶ 88 (JA
____).
Netscape did not accept Microsoft's proposal. FF 87 (JA ____). In response, Microsoft
withheld from Netscape crucial Windows-related technical information that it routinely provided
to others, and delayed the provision of necessary APIs, so that "Netscape was excluded from most
of the holiday selling season." FF 91; see also FF 87, 90-92 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶ 114 (JA ____);
GX 241 (JA ____).(20) Compare MS Br. 28-29. Moreover, "[o]nce it became clear to senior
executives at Microsoft that Netscape would not abandon its efforts to develop Navigator into a
platform, Microsoft focused its efforts on ensuring that few developers would write their
applications to rely on the APIs that Navigator exposed." FF 133 (JA ____).
- Denying Netscape Access To Crucial Channels Of Distribution
Microsoft understood that software "[d]evelopers would only write to the APIs exposed by
Navigator in numbers large enough to threaten the applications barrier if they believed that
Navigator would emerge as the standard software employed to browse the Web." FF 133 (JA
____); GX 498 at MS98 0168614 (JA ____). If Microsoft could demonstrate that Netscape would
not become the standard and that Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer (IE), would meet or exceed
Netscape's browser usage share, developers would continue to focus their efforts on the Windows
platform. FF 133 (JA ____).(21) To protect the applications barrier to entry, therefore, Microsoft
embarked on a multifaceted campaign to maximize IE's share of usage and to minimize Navigator's.
Id. (JA ____).(22) Between 1995 and 1999, Microsoft spent more than $100 million each year and
increased from five or six to more than a thousand the number of developers working on IE, even
though the company has given IE away free since its initial release in July 1995. FF 135-39 (JA
____).(23)
"Decision-makers at Microsoft worried that simply developing its own attractive browser
product, pricing it at zero, and promoting it vigorously would not divert enough browser usage from
Navigator to neutralize it as a platform." FF 143 (JA ____). Thus, rather than confine itself to
improving and promoting IE as a competitor to Navigator (see MS Br. 30-32), Microsoft decided
"to constrict Netscape's access to the distribution channels that led most efficiently to browser
usage": installation by OEMs on new PCs and distribution by Internet access providers (IAPs). FF
143-45 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶¶ 227-30 (JA ____); Schmalensee Tr. 1/19/99 pm at 50:3-17 (JA
____); GX 515 (JA ____). Users rarely switch from "whatever browsing software is placed most
readily at their disposal," usually the browsing software installed on their computer by the OEM or
supplied by their Internet access provider when they sign up for Internet service. FF 144-47, 356
(JA ____).(24) Microsoft thus sought to "ensure that, to as great an extent as possible, OEMs and IAPs
bundled and promoted Internet Explorer to the exclusion of Navigator." FF 148 (JA ____); see,
e.g., GX 204 (Microsoft recognizing that users will never switch from Navigator unless IE is
bundled with Windows); GX 93, 510 at MS7 004129 (Microsoft recognizing importance of Internet
service providers) (JA ____).
- Excluding Navigator From The OEM Channel
Microsoft's campaign to foreclose Netscape from the OEM channel involved a "massive and
multifarious investment" in a "complementary set of tactics": (1) Microsoft "forced OEMs to take
Internet Explorer with Windows and forbade them to remove or obscure it," which not only ensured
the presence of IE on PC systems, but also "increased the costs attendant to pre-installing and
promoting Navigator"; (2) Microsoft "imposed additional technical restrictions to increase the cost
of promoting Navigator"; (3) Microsoft offered OEMs valuable consideration for commitments to
promote IE to the exclusion of any other browser; and (4) Microsoft "threatened to penalize
individual OEMs that insisted on pre-installing and promoting Navigator." FF 241 (JA ____). The
district court found that "Microsoft's campaign to capture the OEM channel succeeded." Id.
- Contractual Restrictions And Coercion Of OEMs
Microsoft knew that it could not win the browser war on the merits, so it set out to impose
contractual restrictions on OEMs that interfered with their ability to distribute Navigator. FF 157-58
(JA ____). Although Microsoft's OEM licenses had required that computer makers not delete or
modify any part of what Microsoft defined to be "Windows," that requirement had not been strictly
enforced. FF 204 (JA ____). Beginning in July 1995 with the first Windows 95 contracts, however,
Microsoft defined "Windows" to include early versions of IE that were entirely separate from the
OS but that Microsoft insisted on distributing with it. FF 158, 175 (JA ____). And, unlike its
earlier flexible practices, Microsoft prevented unauthorized deletions or modifications by OEMs.
FF 204 (JA ____). Microsoft prohibited OEMs from deleting IE, even though it provided an
Add/Remove capability in Windows 95 that it promoted to users precisely for that purpose. FF 165,
175-76 (JA ____); GX 164, 352 (Microsoft Web pages telling users that "IE Uninstalls Easily" and
how to do it) (JA ____).
Microsoft "knew that the inability to remove Internet Explorer made OEMs less disposed to
pre-install Navigator onto Windows 95" because installing Navigator in addition to IE would lead
to confusion among some users, consume disk space, and increase testing and support costs to
OEMs, which operate at such low margins that three support calls can make a PC sale unprofitable.
FF 159, 210 (JA ____).(25) The court rejected Microsoft's contrary assertions (see MS Br. 108) that
rely on self-contradictory testimony from its witnesses. See, e.g., Kempin Tr. 2/25/99 am at 55, Tr.
2/25/99 pm at 60-64 (Kempin acknowledging Gateway raised concerns about user confusion and
greater support costs, and Microsoft recognized that installation of second browser increases OEM
costs), Rose Tr. 2/18/99 pm at 45:25-48:14 (conceding that loading two applications with similar
functions adds to costs, confusion, and complexity) (JA ____).
Microsoft's restrictions on OEMs went further. Microsoft feared that OEMs might promote
the use of Navigator rather than IE by configuring the icons on the initial Windows desktop screen
or the "Start" menu entries, or arranging the Windows boot (start-up) sequence. FF 202-03 (JA
____).(26) Microsoft thus "threatened to terminate the Windows license of any OEM" that made such
changes or added "programs that promoted third-party software to the Windows 'boot' sequence."
FF 203 (JA ____).(27) Microsoft also offered OEMs valuable incentives and discounts to promote IE
and limit distribution of Navigator. FF 142, 233-34 (JA ____). Microsoft exploited Compaq's
dependency on Windows, for example, to compel Compaq to commit to IE and to "curtail its
distribution and promotion of Navigator." FF 232-34 (JA ____); GX 1155 (sealed), 464 (sealed)
(JA ____). And it penalized IBM and Gateway in various ways when they declined such an
alliance. FF 235-38 (JA ____); GX 257 (Gates email), GX 308 (JA ____).
The court found that these licensing and coercive measures, which "guaranteed the presence
of Internet Explorer on every new Windows PC system," had no technical justification. FF 158,
175-76 (JA ____).(28) The forbidden OEM conduct, although facilitating the distribution of
Navigator, "would not compromise the quality or consistency of Windows any more than the
modifications that Microsoft currently permits." FF 221-23 (JA ____).(29) And, because it would not
have "removed or altered any Windows APIs," it would not have interfered with the Windows
platform or impaired any operating-system function. FF 226 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton ¶ 180 (JA
____). "Finally, it is significant that, while all vendors of PC operating systems undoubtedly share
Microsoft's stated interest in maximizing consumer satisfaction, the prohibitions that Microsoft
imposes on OEMs are considerably more restrictive than those imposed by other operating system
vendors." FF 229 (JA ____); see p. 23 n.40, infra.
Microsoft's OEM restrictions harmed consumers who preferred Windows with Navigator or
with no browser at all, harmed the OEMs who wanted to serve the "[m]any consumers [who] desire
to separate their choice of a Web browser from their choice of an operating system,"(30) and "stifled
innovation by OEMs that might have made Windows PC systems easier to use and more attractive
to consumers." FF 151, 241, 203 (JA ____).(31) "By constraining the freedom of OEMs to
implement certain software programs in the Windows boot sequence, Microsoft foreclosed an
opportunity for OEMs to make Windows PC systems less confusing and more user-friendly, as
consumers desired." FF 410 (JA ____); Tr. 12/16/98 pm at 41:20-42:6 (as "direct result" of
Microsoft's restrictions, Hewlett-Packard's "support calls went up by approximately ten percent")
(Romano Dep.) (JA ____).(32)
Computer makers acquiesced in Microsoft's demands because "they had no commercially
viable alternative to pre-installing Windows 95 on their PCs." FF 158 (JA ____); Schmalensee Tr.
1/20/99 am at 33-34 (JA ____); GX 309 (JA ____). But Microsoft's tactics "soured" its relations
with OEMs and reduced the value of Microsoft's products to both end users and OEMs. "Microsoft
would not have paid this price had it not been convinced that its actions were necessary to ostracize
Navigator from the vital OEM distribution channel." FF 203 (JA ____).(33) Its effort to enlist the
OEMs in its campaign against Netscape "was only profitable to the extent that it protected the
applications barrier to entry." FF 141 (JA ____).(34)
Indeed, based on Microsoft's extensive "internal correspondence and external communications," the court found that, "[b]efore it decided to blunt the threat that Navigator posed to the
applications barrier to entry, Microsoft did not plan to make it difficult or impossible for OEMs or
consumers to obtain Windows without obtaining Internet Explorer." FF 156 (JA ____). Even as
late as June 1995, Microsoft was planning only "to include low-level Internet 'plumbing,' . . . but
not a browser, with Windows 95." FF 156-57 (JA ____); GX 125, 124 ("[Windows 95] contains
all the plumbing you need to hook up to the net but cool apps like Mosaic [browser] are stuff you
need to obtain from 3rd parties"). "The plan at that point, rather, was to ship the browser in a
separate 'frosting' package, for which Microsoft intended to charge." FF 157 (JA ____); see, e.g,
GX 143 (JA ____).(35) Microsoft reversed course in July 1995 because it concluded that bundling
Windows 95 and IE was the "most effective way" to diminish Navigator's threat to the operating
system monopoly. FF 157-58 (JA ____).(36) Compare MS Br. 23-24.
- Additional Means To Prevent OEMs From Distributing
Navigator
Despite its contractual restraints on OEMs, Microsoft Senior Vice President James Allchin
wrote in late 1996 that "I don't understand how IE is going to win." FF 166 (JA ____); GX 47 (JA
____). Microsoft had recognized in 1995 that IE "remained markedly inferior to Navigator in the
estimation of consumers." FF 134 (JA ____). By 1996, after $100 million in development expenses
were devoted to it, IE was "vastly improved." FF 135 (JA ____). But even by the end of 1997, the
number of those "who regarded it as the superior product was roughly equal to those who preferred
Navigator." Id.; Schmalensee Tables F-1 to F-3 (JA ____); Tr. 1/20/99 am at 41:2-20 (JA ____);
GX 428 at MS7 000366 (sealed) (JA ____). Microsoft thus believed that it was not "going to win"
the browser war simply by "[p]itting browser against browser." FF 166 (JA ____); GX 47, 48 (JA
____).
In January 1997, Allchin complained to Microsoft executive Paul Maritz that "[w]e are not
leveraging Windows from a marketing perspective." "[W]e are not investing sufficiently in finding
ways to tie IE and Windows together." FF 166 (JA ____), quoting GX 48 (JA ____). In Allchin's
view, "[t]reating IE as just an add-on to Windows which is cross-platform [means] losing our
biggest advantage Windows marketshare." FF 166 (JA ____), quoting GX 47 (JA ____).
Reporting on a February 1997 study, Microsoft's Christian Wildfeuer agreed with Allchin's
assessment: "It seems clear that it will be very hard to increase browser market share on the merits
of IE 4 alone. It will be more important to leverage the OS asset to make people use IE instead of
Navigator." GX 202 at MS7 004346 (emphasis added) (JA ____); FF 169 (JA ____); accord GX
53, 205 (JA ____).
"Microsoft's executives believed that the incentives that its contractual restrictions placed on
OEMs would not be sufficient in themselves to reverse the direction of Navigator's usage share."
FF 160 (JA ____). They therefore decided to make technical changes in Windows to ensure that
removing IE from Windows is difficult and that, in the words of Microsoft executive Brad Chase,
"running any other browser is a jolting experience." Id. (JA ____); GX 684 at MS6 6007119 (JA
____); see also GX 355 at MS7 003002 (report to Allchin: "An integrated browser [would make]
Netscape a non-issue a superfluous product for all but the most committed Netscape user").
Accordingly, unlike Windows 95, Windows 98 did not allow even users to uninstall IE with the
Add/Remove feature, even though a major OEM (Gateway) had expressly requested such a feature
and even though users remained able to uninstall dozens of other features that Microsoft held out
as integrated into Windows 98. FF 170 (JA ____); Allchin Tr. 2/2/99 pm at 5-12:2; GX 1073 at
MS98 0204593, GX 1366 (JA ____). Windows 98 contained a second feature that thwarted
Navigator: Microsoft set IE as the default browser on Windows 98 and configured the software so
that, even "when a user chooses a browser other than Internet Explorer as the default [by changing
the appropriate setting], Windows 98 nevertheless requires the user to employ Internet Explorer in
numerous situations that, from the user's perspective, are entirely unexpected." FF 171 (JA ____).(37)
That configuration caused "considerable uncertainty and confusion in the ordinary course of using
Windows 98" for those "users who choose a browser other than Internet Explorer as their default."
FF 171 (JA ____). "By increasing the likelihood that using Navigator on Windows 98 would have
unpleasant consequences for users, Microsoft further diminished the inclination of OEMs to pre-install Navigator onto Windows." FF 172 (JA ____).
The court found no merit in the various technical rationales put forward by Microsoft for
binding IE with Windows 98. Microsoft "could offer consumers all the benefits of the current
Windows 98 package by distributing the products separately and allowing OEMs or consumers
themselves to combine the products if they wished." FF 191 (JA ____).(38) The court termed
"specious" Microsoft's contention that "binding the browser to the operating system is reasonably
necessary to preserve the 'integrity' of the Windows platform." FF 193 (JA ____):
First, concern with the integrity of the platform cannot explain Microsoft's original
decision to bind Internet Explorer to Windows 95, because Internet Explorer 1.0 and
2.0 did not contain APIs. Second, concern with the integrity of the platform cannot
explain Microsoft's refusal to offer OEMs the option of uninstalling Internet Explorer
from Windows 95 and Windows 98 because APIs, like all other shared files, are left on
the system when Internet Explorer is uninstalled. Third, Microsoft's contention that
offering OEMs the choice of whether or not to install certain browser-related APIs
would fragment the Windows platform is unpersuasive because OEMs operate in a
competitive market and thus have ample incentive to include APIs (including non-Microsoft APIs) required by the applications that their customers demand. Fourth, even
if there were some potential benefit associated with the forced licensing of a single set
of APIs to all OEMs, such justification could not apply in this case, because Microsoft
itself precipitates fragmentation of its platform by continually updating various portions
of the Windows installed base with new APIs.
Id. (JA ____).(39) The court further found that other OS providers give OEMs the flexibility to
uninstall or not install a browser because it satisfies consumer demand. FF 153 (JA ____).(40)
Compare MS Br. 24-25. Thus, the court concluded, Microsoft's decision "to bind Internet Explorer
to Windows" was intended "to prevent Netscape from weakening the applications barrier to entry,
rather than for any pro-competitive purpose." FF 155 (JA ____).(41)
Indeed, rather than having any procompetitive justification, Microsoft's actions harmed
consumers. To "combat" Netscape,(42) Microsoft decided "to delay the release of Windows 98 long
enough so that it could be shipped with Internet Explorer 4.0 tightly bound to it," "'even if OEMs
suffer[ed].'" FF 168, 167 (JA ____); GX 50, 53, 357 at GW 026522 (sealed) (JA ____).
"Microsoft delayed the debut of numerous features, including support for new hardware devices,
that Microsoft believed consumers would find beneficial, simply in order to protect the applications
barrier to entry." FF 168 (JA ____). Binding IE to Windows 98 also harmed consumers because
"Windows purchasers who did not want browsing software . . . had to . . . content themselves with
a PC system that ran slower and provided less available memory than if the newest version of
Windows came without browsing software." FF 410, 173 (JA ____).(43) And, indeed, "Microsoft
has harmed even those consumers who desire to use Internet Explorer, and no other browser," by
commingling operating system and browsing-specific routines that "jeopardized the stability and
security of the operating system." FF 174 (JA ____); Farber ¶ 27, Weadock ¶ 32(e) (JA ____). The
court found that Microsoft would not have made those changes in Windows 98 and imposed those
harms upon consumers absent its campaign to injure Netscape and thereby protect the applications
barrier to entry. FF 409-11 (JA ____).
Microsoft "largely succeeded in exiling Navigator from the crucial OEM distribution
channel." FF 239 (JA ____). By January 1998, Microsoft executive Joachim Kempin was able to
report to CEO Bill Gates that Navigator was being shipped through only 4 of the 60 OEM
distribution sub-channels, and even then most often in a position "much less likely to lead to usage"
than IE's position. FF 239 (JA ____); GX 421 at MS7 000680 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶ 173 (JA
____). By early 1999, "Navigator was present on the desktop of only a tiny percentage of the PCs
that OEMs were shipping." FF 239 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶ 173 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 1/7/99 am
at 8, 11-12 (JA ____).
- The IAP Channel
Microsoft also embarked on a strategy to foreclose Netscape from the other crucial
distribution channel, Internet access providers, which distribute browser software to their customers.
FF 242-310 (JA ____). The court found that "Microsoft made substantial sacrifices, including the
forfeiture of significant revenue opportunities, in order to induce IAPs," inter alia, "to restrict their
distribution and promotion of non-Microsoft browsing software." FF 247 (JA ____).(44) Microsoft
gave IAPs valuable incentives to promote and distribute IE and to inhibit promotion and distribution
of Navigator. FF 243; see also FF 139 (JA ____).(45) Those inhibitions included agreements
extracted from IAPs "to refrain from promoting non-Microsoft Web browsing software, and to
ensure that they distributed non-Microsoft browsing software to only a limited percentage of their
subscribers." FF 244, 289; see also FF 245, 258-59 (JA ____); Fisher ¶¶ 184-85 (summarizing
agreements); see, e.g, GX 1140 (JA ____). "[T]he inducements that Microsoft offered IAPs at
substantial cost to itself . . . did the four things they were designed to accomplish: They caused
Internet Explorer's usage share to surge; they caused Navigator's usage share to plummet; they
raised Netscape's own costs; and they sealed off a major portion of the IAP channel from the
prospect of recapture by Navigator." FF 247, 307-10 (JA ____).
Microsoft's dealings with America Online, the "largest and most important IAP," FF 272 (JA
____), illustrate its anticompetitive strategy. As Bill Gates described in an email to Microsoft
executives: "We need for them to make our browser available as the browser to existing and new
customers. We have to be sure that we don't allow them to promote Netscape as well." FF 280 (JA
____), quoting DX 1545 (JA ____). Microsoft carried out Gates's directive by creating an online
services (OLS) folder on the Windows desktop and agreeing to give AOL free placement in that
folder in exchange for AOL's agreement to promote IE exclusively as a third-party browser; to limit
the total number of non-Microsoft browsers shipped to no more than fifteen percent of total
shipments; to limit the percentage of subscribers who first access AOL with AOL software shipped
with a non-Microsoft browser to no more than fifteen percent of total AOL subscribers; and not to
"express[] or imply[] to subscribers or prospective subscribers that they could use Navigator with
AOL. Nor did it [even] allow AOL to include, on its default page or anywhere else, instructions
telling subscribers how to reach the Navigator download site." FF 289 (JA ____); GX 804 at AOL
0001738-39 (JA ____).(46) That deal yielded no revenue for Microsoft and, because it involved
valuable promotion on the Windows desktop for AOL, undermined Microsoft's own Internet access
service, Microsoft Network, in which Microsoft had invested hundreds of millions of dollars as a
competitor to AOL. FF 291 (JA ____); GX 130 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 703:13-705:11
(Silverberg Dep.) (JA ____). Gates himself recognized the necessity of sacrificing profit to protect
Microsoft's "core assets," its Windows operating system. FF 285 (JA ____); see GX 1372 at 112
(JA ____). The court found that the company's tactics had the anticompetitive consequence of
"accomplish[ing] no efficiency . . . [and] encumbering [consumers'] ability to choose between
competing browsing technologies." FF 291 (JA ____); GX 198, 228 at MS98 0113059 (JA ____).
By accepting that deal in 1996, AOL committed to distributing and promoting IE "to the
virtual exclusion of Navigator." FF 290, 272 (JA ____); GX 180, 804 at AOL 0001738-39 (JA
____). Microsoft thus induced "AOL [to] contravene[] its natural inclination to respond to
consumer demand [for Navigator] in order to obtain the free technology, close technical support,
and desktop placement offered by Microsoft." FF 294 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶¶ 134-36 (JA ____);
Colburn Tr. 10/28/98 pm at 32:3-18, 76:21-77:20 (JA ____).
Microsoft's strategy worked. In January 1998, Cameron Myhrvold reported to Gates that 92%
of AOL's then-subscriber base of more than ten million used IE-based software, as compared to
34% a year earlier. FF 296 (JA ____); GX 424 (sealed) at MS7 000584, 000589 (unsealed), GX
814A (JA ____). "The AOL coup, which Microsoft accomplished only at tremendous expense to
itself and considerable deprivation of consumers' freedom of choice, thus contributed to
extinguishing the threat that Navigator posed to the applications barrier to entry." FF 304 (JA
____).
Microsoft obtained similar exclusionary agreements with other major OLSs AT&T
WorldNet, Prodigy, and CompuServe in return for financial incentives and placement in the OLS
folder. FF 246, 305-06 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶ 146, Warren-Boulton ¶ 103 (summarizing OLS
agreements) (JA ____); GX 1213 (sealed), 1148 (sealed), 1134 (JA ____). Microsoft entered into
similar agreements with other major IAPs as well, exchanging placement in Microsoft's Internet
Referral Server and/or other valuable incentives for IAP agreements not to promote at all and to
strictly limit distribution of any browser but IE. FF 253, 256, 258 (JA ____); Fisher ¶¶ 184-85 (JA
____). A Microsoft study indicated that IAPs representing 95% of Internet access users had signed
some kind of "IE preferred" agreement. GX 350 (JA ____); see Barksdale ¶ 129 (JA ____).
Microsoft's IAP channel restrictions significantly hampered Netscape's ability to distribute
Navigator. FF 307-08 (JA ____); Fisher ¶¶ 191-92 (JA ____). "The IAPs subject to the most
severe restrictions comprise fourteen of the top fifteen access providers in North America and
account for a large majority of all Internet access subscriptions in this part of the world." FF 308
(JA ____); GX 211 (JA ____); see Barksdale ¶ 129 (JA ____). The court found, based on a study
conducted by Microsoft itself, that the restrictions directly affected the usage share of IE. At the
end of 1997, IE's weighted average share of shipments by Internet service providers that had agreed
to make IE their default browser was 94%, as compared to only 14% for ISPs that were not so
constrained. IE's weighted average share of browser usage was more than 60% at the end of 1997
for subscribers to ISPs that had made IE their default browser, but less than 20% for other ISPs.
FF 309 (JA ____); GX 11, 366 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 224 (JA ____). Microsoft's most severe
restrictions, with the most pronounced effect, applied to the two largest Internet access providers,
AOL and CompuServe, which as of the end of 1997 had approximately 65% of all subscribers.
Fisher ¶ 216 (JA ____). Among subscribers to AOL and CompuServe, IE's usage share increased
65 points, from 22% to 87%, between January 1997 and August 1998. By contrast, IE's usage share
among subscribers to IAPs that were not inhibited by restrictions rose only ten points (from 20%
to 30%) over that period. Among all IAP subscribers, including those subject to restrictions, IE
usage share rose 27 points (from 22% to 49%). FF 310 (JA ____). "The differences in the degree
of Internet Explorer's success in the three categories reveal the exclusionary effect of Microsoft's
interdiction of Navigator in the IAP channel." Id.; see also FF 247 (Microsoft's foreclosure of the
IAP channels "significantly hampered the ability of consumers to make their choice of Web browser
products based on the features of those products") (JA ____); Fisher ¶¶ 224, 227-28 (JA ____); GX
4, 1092 (JA ____). Compare MS Br. 110.
The court found that "[t]he restrictions on the freedom of IAPs to distribute and promote
Navigator were far broader than they needed to be in order to achieve any economic efficiency.
This is especially true given the fact that Microsoft never expected Internet Explorer to generate any
revenue" in the IAP channel. FF 247 (JA ____); GX 39 at MS6 5005720. Indeed, the restrictions
were not intended to serve any efficiency but rather were imposed because, as one of its executives
testified, Microsoft "believed that, if IAPs gave new subscribers a choice between Internet Explorer
and Navigator, most of them would pick Navigator." FF 243 (JA ____); Myhrvold Tr. 2/10/99 am
at 62:7-25 (JA ____). The sacrifices made by Microsoft to push distribution of IE "could only have
represented rational business judgments to the extent that they promised to diminish Navigator's
share of browser usage and thereby contribute significantly to eliminating a threat to the applications
barrier to entry." CL at 42, citing FF 291 (JA ____); GX 39 at MS6 5005720.
- Apple
Microsoft also pressured Apple to make Navigator less readily accessible on Apple PCs and
thus "help[] to ensure that developers would not view Navigator as truly cross-platform
middleware." CL at 42 (JA ____). As leverage to obtain Apple's compliance, Microsoft threatened
to cancel development of its "Office for Macintosh" software, which, as Microsoft recognized, was
critical to Apple's business. GX 263 (email to Gates: the "threat to cancel Mac Office 97 is
certainly the strongest bargaining point we have") (JA ____).(47) That threat induced Apple to agree:
(1) to distribute and promote IE as its default browser on all Mac OS releases; (2) to remove
Navigator from the default installation of the Mac OS 8.5, thus making Navigator harder to load for
customers who wanted to use it; (3) not to place any non-Microsoft browser on the desktop of any
Mac OS upgrade or new Apple PC (making availability of Navigator harder to discover); and (4)
not to promote any non-Microsoft browsing software. FF 351-52 (JA ____).(48) Apple acquiesced
in the agreement, not because it viewed IE as a superior browser or because of consumer demand,
but "rather because of the in terrorem effect of the prospect of the loss of Mac Office. To be blunt,
Microsoft threatened to refuse to sell a profitable product in whose development the company had
already invested substantial resources, and which was virtually ready for shipment." FF 355 (JA
____)(49); GX 263 (email to Gates citing benefits to finishing substantial work already done on Mac
Office) (JA ____). The court found that "[t]he predominant reason Microsoft was prepared to make
this sacrifice, and the sole reason that it required Apple to make Internet Explorer its default browser
and restricted Apple's freedom to feature and promote non-Microsoft browsing software, was to
protect the applications barrier to entry." FF 355 (JA ____).
- ICPs And ISVs
As part of its comprehensive effort to hamper distribution of Navigator and to discourage the
development of software that used non-Microsoft technology, Microsoft also targeted independent
software vendors (ISVs) and Internet content providers (ICPs). Microsoft contractually required
ISVs to use Internet Explorer-specific technologies in return for timely and commercially necessary
technical information about Windows, and precluded important ISVs from distributing Navigator
with their products. FF 337-40 (JA ____); GX 2071; see, e.g., GX 2400 (sealed) (JA ____). The
court determined that Microsoft's agreements with ISVs "represent another area in which it has
applied its monopoly power to the task of protecting the applications barrier to entry." FF 340 (JA
____).
"ICPs create the content that fills the pages that make up the Web. Because this content can
include advertisements and links to download sites, ICPs also provide a channel for the promotion
and distribution of Web browsing software." FF 311 (JA ____). As the court found, "[e]xecutives
at Microsoft recognized that ICPs were not nearly as important a distribution channel for browsing
software as OEMs and IAPs. Nevertheless, protecting the applications barrier to entry was of such
high priority at Microsoft that its senior executives were willing to invest significant resources to
enlist even ICPs in the effort." Id. (JA ____); GX 407 at MS6 5005717, 473 at MS6 6006248 (JA
____). Microsoft entered into contracts that prohibited ICPs from compensating Netscape for
promotion of the providers' content and from including download links to Navigator on their sites.
FF 332-35 (JA ____); see, e.g., GX 1163 at CNET 000032 (JA ____); see also Barksdale ¶¶ 181-82,
Fisher ¶¶ 134, 195, Harris ¶¶ 76-80 (JA ____). Although the court concluded that "there is not
sufficient evidence to support a finding that Microsoft's promotional restrictions [with respect to
ICPs] actually had a substantial, deleterious impact on Navigator's usage share," FF 332 (JA ____),
it nonetheless determined that "[t]he terms of Microsoft's agreements with ICPs cannot be explained
in customary economic parlance absent Microsoft's obsession with obliterating the threat that
Navigator posed to the applications barrier to entry." FF 330 (JA ____).
- Effects Of The Campaign
Microsoft's comprehensive assault on Netscape's ability to distribute Navigator succeeded in
eliminating the threat the Navigator browser posed to Microsoft's operating system monopoly. The
court found that Microsoft obtained control of the two distribution channels through which "a very
large majority of those who browse the Web obtain their browsing software" the OEM and IAP
channels. FF 144, 379 (JA ____); GX 233 at MS98 0125655, GX 218, 204, 736 (JA ____).
Constricted in using those distribution channels by Microsoft's exclusionary conduct, Navigator was
relegated to more costly and significantly less effective modes of distribution. E.g., FF 241, 379,
147, 357 ("The fact that Netscape was forced to distribute tens of millions of copies of Navigator
through high-cost carpet-bombing in order to obtain a relatively small number of new users only
discloses the extent of Microsoft's success in excluding Navigator from the channels that lead most
effectively to browser usage") (JA ____).(50) As Microsoft clearly recognizes: "Usage is what
matters. Distribution is very unimportant relative to usage." Tr. 6/1/99 pm at 22:9-23:17, quoting
Chase Dep. Compare MS Br. 45-48.(51) The adverse business effects of these restrictions also
"deterred Netscape from undertaking technical innovations that it might otherwise have
implemented in Navigator" and that might have attracted consumers and revenues. FF 379 (JA
____).(52)
Because of its reduced access to efficient distribution channels, Navigator's share of browser
use fell precipitously. "According to estimates that Microsoft executives cited to support their
testimony in this trial, and those on which Microsoft relied in the course of its business planning,
the shares of all browser usage enjoyed by Navigator and Internet Explorer changed dramatically
in favor of Internet Explorer after Microsoft began its campaign to protect the applications barrier
to entry." FF 360 (JA ____). From January 1996 to November 1997, for example, Navigator's
share fell from more than 80% to 55%, while IE's increased from 5% to 36%. By late 1998,
Microsoft's estimates showed that Navigator and IE had achieved near parity, with Navigator
slightly ahead. FF 360 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton ¶ 146, Fisher ¶ 232 (JA ____); GX 310, 711;
see also GX 4, 5, 14 (JA ____).
Moreover, the court found that the trend is clearly in Microsoft's direction. Based on internal
Microsoft projections and a forecast on which AOL relied in purchasing Netscape, the court found
that Navigator's share was predicted to fall to between 35% and 40% by late 2000. "The most
reasonable prediction, then, is that by January 2001, Internet Explorer's usage share will exceed
sixty percent while Navigator's share will have fallen below forty percent." FF 373 (JA ____); GX
711, 515 (JA ____). Thus, even though Navigator's installed base of users has increased during the
browser war, the "population of browser users is expanding so quickly that Navigator's installed
base has grown even as its usage share has fallen." FF 378 (JA ____). Navigator lost its ability "to
becom[e] the standard software for browsing the Web" because "Microsoft had successfully denied
Navigator that status." FF 377 (JA ____).(53) See also RX 23 (as of April 2000, IE share was at 69%,
Navigator down to 19%).
That development directly bore on Microsoft's ability to maintain its OS monopoly: The APIs
that "Navigator exposes could only attract enough developer attention to threaten the applications
barrier to entry if Navigator became or appeared destined to become the standard software used
to browse the Web. Navigator's installed base may continue to grow, but Internet Explorer's
installed base is now larger and growing faster. Consequently, the APIs that Navigator exposes will
not attract enough developer attention to spawn a body of cross-platform, network-centric
applications large enough to dismantle the applications barrier to entry." FF 378 (JA ____).(54)
Microsoft itself recognized the significance of that development. As Microsoft's Kumar Mehta told
Brad Chase in February 1998: "the browser battle is close to over. . . We set out on this mission
2 years ago to not let netscape dictate standards and control the browser api's [sic]. All evidence
today says they don't." FF 377 (JA ____); GX 515 at MS98 0203013 (JA ____).
As the court found, Microsoft won that battle not through lawful competitive ingenuity, but
through anticompetitive practices. In May 1998, Microsoft recognized that "'IE4 is fundamentally
not compelling'" and "'[n]ot differentiated from Netscape v[ersion]4 seen as a commodity.'" FF
375 (JA ____); GX 173 (JA ____); Schmalensee Tr. 1/20/99 am at 41:2-20 (JA ____). Thus,
"superior quality was not responsible for the dramatic rise [in] Internet Explorer's usage share." FF
375 (JA ____).(55) Microsoft's numerous and varied actions against Navigator had no justification
except the expectation that the entry or expansion of rivals into the market for Intel-compatible PC
operating systems would be blocked or delayed through the preservation of barriers to entry in that
market. FF 136-42 (JA ____); CL at 44 (JA ____).(56) Its campaign to foreclose the OEM and IAP
channels to Netscape required Microsoft to pay out "huge sums of money, and sacrifice[] many
millions more in lost revenue every year." FF 139 (JA ____); see also FF 135-36, 142, 231, 250,
254-55, 261, 295, 317-19 (JA ____); CL at 44 (JA ____). That campaign was "only profitable to
the extent that it protected the applications barrier to entry" and would not have been in Microsoft's
business interest except that it preserved the operating system monopoly. FF 141 (JA ____).(57)
Microsoft's actions not merely deprived Netscape of browser share, but irrevocably weakened
it.(58) As the court specifically found, "Microsoft was not altogether surprised, then, when it learned
in November 1998 that Netscape had surrendered itself to acquisition by another company." FF 379
(JA ____). That acquisition, by AOL, was addressed in the court's findings of fact, with the
conclusion that "there is presently no indication that AOL will try even after [the January 1, 2001,
expiration of its obligation to distribute IE on a preferential basis] to raise Navigator's usage share
substantially." FF 380; see, e.g., Colburn Tr. 6/22/99 am at 6-7, 16 (JA ____). "Bill Gates himself,
who is not one to underestimate threats to Microsoft's business, apparently concluded after
reviewing the November 1998 transaction that AOL would not seek to develop a platform that
would compete with Microsoft's network-centric interfaces." FF 382 (JA ____); GX 2241 at MS98
0231890 (sealed). "In any event, nothing that happens after January 1, 2001 will change the fact
that Microsoft has succeeded in forestalling for several years Navigator's evolution in that
direction." FF 383 (JA ____).
- Java
Microsoft also feared another middleware technology, Sun Microsystems' Java. FF 75 (JA
____).(59) Java software presented a means for overcoming the applications barrier to entry by
enabling developers to write programs that could be ported to different operating systems "with
relative ease." FF 387 (JA ____). Indeed, it was Sun's intention that Java eventually would have
the capability to allow developers to write applications that would run on multiple operating systems
without any porting at all. Id. (JA ____) Thus, Microsoft was concerned about Java because, as the
court found, "a key to maintaining and reinforcing the applications barrier to entry has been
preserving the difficulty of porting applications from Windows to other platforms, and vice versa."
FF 386 (JA ____).
Java software has four elements: a programming language; a set of "class libraries," which
are Java programs that expose APIs on which developers writing in Java can rely; a compiler that
translates the code written by the developer into Java "bytecode"; and "Java virtual machines"
(JVMs), programs that translate that Java bytecode into instructions comprehensible to the
underlying system. The Java class libraries and JVM together form the "Java runtime environment."
FF 73 (JA ____). If a software program relies "only on APIs exposed by the Java class libraries [it]
will run on any PC system" carrying a Java runtime environment, no matter what operating system
is on the computer. Therefore, Java applications require porting "only to the extent that those
applications rely directly on the APIs exposed by a particular operating system." FF 74 (JA ____);
Gosling ¶¶ 20-30 (JA ____).
In May 1995, Netscape announced that it would include a Sun-compliant Windows JVM with
every copy of Navigator, creating the possibility that Sun's Java implementation "would achieve
the necessary ubiquity on Windows" to pose a threat to the applications barrier to entry. FF 76, 395
(JA ____); Barksdale ¶ 83 ("Programs written in Java can be run on any platform that has a Java
virtual machine and Java class libraries, which Navigator does") (JA ____). Microsoft's
determination to cripple cross-platform Java was an important reason for its concern about
Navigator. FF 77 (JA ____); GX 52, 514 at MS7 007509 (JA ____). But Microsoft not only
restricted distribution of Java through the anticompetitive practices it employed to thwart usage of
Navigator; it also took numerous other steps to interfere with the development, distribution, and use
of cross-platform Java. Those steps "resulted in fewer applications being able to run on Windows
than otherwise" and thus made no business sense except as a means of protecting the applications
barrier to entry. FF 407 (JA ____); GX 1324 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 1/7/99 pm at 52:19-24 (JA
____).
First, Microsoft pressured third parties not to support cross-platform Java. Microsoft's
avowed aims were not to innovate, or to give consumers a better product, but rather to prevent Sun
from creating Java APIs, especially "great" ones offering "cutting edge" developer support, and
"especially ones that run well . . . on Windows." FF 406 (JA ____); GX 518 at MSS 0080075, GX
235 at MS7 027416 (JA ____). For example, "[t]o hinder Sun and Netscape from improving the
quality of the Windows JVM shipped with Navigator, Microsoft pressured Intel, which was
developing a high-performance Windows-compatible JVM, to not share its work with either Sun
or Netscape, much less allow Netscape to bundle the Intel JVM with Navigator." FF 396 (JA
____).(60) Gates threatened to withhold Microsoft's support for Intel's next generation of
microprocessors if Intel supported Sun's Java efforts. FF 404 (JA ____).(61) Gates told Intel CEO
Andrew Grove that Microsoft would agree to withhold support for one of Intel's competitors if Intel
would stop assisting Sun with Java multimedia (i.e., software used to create and transmit audio and
visual content). FF 406 (JA ____); GX 290 (JA ____). Ultimately, Intel stopped its support of Sun.
FF 406 (JA ____).(62)
Second, Microsoft sought to extinguish the Java threat through technological means that
"maximiz[ed] the difficulty with which applications written in Java could be ported from Windows
to other platforms, and vice versa." FF 386 (JA ____). In March 1996, Microsoft obtained a Java
license from Sun, which it used "to create its own Java development tools and its own Windows-compatible Java runtime environment." FF 388 (JA ____). Microsoft's approach allowed
applications to access OS features specific to Windows (i.e., to make "native calls") using methods
unique to Microsoft. Because they were "custom-built" to Windows specifications, such
applications ran faster than applications written to use Sun-compliant methods of access. FF 389
(JA ____). But "if a Java developer used the Sun method for making native calls, his application
would not run on Microsoft's version of the Windows JVM, and if he used Microsoft's native
methods, his application would not run on any JVM other than Microsoft's version." FF 390 (JA
____); Gosling ¶ 58 (JA ____). "Far from being the unintended consequence of an attempt to help
Java developers more easily develop high-performing applications, incompatibility was the intended
result of Microsoft's efforts." FF 390 (JA ____); GX 1334 at MSS 0003551 (JA ____).
Microsoft took other steps to interfere with cross-platform Java. It "designed its Java
developer tools to encourage developers to write their Java applications using certain 'keywords'
and 'compiler directives' that could only be executed properly by Microsoft's version of the Java
runtime environment for Windows." FF 394 (JA ____); Gosling ¶ 58 (JA ____). Microsoft then
shipped its developer tools with the Windows-specific extensions enabled by default and "fail[ed]
to warn developers that their use would result in applications that might not run properly with any
runtime environment other than Microsoft's and that [it] would be difficult, and perhaps impossible,
to port to JVMs running on other platforms." FF 394 (JA ____); Gosling ¶ 63 (JA ____). These
steps implemented the suggestion of Microsoft's Thomas Reardon in November 1996 that the
company "quietly grow" Microsoft's Java developer tools and "assume that people will take more
advantage of our classes without ever realizing they are building" applications that would be specific
only to Windows and not be portable. FF 394 (JA ____); GX 1332, GX 259 at MS7 033448
(Microsoft planning memorandum for Java development tools confirms objective: "Kill cross-platform Java by grow [sic] the polluted Java market") (JA ____). In those and other ways, the
court found that Microsoft took anticompetitive steps to discourage developers from creating Java
applications compatible with non-Microsoft JVMs. See FF 401-03 (JA ____). Some of these
actions were discontinued in the face of litigation in another court.(63)
The district court determined that those steps lacked a business purpose except to protect the
applications barrier to entry. FF 401, 403 (JA ____). As the court concluded, "Microsoft has
retarded, and perhaps altogether extinguished, the process by which . . . two middleware
technologies [Navigator and Java] could have facilitated the introduction of competition" into the
market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems. FF 411 (JA ____).
- Intel And Others
Microsoft engaged in yet further threats and coercion to interfere with other firms' plans for
developing or promoting platform-level software. For example, Microsoft induced Intel not to
continue developing Native Signal Processing (NSP) software that "would endow Intel
microprocessors with substantially enhanced video and graphics performance." FF 95 (JA ____);
see also FF 94-103 (JA ____). Microsoft viewed NSP as a threat to the applications barrier to entry
because NSP exposed middleware APIs that could make Windows a "commodity." FF 97 (JA
____); GX 1309, 921 (JA ____); McGeady Tr. 11/10/98 pm at 59:20-60:4 (JA ____). Microsoft
thus told "Intel that if it would stop promoting NSP's interfaces, Microsoft would accelerate its own
work to incorporate the functions of the NSP software into Windows . . . At the same time,
Microsoft pressured the major OEMs to not install NSP software on their PCs until the software
ceased to expose APIs." FF 101 (JA ____); McGeady Tr. 11/10/98 pm at 43-44 (JA ____).
Because Intel needed the cooperation of the OEMs to distribute NSP, Intel decided to "surrender
the pace of software innovation to Microsoft" and "agreed to stop promoting its NSP software." FF
101, 103 (JA ____); GX 281 (Gates reports in October 1995 the "good news" that "OEMs are
listening to us," and that "Intel feels we have all the OEMs on hold with our NSP chill") (JA
____).(64) Although Microsoft subsequently incorporated "some of NSP's components into its
operating-system products . . . [e]ven as late as the end of 1998 . . . Microsoft still had not
implemented key capabilities that Intel had been poised to offer consumers in 1995." FF 101 (JA
____); McGeady Tr. 11/10/98 pm at 13:6-25 (JA ____).
"Microsoft was not content to merely quash Intel's NSP software." FF 102 (JA ____). In
August 1995, Gates told Intel's Andy Grove that "Intel could not count on Microsoft to support
Intel's next generation of microprocessors as long as Intel was developing [any] platform-level
software that competed with Windows." Id. (JA ____).(65) Intel knew that it would have difficulty
selling PC microprocessors without Microsoft's cooperation in making them compatible with
Windows or if Microsoft told OEMs that it would not support Intel's chips. "Faced with Gates'
threat, Intel agreed to stop developing platform-level interfaces that might draw support away from
interfaces exposed by Windows." Id. (JA ____); GX 281 (Gates tells his officers: "If Intel is not
sticking totally to its part of the deal let me know") (JA ____). Microsoft's effort to get Intel to
drop the development of platform-level software had no procompetitive justification, and its success
foreclosed potentially valuable software innovation that might have benefited consumers. FF 410
(JA ____); see McGeady Tr. 11/9/98 pm at 36-42, 45-47, 61-62 (JA ____); GX 563 (JA ____).
The district court chronicled similar dealings in which Microsoft attempted to secure the
agreement of other firms to abandon their platform software efforts in return for the opportunity to
build a user interface or other "value-added" software on top of Microsoft's platform. These
dealings demonstrate "Microsoft's corporate practice to pressure other firms to halt software
development that either shows the potential to weaken the applications barrier to entry or competes
directly with Microsoft's most cherished software products." FF 93 (JA ____).(66) "Microsoft's
interactions with Netscape, IBM, Intel, Apple, and RealNetworks all reveal Microsoft's business
strategy of directing its monopoly power toward inducing other companies to abandon projects that
threaten Microsoft and toward punishing those companies that resist." FF 132 (JA ____).
As the court summarized the net effect of Microsoft's actions:
Microsoft has demonstrated that it will use its prodigious market power and immense
profits to harm any firm that insists on pursuing initiatives that could intensify
competition against one of Microsoft's core products. Microsoft's past success in
hurting such companies and stifling innovation deters investment in technologies and
businesses that exhibit the potential to threaten Microsoft. The ultimate result is that
some innovations that would truly benefit consumers never occur for the sole reason
that they do not coincide with Microsoft's self-interest.
FF 412 (JA ____).(67)
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
- The district court's judgment rests on the application of settled law to established facts.
The core of this case is Microsoft's violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act through unlawful
maintenance of its operating system monopoly. On each of the two required elements, monopoly
power and exclusionary conduct, the court properly applied well-established legal standards to the
findings of fact proved at trial. See, e.g., Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Servs., Inc., 504
U.S. 451, 480 (1992); Neumann v. Reinforced Earth Co., 786 F.2d 424, 427 (D.C. Cir. 1986). This
is a classic case of monopolization "in which a defendant's possession of substantial market power,
combined with his exclusionary or anticompetitive behavior, threatens to defeat or forestall the
corrective forces of competition and thereby sustain or extend the defendant's agglomeration of
power." Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 488 (Scalia, J., dissenting).
Microsoft has monopoly power. The court's finding that Intel-compatible PC operating
systems constitute the relevant market is comprehensively supported by evidence showing the
absence of commercially realistic substitutes for those operating systems. Its finding of Microsoft's
monopoly power in that market rests solidly on Microsoft's persistent, dominant, and increasing
market share; the high barriers of entry protecting that share; and the behavior of Microsoft, which
would be inexplicable for a non-monopolist. Microsoft does not contest the controlling law, and
the court's findings easily survive review under the clear error standard.
Microsoft also engaged in extensive exclusionary conduct. The court's findings carefully
distinguished between Microsoft's lawful competition on the merits and Microsoft's unlawful
anticompetitive conduct. The court did not hold Microsoft liable for "improved products, increased
distribution and lower prices." MS Br. 98-99. Rather, the court based its determination of liability
on the anticompetitive conduct proved at trial, which Microsoft largely ignores. Those
anticompetitive actions include: Microsoft's constriction of Netscape's access to the OEM
distribution channel through restrictions that excluded Netscape both directly and indirectly;
comparable constriction of Netscape's access to the IAP distribution channel; other actions to
impede Netscape, including threats to Apple and restrictions on ICPs and ISVs; and coercive and
misleading actions to impede Java-based cross-platform applications. The district court found that
those actions did not serve any legitimate interest in better, cheaper, or more accessible products.
Rather, they forestalled the growth of middleware products Netscape's Navigator and Sun's Java
technologies that threatened Microsoft's monopoly, and they decreased, not increased, consumer's
choices.
Microsoft's proffered justifications for its anticompetitive actions lack merit. Microsoft makes
passing mention of copyright law, but it has neither identified a tenable copyright defense nor
established a basis in the record for copyright law to provide immunity for its anticompetitive
conduct. Microsoft's primary defense that it did not completely exclude Netscape's access to key
distribution channels also fails. The court's findings and settled law make clear that Microsoft
cannot escape liability on the ground that its impairment of Netscape's access to those channels,
while sufficient to achieve Microsoft's intended monopoly-maintaining effect, nevertheless failed
completely to foreclose all access. Nor can the intrinsic uncertainty about whether a particular
emerging competitive threat ultimately would succeed in the absence of anticompetitive conduct
provide a monopolist like Microsoft with license to attack and destroy the threat before it fully takes
hold.
- Although the Section 2 monopoly maintenance holding is sufficient to support the
judgment, the district court also correctly held that Microsoft unlawfully attempted to monopolize
the browser market. See Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan, 506 U.S. 447, 456 (1993). The June
1995 proposal to Netscape was itself an unlawful attempt. It was an anticompetitive plan to keep
Netscape out of a key aspect of competition by having it cede control over platform aspects of
Window 95 browsers to Microsoft that would immediately give Microsoft a form of monopoly
power. The post-June 1995 campaign of predatory conduct likewise constituted an attempt.
Microsoft demonstrated the requisite specific intent: by seeking to gain control over platform aspects
of the browser product, by crippling Netscape, and by employing anticompetitive means to become
dominant in a market that it believed was characterized by network effects. Its predatory actions
created a dangerous probability of success, as shown by its rapid acquisition of 50% of usage, with
a clear trend of further increases.
- The district court's additional holding that Microsoft violated the Section 1 prohibition
on tying is also correct. The only element of tying liability at issue is whether IE and Windows
constitute separate products. The findings of fact establish that they do under the separate-demand
approach of Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde, 466 U.S. 2 (1984), which Microsoft
does not contest. Microsoft is incorrect, however, that a different result would be reached under the
"integration" rationale that this Court applied when interpreting a consent decree in United States
v. Microsoft Corp., 147 F.3d 935 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (Microsoft II). The evidence proved that the
early versions of IE and Windows were separate products under Microsoft II, because there was no
technological linkage between those versions and Windows. The later versions of IE and Windows
are also separate products, because the court's findings establish that there was no efficiency or other
justification for Microsoft to refuse to offer a browserless version of Windows. Indeed, Microsoft
easily could have produced such a version by employing the familiar techniques in the software
industry for removing software functionality. Microsoft's binding of IE to Windows, in short, was
pure bolting, which caused the very harms targeted by tying law: substantial impairment of
consumer choice on the merits between browsers, to the detriment of non-Microsoft browsers and
the market as a whole.
- Microsoft's objections to the trial procedures are also groundless. The court adopted
reasonable trial procedures to serve the vital interest in efficient resolution of important antitrust
cases in the rapidly changing software industry. Microsoft can identify no concrete prejudice to its
right to a fair adjudication.
- The district court acted properly in imposing the structural and conduct remedy for
Microsoft's wide-ranging course of illegal actions. Each part of the remedy is designed to achieve
the essential goals of ending unlawful conduct, preventing recurrence of it or similar conduct, and
undoing anticompetitive consequences. See, e.g., Nat'l Soc'y of Prof'l Eng'rs v. United States, 435
U.S. 679, 697 (1978). The structural relief wisely relies on ordinary market incentives, rather than
long-term judicial oversight, to encourage creation of the kind of competition that Microsoft crushed
in its attack on Navigator and Java. The conduct remedies, moreover, both make the structural
remedy work and, in the interim, address the risk of repetition in closely related spheres of the same
type of conduct found illegal here. No separate evidentiary hearing was required to impose this
remedy, for it was fully justified on the extensive trial record, the findings regarding Microsoft's
wide-ranging conduct and incentives, and the extensive expert analyses submitted by the
government. Though Microsoft was plainly on notice of the possible scope of relief, it did not
properly controvert the bases for the proposed remedy in respects that would have altered it in any
way and did not offer a serious alternative. If there are particular issues relating to details of the
divestiture, they can be addressed in the further proceedings contemplated by the court after
Microsoft submits a detailed plan of reorganization.
- Finally, Microsoft cannot establish any prejudice from the out-of-court statements of
Judge Jackson. Those statements provide no grounds for inferring bias or partiality, nor establish
a basis for setting aside the judgment or removing him from subsequent proceedings. That result
follows no matter how this Court evaluates Judge Jackson's statements under the Canons of Judicial
Conduct.
ARGUMENT
STANDARD OF REVIEW
"Findings of fact, whether based on oral or documentary evidence, shall not be set aside unless
clearly erroneous." Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(a). See Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 574
(1985); Bailey v. Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, 209 F.3d 740, 743 (D.C. Cir. 2000). That standard
is rigorous: "If the district court's account of the evidence is plausible in light of the record viewed
in its entirety, the court of appeals may not reverse it even though convinced that had it been sitting
as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently." Anderson, 470 U.S. at 573-74.
Indeed, "[w]here there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between
them cannot be clearly erroneous." Id. at 574. "This standard applies to the inferences drawn from
findings of fact as well as to the findings themselves." Halberstam v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472, 486
(D.C. Cir. 1983). Issues of law are, of course, reviewed de novo. United States ex rel. Modern
Elec., Inc. v. Ideal Elec. Sec. Co., 81 F.3d 240, 244 (D.C. Cir. 1996).
Microsoft makes one perfunctory reference to Rule 52 in its discussion of the standard of
review (MS. Br. 68), but nowhere in its brief does Microsoft forthrightly argue that any of the
district court's 412 Findings of Fact must be set aside as clearly erroneous within the meaning of
Rule 52. Rather, at various points in its brief, Microsoft has chosen to criticize selectively certain
of the court's findings. Although Microsoft's brief occasionally skirts the edges of a clear error
argument, it is not our obligation or this Court's to identify which of Microsoft's various criticisms
may have been intended to constitute such an argument. Nor should the Court accept Microsoft's
implied invitation to ignore the dictates of Rule 52 and usurp the role of the district court by
engaging in "impermissible appellate factfinding." Amadeo v. Zant, 486 U.S. 214, 228 (1988); see
also Milmark Servs., Inc. v. United States, 731 F.2d 855, 859 (Fed. Cir. 1984). Because Microsoft
chose not to raise a clear error argument in its principal brief, it should not be permitted to use its
75-page reply brief to make a Rule 52 argument (or raise any other issue) for the first time. See
Sitka Sound Seafoods, Inc. v. NLRB, 206 F.3d 1175, 1181 (D.C. Cir. 2000) ("issues not raised until
the reply brief are waived"); Adams v. Hinchman, 154 F.3d 420, 424 n.7 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (per
curiam) (striking portion of reply brief raising issues not advanced in opening brief). In any event,
even if the Court is inclined to treat those few criticisms that appear to be most focused as clear error
arguments, Microsoft has failed to establish that any finding should be set aside under Rule 52.
Compare MS Br. 79 (discussing FF 161, 174 (JA ____)), with p. 66, infra; MS Br. 108-09
(discussing FF 239 (JA ____)), with pp. 74-75, infra; MS Br. 110 (discussing CL at 42 (JA ____)),
with pp. 76-79, infra; and MS Br. 123 (discussing CL at 45-46 (JA ____)), with pp. 88-92, infra.
I. MICROSOFT VIOLATED SECTION 2 OF THE SHERMAN ACT THROUGH A
COURSE OF ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCT THAT MAINTAINED ITS
OPERATING SYSTEM MONOPOLY
This case involves the application of familiar and fundamental tenets of antitrust law.
Microsoft recognized that emerging technologies posed a threat to its Windows operating system
monopoly and concluded that competition on the merits would not defeat that threat, so it mounted
a campaign to maintain its monopoly power through anticompetitive means. At trial, the
government focused on that campaign, which provided the basis for the district court's conclusion
that Microsoft unlawfully maintained its monopoly in violation of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 2.
- The Offense Of Monopolization
- The offense of monopolization is (1) the willful acquisition or maintenance of monopoly
power (2) by the use of anticompetitive conduct "to foreclose competition, to gain a competitive
advantage, or to destroy a competitor." Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Servs., Inc., 504
U.S. 451, 482-83 (1992), quoting United States v. Griffith, 334 U.S. 100, 107 (1948); see also
United States v. Alcoa, 148 F.2d 416, 432 (2d Cir. 1945). Such conduct is labeled "exclusionary"
or "predatory." Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585, 602 (1985).
The Supreme Court has described exclusionary conduct as conduct that "'not only (1) tends
to impair the opportunities of rivals, but also (2) either does not further competition on the merits
or does so in an unnecessarily restrictive way.'" Aspen, 472 U.S. at 605 n.32, quoting 3 Phillip
Areeda & Donald F. Turner, Antitrust Law ¶ 626b, at 78 (1978). If "valid business reasons"
do not justify conduct that tends to impair the opportunities of a monopolist's rivals, that conduct
is exclusionary. See Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 483; Aspen, 472 U.S. at 605.(68) The courts assess
the legality of the defendant's conduct in light of, among other things, the defendant's proffered
justifications, the consistency of those justifications with the defendant's actions and assertions, and
the sufficiency of those justifications to explain the full extent of conduct. Eastman Kodak, 504
U.S. at 483-85.
This Court has described predatory conduct as conduct that:
involves aggression against business rivals through the use of business practices that
would not be considered profit maximizing except for the expectation that (1) actual
rivals will be driven from the market, or the entry of potential rivals blocked or delayed,
so that the predator will gain or retain a market share sufficient to command monopoly
profits, or (2) rivals will be chastened sufficiently to abandon competitive behavior the
predator finds threatening to its realization of monopoly profits.
Neumann v. Reinforced Earth Co., 786 F.2d 424, 427 (D.C. Cir. 1986) (Bork, J.); accord Robert
H. Bork, The Antitrust Paradox 144-45 (1993) (noting that, in any realistic theory of predation,
the predator views its costs of predation as "an investment in future monopoly profits"). Predatory
conduct is, of course, exclusionary. Such conduct, "by definition as well as by nature, lacks
procompetitive business motivation." CL at 38 (JA ____).
The Supreme Court's decisions in Eastman Kodak and Aspen, and this Court's decision in
Neumann, state settled antitrust law. Courts routinely define exclusionary or predatory conduct as
conduct that would not make economic sense unless it eliminated or softened competition and thus
permitted the costs of the conduct to be recouped through higher profits resulting from the lack of
competition.(69)
- Neither Microsoft nor its amici dispute that the standards for exclusionary and predatory
conduct, set out above, are correct statements of the law. See MS Br. 98-99. Rather, they
incorrectly contend that the district court applied different standards, notwithstanding that court's
explicit reliance on the antitrust principles set out in Eastman Kodak, Aspen, and Neumann. See CL
at 37-38 (JA ____). They then attack those different standards, which the district court did not
endorse.
First, Microsoft asserts that the district court improperly applied a particular "burden-shifting
approach" under which, Microsoft says, "[a]ccording to the district court, if the evidence reveals a
significant 'exclusionary' impact apparently, anything that adversely affects a rival then 'liability
will attach' unless 'the defendant comes forward with specific, procompetitive business motivations
that explain the full extent of its exclusionary conduct.'" MS Br. 98, quoting CL at 37-38.
Microsoft misstates the court's understanding of "exclusionary" conduct. In the sentence
immediately preceding the passage that Microsoft quotes, the court stated that conduct is
"exclusionary" when it "has restricted significantly, or threatens to restrict significantly, the ability
of other firms to compete in the relevant market on the merits of what they offer customers." CL at
37 (emphasis added) (JA ____). The district court quoted Justice Scalia's statement in Eastman
Kodak that "exclusionary or anticompetitive behavior[] threatens to defeat or forestall the corrective
forces of competition." Id., quoting 504 U.S. at 488 (Scalia, J., dissenting) (JA ____). In stating
that the defendant must come forward with a procompetitive explanation, the court relied on
Eastman Kodak. CL at 38 (JA ____). The district court understood the relevant standard and
properly "distinguish[ed] between anticompetitive conduct that prevents a competitor from reaching
the marketplace . . . and procompetitive conduct that defeats a competitor in the marketplace
through improved products, increased distribution and lower prices." MS Br. 98-99. Furthermore,
as the Supreme Court's decisions in Eastman Kodak and Aspen illustrate, there is nothing improper
about requiring a monopolist to come forward with legitimate business justifications for conduct that
appears to be anticompetitive. The district court simply applied settled law. See CL at 37-38 (JA
____).
Second, Microsoft mischaracterizes the district court's discussion of the relevance of evidence
that a defendant intended to engage in exclusionary conduct. Microsoft claims that the court
"erroneously relied on evidence of Microsoft's intent to win business from Netscape in concluding
that Microsoft's conduct was anticompetitive." MS Br. 99, citing CL at 37 n.1. The court's
statement, however, makes the very different and correct point that evidence showing that
Microsoft's "conduct was motivated by a desire to prevent other firms from competing on the merits
can contribute to a finding that the conduct has had, or will have, the intended, exclusionary effect."
CL at 37 n.1 (emphasis added), citing United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422, 436 n.13
(1978) (evidence of "intent may play an important role in divining the actual nature and effect of
the alleged anticompetitive conduct"). (JA ____).
Third, Microsoft's amici incorrectly assert that the district court articulated a legal standard
that subjected Microsoft to liability because it did not pursue "short-term profit maximization."
ACT Br. 14. The district court, however, did not adopt or apply any such standard. The court
neither focused on the "short term" nor condemned conduct merely because it sacrifices some short-term profits. See CL at 37-39 (JA ____). Instead, the court disapproved specific conduct that
impeded competition on the merits and would not otherwise be profitable over the short-term or the
long-term. See, e.g., id. at 37 n.1, 38 (condemning costly conduct that offers "no prospect of
compensation other than the erection or preservation of barriers against competition by equally
efficient firms") (JA ____). Indeed, the amici ultimately concede that the district court did not apply
the standard they attribute to it and that the court properly treated much of Microsoft's conduct as
lawful competition on the merits even if it may have been unprofitable in the short term. See ACT
Br. 15.
- Microsoft Has Monopoly Power
As Microsoft acknowledges (MS Br. 84), monopoly power is the "power to control prices or
exclude competition." Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 481; United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours
& Co., 351 U.S. 377, 391 (1956). The district court correctly rejected Microsoft's astounding
proposition that "it does not possess 'monopoly power' in a properly defined market." MS Br. 84-97.
The government may demonstrate monopoly power through evidence showing the defendant's
dominant share of the relevant market. See, e.g., United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 571
(1966). Under that traditional "structural" approach, the government must "(1) define the relevant
market, (2) show that the defendant owns a dominant share of that market, and (3) show that there
are significant barriers to entry . . . ." Rebel Oil Co. v. Atl. Richfield Co., 51 F.3d 1421, 1434 (9th
Cir. 1995). The government also may rely on direct evidence of the defendant's behavior and its
market effects to prove monopoly power. See, e.g., Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 477 (relying on
"direct evidence" that Kodak "raise[d] prices and dr[o]ve out competition"); Re/Max Int'l, Inc. v.
Realty One, Inc., 173 F.3d 995, 1016-19 (6th Cir. 1999). The district court's findings demonstrated
monopoly power under both approaches. See CL at 36-37 (JA ____); see also pp. 8-9, supra.
The district court first identified the correct legal standards for assessing monopoly power.
See CL at 36 (JA ____). It then applied those standards to unassailable findings of fact drawn from
all of the relevant evidence, structural and behavioral, respecting Microsoft's market power. See
id.; FF 18-67 (JA ____). The court specifically found that Microsoft possessed a "dominant,
persistent, and increasing share of the relevant market," protected by a "substantial barrier to
effective entry." CL at 36 (JA ____). Microsoft was therefore able to "charge a price for Windows
substantially above that which could be charged in a competitive market. Moreover, it could do so
for a significant period of time without losing an unacceptable amount of business to competitors."
FF 33 (JA ____); see also CL 36-37 (JA ____). Furthermore, "Microsoft has comported itself in
a way that could only be consistent with rational behavior for a profit-maximizing firm if the firm
knew that it possessed monopoly power, and if it was motivated by a desire to preserve the barrier
to entry protecting that power." CL at 37 (JA ____). Microsoft's largely factual criticisms of the
district court's determinations are without merit.
- The District Court Correctly Found That The Relevant Market Is "The
Licensing Of All Intel-Compatible PC Operating Systems Worldwide"
- The court below correctly recognized that whether a category of commercial activity
qualifies as a market, for purposes of the Sherman Act, "depends on whether it includes all products
'reasonably interchangeable by consumers for the same purposes.'" CL at 36, quoting du Pont, 351
U.S. at 395 (JA ____). "To define a market in product and geographic terms is to say that if prices
were appreciably raised or volume appreciably curtailed for the product within a given area, while
demand held constant, supply from other sources could not be expected to enter promptly enough
and in large enough amounts to restore the old price and volume." Rothery Storage & Van Co. v.
Atlas Van Lines, Inc., 792 F.2d 210, 218 (D.C. Cir. 1986); accord Coastal Fuels of P.R., Inc. v.
Caribbean Petroleum Corp., 79 F.3d 182, 197 (1st Cir. 1996); Rebel Oil, 51 F.3d at 1434. While
Microsoft does not articulate a test for market definition, it expressly cites du Pont and Rothery as
controlling precedent. MS Br. 86-87.
On the basis of du Pont, Rothery, and similar decisions, the district court concluded that "the
licensing of all Intel-compatible PC operating systems worldwide" is the relevant market for
assessing the government's monopoly maintenance claim. CL at 36 (JA ____). The court found
that a single firm or cartel within that market "could set the price of a license substantially above
that which would be charged in a competitive market and leave the price there for a significant
period of time without losing so many customers as to make the action unprofitable." FF 18 (JA
____); see CL at 36 (JA ____). The court's detailed findings, which considered both demand and
supply substitutability, amply support its conclusion that the relevant market encompasses "the
licensing of all Intel-compatible PC operating systems worldwide." See CL at 36 (JA ____); FF 18-30 (JA ____). See also Rothery, 792 F.2d at 218 (describing the concepts of demand and supply
substitutability). This Court, in turn, is obliged to uphold those findings of fact respecting market
definition, as well as the existence vel non of monopoly power, unless Microsoft can demonstrate
that those findings are clearly erroneous. See Int'l Boxing Club of N.Y., Inc. v. United States, 358
U.S. 242, 251 (1959); du Pont, 351 U.S. at 381; United States v. W. Elec. Co., 900 F.2d 283, 293
(D.C. Cir. 1990); Ass'n for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women v. NCAA, 735 F.2d 577, 584 (D.C.
Cir. 1984).
- Microsoft is unable to point to any legal error in the district court's market definition, and
its fact-based challenges come nowhere close to satisfying the clear error standard.
First, Microsoft contends that the district court erred in excluding from the relevant market
those middleware products Navigator and Java that threatened the Windows monopoly. MS
Br. 85-87. That argument is unsound. The relevant market includes only substitutes "reasonably
interchangeable by consumers for the same purposes." du Pont, 351 U.S. at 395; see Rothery, 792
F.2d at 218. The district court properly excluded middleware from the market at issue here because
as Microsoft concedes (MS Br. 86) no middleware product currently serves the same purposes
as the Windows operating system. FF 28-29 (JA ____). Simply put, an operating system runs the
PC, but middleware does not. Id.; see p. 11, supra. Middleware programs such as Navigator and
Java have competitive significance for operating systems because, by enabling applications written
for them to run on the various operating systems on which they run, they have the potential to make
those various operating systems better substitutes for each other. FF 68 (JA ____). Such
middleware is thus a complement to, rather than a substitute for, an operating system. FF 69 (JA
____). It is plainly not part of the relevant market. Notwithstanding Microsoft's speculations about
future middleware developments (MS Br. 86), middleware is not now a substitute for Windows and
will not be one for the foreseeable future.
Second, Microsoft argues that the court's definition of the relevant market is too narrow
because it does not include various alternatives to Intel-compatible operating systems to which
consumers could potentially turn. MS Br. 87-88. The law is well settled, however, that a relevant
market for antitrust purposes cannot meaningfully encompass the "infinite range" of substitutes that
might be imagined. Times-Picayune Publ'g Co. v. United States, 345 U.S. 594, 612 n.31 (1953).
A court should exclude from its market definition a "product to which, within reasonable variations
in price, only a limited number of buyers will turn." Id. The court below considered a broad range
of possible alternative products and correctly found that, individually and collectively, they were
not adequate substitutes. FF 18-29 (JA ____). Microsoft alleges no specific legal or factual error
in the court's analysis; rather, it simply repeats the testimony that the district court considered and
properly rejected. For example, Microsoft suggests (MS Br. 87) that Apple's Mac OS provides a
good substitute, but it fails to rebut the district court's specific finding that the Mac OS does not
"present a significant percentage of users with a viable substitute for Windows." FF 47, 21 (JA
____). Indeed, Microsoft's market share would "still stand well above eighty percent" even if the
Mac OS were included in the market. FF 35 (JA ____). Microsoft also asserts (MS Br. 88) that
firms not currently producing PC operating systems could do so and therefore should be included
in the relevant market. The district court found, however, that the applications barrier to entry
would prevent such competition from significantly constraining Microsoft for the foreseeable future.
See FF 30-31 (JA ____); pp. 57-60 infra.
- The District Court Correctly Concluded That Microsoft Has Monopoly Power
The district court determined whether Microsoft possessed monopoly power in the relevant
market by assessing whether the company's "ability (1) to price substantially above the competitive
level and (2) to persist in doing so for a significant period without erosion by new entry or
expansion." CL at 37, quoting 2A Phillip E. Areeda, et al., Antitrust Law ¶ 501, at 86 (1995)
(JA ____). That test implements the basic principle that, "[w]hen a product is controlled by one
interest, without substitutes available in the market, there is monopoly power." NCAA v. Bd. of
Regents of Univ. of Okla., 468 U.S. 85, 112 (1984), quoting du Pont, 351 U.S. at 394. Microsoft
does not dispute that the district court correctly states the test for assessing monopoly power. See,
e.g., AD/SAT v. Associated Press, 181 F.3d 216, 227 (2d Cir. 1999). Nor does Microsoft challenge
the court's finding that Microsoft "could charge a price for Windows substantially above that which
could be charged in a competitive market" and "do so for a significant period of time without losing
an unacceptable amount of business to competitors." FF 33 (JA ____). Microsoft's criticism of
certain fact-findings (MS Br. 88-97) does not undermine the conclusion that Microsoft has
monopoly power.
- Microsoft's Dominant, Persistent, And Increasing Market Share
Supports A Finding Of Monopoly Power
The government "proved at trial that Microsoft possesses a dominant, persistent, and increasing share of the relevant market." CL at 36 (JA ____). That market share has been more than 90%
for the past decade, has recently been at least 95%, and "analysts project that the share will climb
even higher." FF 35 (JA ____). The district court recognized that Microsoft's market share, which
would be "well above" 80% even if the market were enlarged to include the Mac operating system,
id., is highly relevant in determining whether Microsoft has monopoly power. CL at 36 (JA ____);
see Grinnell, 384 U.S. at 571 (monopoly power "ordinarily may be inferred from the predominant
share of the market"); see also, e.g., Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 481 (finding basis for monopoly
power where seller possesses 80% of market); accord Grinnell, 384 U.S. at 571 (87%); du Pont, 351
U.S. at 384, 391 (75%); Am. Tobacco Co. v. United States, 328 U.S. 781, 797 (1946) (67%).
Microsoft does not dispute that it has an overwhelming market share but takes issue with the
relevance of its dominant position. MS Br. 92-93. Microsoft is correct that "market share" by
itself "is not determinative of monopoly power." Id. at 92 (capitalization altered). Microsoft
argues that a monopolist's market share is significant only if the monopolist has sufficient control
of "productive assets" that rivals could not, for that reason, effectively respond to consumer demand
left unmet if the monopolist raises price and curtails output. See id. at 92-93, citing Ind. Grocery,
Inc. v. Super Valu Stores, Inc., 864 F.2d 1409, 1414 (7th Cir. 1989), and Ball Mem'l Hosp., Inc. v.
Mutual Hosp. Ins., Inc., 784 F.2d 1325, 1335 (7th Cir. 1986). But Microsoft's argument, that only
control of tangible facilities and similar assets can allow the exercise of monopoly power, is
obviously incorrect. For example, a firm could have monopoly power if its market share were
protected by a legal bar excluding other firms from the market even if the excluded firms had the
facilities and other "productive assets" needed to enter. The cases Microsoft cites stand for the self-evident proposition that monopoly power cannot exist if rivals can easily "supply consumers'
wants." MS Br. 93, quoting Ball Memorial, 784 F.2d at 1335. Microsoft asserts that "niche
players" in the market "could quickly expand their output to satisfy the entire demand for operating
systems." MS Br. 91. But because "niche players" do not offer users access to sufficient
applications, they cannot adequately "supply consumers' wants" and thus do not provide
"commercially viable alternative[s] to which [OEMs] could switch in response to a substantial and
sustained price increase or its equivalent by Microsoft." FF 54 (JA ____).
- Microsoft Is Protected By Barriers To Entry That Support A
Finding Of Monopoly Power
The district court specifically found that "Microsoft's dominant market share is protected by
a high barrier to entry," namely, the "applications barrier to entry." See FF 34, 36-52 (JA ____).
That finding, which is supported by testimony from Microsoft's witnesses (Kempin Tr. 2/25/99 pm
at 99:1-100:19 (JA ____); Rose Tr. 2/17/99 pm at 19:21-20:2, 24:24-25:9 (JA ____)), is significant:
"Together, the proof of dominant market share and the existence of a substantial barrier to effective
entry create the presumption that Microsoft enjoys monopoly power." CL at 36 (JA ____).
Microsoft incorrectly characterizes (MS Br. 93) the applications barrier as the "single barrier to
entry," but the government alleged and proved other barriers as well. See, e.g., US Compl. ¶¶ 3,
7 (JA ____); FF 38, 43 (JA ____) (describing the need for competitors to make large, unrecoverable,
front-end investments of time and money); see also, e.g., Warren-Boulton ¶¶ 46-50, 55 (JA ____);
Warren-Boulton Tr. 12/1/98 am at 30:22-31:8 (JA ____); ACT Br. 2-3. The applications barrier
is simply the most prominent barrier and the one highlighted by the court.
Microsoft argues incorrectly (MS Br. 93-97) that the applications barrier does not exist. First,
Microsoft contends that the barrier "is nothing more than consumer demand for a platform that
supports popular applications." MS Br. 94. That characterization misapprehends the significance
of barriers to entry. Contrary to Microsoft's suggestion, barriers to entry are not limited to "government regulation or licensing requirements," "onerous front-end investments," or "dependen[cy] on
a scarce commodity." MS Br. 94, quoting examples from United States v. Syufy Enters., 903 F.2d
659, 666-67 (9th Cir. 1990). Rather, as this Court stated in a similar antitrust context, "[a]ny market
condition that makes entry more costly or time-consuming and thus reduces the effectiveness of
potential competition as a constraint on the pricing behavior of the dominant firm should be
considered a barrier to entry, regardless of who is responsible for the existence of that condition."
S. Pac. Communications Co. v. AT&T, 740 F.2d 980, 1001 (D.C. Cir. 1984). Indeed, it is hornbook
antitrust law that a barrier to entry is "any factor that permits firms already in the market to earn
returns above the competitive level while deterring outsiders from entering." 2A Areeda ¶ 420a,
at 55-56. Microsoft's expert economist concurred in that definition. Schmalensee Tr. 1/14/99 am
at 7:11-19 (JA ____).
Next, Microsoft disputes the district court's factual findings without acknowledging its burden
under the clear error standard. See pp. 45-46, supra. Microsoft contends that "the entry barriers
faced by an entrepreneur with a software package to sell are truly insignificant." MS Br. 94. But
the district court found that a potential competitor in the operating system market faces
extraordinary obstacles to entry in light of the high fixed costs, the positive network effects favoring
Microsoft's installed base, consumer insistence on access to a large and growing array of
applications, and the need to convince ISVs to write for an upstart operating system. FF 37-41 (JA
____). The district court specifically rejected Microsoft's assertion (MS Br. 94) that the Linux
"open source" OS has created a "serious platform threat to Windows." FF 50-51 (JA ____).
Microsoft also argues that the need to "persuad[e] ISVs to write applications" is not "a cost
disproportionately borne by new entrants." MS Br. 94-95. But this argument is immaterial as a
matter of law and wrong as a matter of fact. In support of its focus on disproportionate costs,
Microsoft cites (MS Br. 94) only Los Angeles Land Co. v. Brunswick Corp., 6 F.3d 1422 (9th Cir.
1993), but that decision embraced, as an alternative definition of entry barriers, the very standard
articulated by Professor Areeda. Id. at 1427-28 ("factors in the market that deter entry while
permitting incumbent firms to earn monopoly returns"); accord W. Parcel Express v. UPS, 190 F.3d
974, 975 (9th Cir. 1999); Am. Prof'l Testing Serv., Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Legal &
Prof'l Publ'ns, Inc., 108 F.3d 1147, 1154 (9th Cir. 1997). Indeed, Microsoft's definition of a
barrier to entry includes only factors that serve to "block[] entry forever," and therefore disserves
the aims of antitrust law because "[a]ntitrust's concern is not merely with market power that may
be exercised indefinitely but also with market power that can be exercised for a substantial period
of time." 2A Areeda ¶ 420c, at 60-61.
In any event, the facts found by the court satisfy even Microsoft's erroneous test. The district
court found that the cost to a would-be entrant exceeds the costs that Microsoft itself faced because
"Microsoft never confronted a highly penetrated market dominated by a single competitor." FF 43
(JA ____). The court acknowledged that Microsoft makes "evangelization" expenditures to
maintain its dominant position but correctly observed that it is hardly surprising that "the principal
beneficiary of the applications barrier [would] devote more resources to augmenting it than aspiring
rivals are willing to expend in speculative efforts to erode it." Id. (JA ____); see also FF 44 (JA
____).
Microsoft takes passing issue (MS Br. 91, 95-97) with the district court's findings respecting
the effectiveness of the applications barrier (FF 45-52) and the viability of alternatives to Windows
(FF 53-56) (JA ____). Microsoft asserts that "ISVs freely write applications for platforms other
than Windows." MS Br. 95. But the district court found and Microsoft does not dispute that
many of the platforms to which Microsoft refers are "niche" operating systems that offer little
competition for Windows, largely because of a paucity of applications. See FF 48-50 (JA ____).
And contrary to Microsoft's implication (MS. 95-96), the district court specifically found that the
applications barrier significantly handicapped even the two non-niche operating systems for which
the most applications had been written, those of IBM and Apple. FF 45-47 (JA ____).
Microsoft's arguments largely ignore the district court's findings, which fully answer
Microsoft's further contentions respecting the "first mover" phenomenon (compare MS Br. 95 with
FF 42, 49-51 (JA ____)) and Web-based applications (compare MS Br. 95-96 with FF 27 (JA
____)). As to Microsoft's discussion of the relevance of the number of available applications, it
does not simply ignore the court's findings it mischaracterizes them. Microsoft states, for
example, that "[i]t defies common sense to suggest, as the district court did, that a platform must
support 70,000 applications to be competitive." MS Br. 96. But the court actually made a very
different point:
The consumer wants an operating system that runs not only types of applications that
he knows he will want to use, but also those types in which he might develop an interest
later. Also, the consumer knows that if he chooses an operating system with enough
demand to support multiple applications in each product category, he will be less likely
to find himself straitened later by having to use an application whose features disappoint
him. Finally, the average user knows that, generally speaking, applications improve
through successive versions. He thus wants an operating system for which successive
generations of his favorite applications will be released promptly at that. The fact that
a vastly larger number of applications are written for Windows than for other PC
operating systems attracts consumers to Windows, because it reassures them that their
interests will be met as long as they use Microsoft's product.
FF 37 (JA ____). That finding, which Microsoft does not directly challenge, explains why the
applications barrier exists and "prevent[s] an aspiring entrant into the relevant market from drawing
a significant number of customers away from a dominant incumbent even if the incumbent priced
its products substantially above competitive levels for a significant period of time." FF 36 (JA
____).
- Microsoft's Conduct Did Not Negate A Finding Of Monopoly Power
Because of its overwhelming share of the relevant market and the protection of a highly
effective barrier to entry, Microsoft has monopoly power. The court correctly rejected (CL at 37
(JA ____)) Microsoft's assertion that it "does not behave like a monopolist." MS Br. 89
(capitalization altered). First, Microsoft argues (id.) that its substantial research and development
(R&D) budget is inconsistent with the possession of monopoly power. The court properly rejected
that argument for obvious reasons. A monopolist has powerful incentives to invest in R&D to
improve its product. With a better product, the monopolist will be able to sell more or charge a
higher price. Cf. United States v. AT&T, 552 F. Supp. 131, 167 (D.D.C. 1982) (although a
monopolist, AT&T was "a positive force both in basic and in applied research, and this research . . .
had a beneficial effect on the nation's economic position").
Microsoft also contends (MS Br. 89-90) that its pricing practices are inconsistent with the
possession of monopoly power, but the court found to the contrary that Microsoft's pricing practices
indicated that Microsoft consciously exercises monopoly power. FF 62 (JA ____). Microsoft
argues that, if it possessed monopoly power, it would have charged "the short-term profit-maximizing price for Windows," which, it estimates, would be many times the price it did charge.
MS Br. 90. The court sensibly rejected Microsoft's premise that a monopolist would maximize
short-term profits:
Microsoft could be stimulating the growth of the market for Intel-compatible PC
operating systems by keeping the price of Windows low today. . . . By pricing low
relative to the short-run profit-maximizing price, thereby focusing on attracting new
users to the Windows platform, Microsoft would also intensify the positive network
effects that add to the impenetrability of the applications barrier to entry.
FF 65 (JA ____). See also Fisher Tr. 1/12/99 am at 24:16-25:21 (colloquy with court), 1/12/99 pm
at 18:1-10, 6/2/99 am at 5:20-6:1, 6/4/99 am at 12:7-13:15 (JA ____); cf. ACT Br. 2 (noting the
importance of network effects). The court reasonably doubted that the available evidence supported
an accurate determination of what price "a profit-maximizing firm with monopoly power would
charge for Windows 98." FF 65 (JA ____). And the court found that the price charged by
Microsoft could not in any event rebut the inference of its monopoly power because "Microsoft
expends a significant portion of its monopoly power, which could otherwise be spent maximizing
price, on imposing burdensome restrictions on its customers and in inducing them to behave in
ways that augment and prolong that monopoly power." FF 66 (JA ____).
Finally, in assessing whether it acted like a monopolist, the court noted that Microsoft's
anticompetitive conduct harmed both consumers and OEMs and that Microsoft was able to act
without effective discipline from rivals. FF 67 (JA ____). The court also found that both users and
OEMs believe that there are no "viable alternatives" to Windows. FF 54-55 (JA ____); see also GX
309 (JA ____); Fisher ¶¶ 62-63 (JA ____); Norris Tr. 6/7/99 am at 66:21-67:6 (JA ____).
- Microsoft Engaged In A Multifaceted Campaign Of Exclusionary Conduct
That Maintained Its Monopoly Power
Microsoft contends that, even if it had monopoly power, it "did not engage in anticompetitive
conduct." MS Br. 97-115. The district court correctly found otherwise on the basis of
overwhelming proof, including extensive evidence drawn from Microsoft's own internal documents.
See FF 79-356 (JA __-__). Those comprehensive findings chronicle Microsoft's actions in rich
detail and carefully distinguish between Microsoft's competitive and anticompetitive actions.
Microsoft responds to those findings by defending conduct that the district court did not condemn
and largely ignoring the conduct that the court found anticompetitive.
If Microsoft had confined itself to improving and promoting its products on their merits, it
would have faced no antitrust liability, whatever the effect on its rivals. Developing and improving
its own Web browser, making it widely available, and encouraging its use based on the merits of
the product constituted competition on the merits. Similarly, improving the quality of Windows by
including Web browsing or other functionalities without separate charge might have made business
sense without regard to the possibility of excluding competitors and subsequent recoupment through
the exercise of monopoly power. The court expressly acknowledged the benefits of such conduct.
FF 186, 408 (JA ____); see also FF 389, 396, 407 (acknowledging the technical merit and potential
business justification for Microsoft's investment in a high quality Java component) (JA ____).
But Microsoft did not confine its conduct to competition on the merits. Instead, it deliberately
embarked on a multifaceted campaign of anticompetitive conduct to protect its operating system
monopoly that the district court found to violate Section 2. See CL at 37-44 (JA ____). We begin
by highlighting specific anticompetitive actions that the government proved at trial and then respond
to Microsoft's arguments defending its actions.
- The District Court Imposed Liability Based On Microsoft's
Anticompetitive Conduct
When Microsoft realized that it could not otherwise insulate itself from the threats posed by
Navigator and Java, it embarked on a course of anticompetitive conduct. Microsoft first attempted
to reach a non-competition agreement with Netscape. See pp. 13-14, supra. It proposed that
Netscape leave platform-level browsing technology for Windows 95 to Microsoft, in exchange for
Microsoft's leaving the browser business for other operating systems to Netscape. See FF 79-89 (JA
____); see also pp. 88-89, infra. When that attempt failed, Microsoft took actions to exclude
Navigator from the "two distribution channels that lead most efficiently to browser usage," OEM
pre-installation of a browser and IAP bundling of a browser with the service. FF 144-45, 148 (JA
____); see pp. 15-16, supra. Microsoft focused on browser usage because relative usage shares
largely determine the attractiveness of platforms to applications developers. See FF 359 (JA ____);
CL at 53 (blocking distribution that leads efficiently to usage rendered Navigator "harmless" as
platform threat) (JA ____); pp. 31-32, supra.
Microsoft's anticompetitive campaign to foreclose Netscape from the OEM distribution
channel went far beyond offering IE to OEMs in a bundle with Windows at no extra charge. Had
Microsoft stopped there, it would not have violated the antitrust laws. But Microsoft instead
embarked on an anticompetitive campaign that: (1) "forced OEMs to take [IE] with Windows and
forbade them to remove it or obscure it"; (2) "imposed additional technical restrictions to increase
the cost of promoting Navigator even more"; (3) "offered OEMs valuable consideration in exchange
for commitments to promote [IE] exclusively"; and (4) "threatened to penalize individual OEMs that
insisted on pre-installing and promoting Navigator." FF 241 (JA ____). These anticompetitive acts
effectively exiled Netscape from the OEM channel, CL at 40 (JA ____); FF 239, 241 (JA ____),
and they "stifled innovation by OEMs that might have made Windows PC systems easier to use and
more attractive to consumers," FF 241 (JA ____). None served a legitimate purpose. FF 159, 172,
175-77 (JA ____); see also FF 186-87 (JA ____). To the contrary, they harmed consumers who
preferred a different browser or none at all. See FF 172-74, 214 (JA ____); pp. 16-24, supra.
Microsoft similarly "made substantial sacrifices, including the forfeiture of significant revenue
opportunities, in order to induce IAPs to do four things: to distribute access software that came with
[IE]; to promote [IE]; to upgrade existing subscribers to [IE]; and to restrict their distribution and
promotion of non-Microsoft browsing software." FF 247 (JA ____). Those restrictions "were far
broader than they needed to be in order to achieve any economic efficiency." Id. (JA ____).
Instead, they "significantly hampered the ability of consumers to make their choice of Web browser
products based on the features of those products," id., and effectively ostracized Navigator from the
IAP channel, CL 41-42 (JA ____); see also FF 247 (JA ____); pp. 24-28, supra.
Microsoft also acted anticompetitively to prevent the development of cross-platform Java
applications. As the court explained, Microsoft aimed to "maximiz[e] the difficulty with which
applications written in Java could be ported from Windows to other platforms, and vice versa." FF
386 (JA ____); see, e.g., FF 390, 394, 401 (JA ____). Microsoft took those steps "to drastically
limit the ability of developers to write Java applications that would run in both Microsoft's version
of the Windows runtime environment and versions complying with Sun's standards." FF 407 (JA
____). Microsoft's conduct in pursuit of "the goal of protecting the applications barrier," "resulted
in fewer applications being able to run on Windows than otherwise would have." Id. See pp. 35-38,
supra.
Although the court found that some of what Microsoft did was procompetitive, it concluded
that Microsoft ultimately resorted to a series of well-orchestrated anticompetitive actions to protect
its operating system monopoly and thereby "placed an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive
fortune." CL at 44 (JA ____). "Microsoft mounted a deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts
that, left to rise or fall on their own merits, could well have enabled the introduction of competition
into the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems." Id. Those efforts to interfere with the
distribution of Navigator in the OEM and IAP channels and to impede cross-platform Java
applications were costly for Microsoft, and they were anticompetitive because they would not have
made business sense and "'would not be considered profit maximizing except for the expectation
that . . . the entry of potential rivals' into the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems will
be 'blocked or delayed.'" Id., quoting Neumann, 786 F.2d at 427.
- The District Court Did Not Condemn Microsoft For Developing Or
Improving Its Products
Microsoft characterizes the district court as holding "that Microsoft's integrated design of
Windows violated Section 2" and suggests that the court based Microsoft's liability on "design
changes that improve a product." MS Br. 101. At the outset, it is important to emphasize the
inaccuracy of these characterizations. The court premised liability on Microsoft's contractual and
coercive restraints in the OEM channel; its IAP, ICP, and ISV strategies; its furnishing of
misleading development tools to ISVs in order to undermine Java; and its coercion of Intel, Apple,
and others. CL at 39-40 (JA ____); see FF 202-357, 386-407 (JA ____). None of this conduct
involved product design. Insofar as the court's holding did relate to product design, Microsoft's
characterizations are also incorrect. The court distinguished between lawful procompetitive design
changes and anticompetitive actions relating to design features. The district court specifically found
aspects of Microsoft's conduct in developing a Web browser and offering it to OEMs and users with
Windows to be lawful. The court acknowledged that "Microsoft's provision of Web browsing
functionality with its Windows operating system" can benefit consumers. See FF 186, 408-09 (JA
____). The court also did not condemn Microsoft for using HTML rendering and other technologies
used in browsing to provide non-browsing functions. See FF 177-88 (describing feasibility of
removing browsing functionality from Windows 98 without impairing non-browsing functions) (JA
____).
The court condemned very limited aspects of Microsoft's product design. The court found
that Microsoft's decision to exclude IE from the dozens of features subject to the Add/Remove
utility in Windows 98 and to hard-wire IE as the default browser served no legitimate purpose.
FF 170-94 (JA ____). And it found Microsoft's actions in commingling browsing and non-browsing routines in the same file "to a greater degree than is necessary to provide any consumer
benefit" "unjustifiably jeopardized the stability and security of the operating system," "increased
the likelihood that a browser crash will cause the entire system to crash," and therefore "harmed
even those consumers who desire to use [IE] and no other browser." FF 174 (JA ____); see FF 161-64 (JA ____). (Microsoft's James Allchin admitted on cross-examination that Windows 98 contains
code used only to browse the Web. Tr. 2/2/99 am at 65:10-67:25 (JA ____). His contrary direct
testimony (see MS Br. 79) did not even address Windows 95.) Contrary to Microsoft's assertion,
the court did not object to "Microsoft's development and marketing of its own Java
implementation." MS Br. 111 (capitalization altered). It recognized Microsoft's justification for
developing an attractive alternative Java implementation. But the court also found intentional
incompatibility with other Java implementations that Microsoft would not have created absent its
commitment "to protecting and enhancing the applications barrier to entry," for the result was
"fewer applications being able to run on Windows than otherwise would have." FF 407 (JA ____);
see FF 390 (JA ____).
In making these findings, however, the court did not engage in an improper inquiry into the
reasonableness of Microsoft's product designs. Compare United States v. Microsoft Corp., 147 F.3d
935, 949-50 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (Microsoft II) (evaluation of claim of technological integration must
be "narrow and deferential"; question is not whether integration is a "net plus") with In re IBM
Peripheral EDP Devices Antitrust Litig., 481 F. Supp. 965, 1003 (N.D. Cal. 1979) (monopolist's
design choice violates Sherman Act if "unreasonably restrictive of competition," taking into account
"effects of the design on" competitors and consumers, whether design "was the product of desirable
technological creativity," and intent). Rather, the court asked only whether the record established
a legitimate business justification, a reason for the choice other than injury to competition. See, e.g.,
FF 175-98, 408-12 (JA ____).
Microsoft does not contend that the district court is forbidden from making that modest
inquiry. See MS Br. 101-02. Such an argument would be untenable, particularly in the software
industry, which involves what Microsoft acknowledged is a uniquely malleable product. MS Br.
85. Software functionalities can almost always be easily repackaged in differing combinations, see
CL at 49, 51 (JA ____); FF 162-63 (JA ____); Microsoft II, 147 F.3d at 951. The affected markets
are also subject to strong network effects, see FF 39 (JA ____); ACT Br. 2-3, which can quickly and
significantly magnify the impact of predatory strategies. The combination of malleability and
network effects gives a software monopolist both the means and a strong incentive to use predatory
product design with devastating effectiveness. Insulating design from antitrust scrutiny would
encourage such predatory strategies and thus distort market-driven design and innovation. For good
reason, then, nothing in antitrust law supports more deference to design claims which are tested
on the evidence than the court gave. See, e.g., Cal. Computer Products, Inc. v. IBM Corp., 613
F.2d 727, 739, 744 (9th Cir. 1979) (subjecting assumed monopolist's design changes to Section 2
scrutiny, but concluding these changes reduced costs and/or improved performance); Northeastern
Tel. Co. v. AT&T Co., 651 F.2d 76, 94-95 & n.29 (2d Cir. 1981) (remanding for new trial in which
antitrust plaintiff may attempt to prove that defendant monopolist's design of protective coupler
violated Sherman Act); IBM Peripheral EDP Devices., 481 F. Supp. at 1007-08 (concluding that
designed degradation of system performance with purpose and effect of precluding competition
would have violated Section 2 if defendant had monopoly power).
- The District Court Correctly Concluded That Microsoft Wrongfully
Excluded Netscape Navigator From The OEM Channel
Microsoft makes two general arguments (MS Br. 102-09) in defending its actions to exclude
Netscape's Navigator Web browser from the OEM distribution channel. First, Microsoft contends
that its restrictive OEM licensing arrangements did not violate Section 2 because the license
agreements "simply restate its rights under federal copyright law." MS Br. 103-07 (capitalization
altered). Second, Microsoft asserts, more generally, that its conduct did not violate Section 2
because it did not completely foreclose Netscape's distribution of Navigator. MS Br. 107-09. Both
arguments are incorrect.
- Copyright Law Does Not Insulate Microsoft's Restrictive OEM
License Provisions From The Antitrust Laws
Microsoft contends that provisions in its license agreements prohibiting OEMs from
modifying Windows in any unauthorized way cannot violate the antitrust laws, even if they serve
no legitimate purpose and instead have the purpose and effect of excluding Netscape from the OEM
distribution channel. Microsoft reasons (i) that these provisions "only restate, and do not enlarge,
Microsoft's rights under copyright law" (MS Br. 103), and (ii) that the exercise of lawfully acquired
rights under copyright law cannot "give rise to antitrust liability" (id. at 106). Both propositions are
wrong.
i. The first proposition fails because Microsoft neither articulated a tenable copyright theory
that supports its asserted defense, nor offered evidence to support such a theory. It had the burden
to do so. See, e.g., Tendler v. Jaffe, 203 F.2d 14, 17 (D.C. Cir. 1953) ("the party asserting an
affirmative defense has the burden of establishing it by the necessary proof"). Section 106 of the
Copyright Act enumerates a copyright owner's "exclusive rights" in copyrighted works. 17 U.S.C.
106. As Microsoft acknowledges, Section 106 authorizes Microsoft to "reproduce its copyrighted
works and prepare derivative works." MS Br. 105, citing 17 U.S.C. 106(1) and (2). Microsoft
necessarily licenses to OEMs the right to reproduce; otherwise, OEMs could not ship Windows
preinstalled on computers. Microsoft must therefore rely on the derivative works right, but minor
modifications to Windows, such as removing the IE icon from the Windows desktop and promoting
Navigator in the boot sequence, plainly do not produce a "derivative work." A derivative work is
"a work based upon one or more preexisting works" that is "an original work of authorship,"
17 U.S.C. 101, and thus copyrightable itself, see 17 U.S.C. 102(a). The classic example is a
screenplay adapted from a novel. But not every alteration to a copyrighted work results in a
derivative work; the variation must be "original" and "substantial."(70)
Perhaps realizing that, Microsoft instead urges this Court to recognize a different and far more
sweeping right that it suggests, without explanation, somehow "derives" from the Copyright Act's
specified "exclusive rights." MS Br. 105. Microsoft argues that copyright law prohibits all
"unauthorized modifications" to its copyrighted works. Id. at 103. But the Supreme Court has made
clear that an "unauthorized use[] of a copyrighted work" is not necessarily infringing "unless it
conflicts with one of the specific exclusive rights conferred by the copyright statute." Sony Corp.
of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417, 447 (1984). As the district court noted,
Microsoft's claimed right is "nowhere mentioned among the Copyright Act's list of exclusive
rights." CL at 40 (JA ____). Microsoft purports to find its claimed right in two copyright
infringement cases that the district court considered and found inapplicable: Gilliam v. ABC, Inc.,
538 F.2d 14 (2d Cir. 1967), and WGN Cont'l Broad. Co. v. United Video, Inc., 693 F.2d 622 (7th
Cir. 1982). See MS Br. 104-05; CL at 40 n.2 (JA ____). But however those cases should be read
(Gilliam pre-dates the 1976 Copyright Act), neither supports the absolute right claimed by
Microsoft.
In Gilliam, the Second Circuit found, on appeal from a denial of a preliminary injunction, that
a broadcaster's extensive editing of a series of "Monty Python" skits could infringe the copyright
holder's rights. 538 F.2d at 23. But the court did "not accept appellants' assertion that any editing
whatsoever would constitute infringement." Id. Rather, the court said that "licensees are entitled
to some small degree of latitude in arranging the licensed work for presentation to the public in a
manner consistent with the licensee's style or standards." Id. The court found likely infringement
there because the unauthorized editing deleted 27% of the program, and therefore amounted to a
"mutilation of [the] work" that deleted "essential elements in the schematic development of a story
line." Id. at 24-25.
In WGN, the Seventh Circuit considered whether a broadcaster's unauthorized retransmission
of a copyrighted news program, without the accompanying teletext, infringed a copyrighted
audiovisual work. 693 F.2d at 628. Citing Gilliam, the court concluded that the deletion and
replacement of that obviously substantial portion of the work resulted in infringement. Id. at 625.
See also Comm. for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 846 F.2d 1485, 1498 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (an author
might have "rights" against the publisher of "an excessively mutilated or altered version") (emphasis
added), aff'd on other grounds, 490 U.S. 730 (1989); Nat'l Bank of Commerce v. Shaklee Corp., 503
F. Supp. 533, 543-44 (W.D. Tex. 1980) (characterizing Gilliam as addressing editing "to such an
extent that the integrity of the original work was impaired").
Assuming the Gilliam line of cases is correct, it does not support Microsoft's claimed right
to prohibit any modification of its software program. Rather, those cases recognize that some
modifications are permissible. As the Supreme Court reiterated in Sony, copyright protection
"reflects a balance of competing claims upon the public interest." 464 U.S. at 431. The court
specifically found that Microsoft did not need to prohibit all OEM modifications to preserve the
integrity of the Windows operating system. See CL at 41 (JA ____); see also FF 221, 223, 226-28
(JA ____). Microsoft itself allows OEMs to make various modifications in response to consumer
demand, and "the OEM modifications that Microsoft prohibits would not compromise the quality
or consistency of Windows any more than the modifications that Microsoft currently permits." FF
221 (JA ____). "Notwithstanding the formal inclusion of these restrictions in the license
agreements, the removal of the [IE] icon and the promotion of Navigator in the boot sequence would
not have compromised Microsoft's creative expression or interfered with its ability to reap the
legitimate value of its ingenuity and investment in developing Windows." FF 228 (JA ____). The
court thus properly held that neither the Copyright Act nor the Gilliam line of cases supports
Microsoft's claimed right under the copyright laws. CL at 40 & n.2 (JA ____).
ii. Microsoft contends that copyright law provides a defense for its OEM license restrictions
that "restate, and do not enlarge" upon what the Copyright Act itself provides. MS Br. 103.
Microsoft offers no copyright defense for any license provision that goes beyond merely describing
the statutory right, for the cases recognize no such defense. See, e.g., United States v. Loew's Inc.,
371 U.S. 38, 45 (1962); United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 131, 156-59 (1948).
But it makes the broad assertion that, "if intellectual property rights have been lawfully acquired . . .
their subsequent exercise cannot give rise to antitrust liability." MS Br. 106. In other words,
Microsoft asserts immunity from antitrust liability when it withholds from an OEM a license to
make the modifications at issue even when the purpose and effect of the withholding are to maintain
Microsoft's monopoly. Microsoft's proffered authority does not say that.
Microsoft purports to derive its defense from In re Independent Service Organizations
Antitrust Litigation, 203 F.3d 1322, 1327-28, 1329 (Fed. Cir.), petition for cert. filed, 69 U.S.L.W.
3087 (July 11, 2000) (No. 00-62), but in that case, the court stated that "[i]ntellectual property rights
do not confer a privilege to violate the antitrust laws." 203 F.3d at 1325. With respect to copyright,
that decision follows Data General Corp. v. Grumman Systems Support Corp., 36 F.3d 1147, 1187
& n.64 (1st Cir. 1994), which held that a unilateral refusal to license a copyright is protected by a
"presumptively valid business justification" that is subject to rebuttal where "imposing antitrust
liability is unlikely to frustrate the objectives of the Copyright Act." See also Image Technical
Servs. v. Eastman Kodak, 125 F.3d 1195 (9th Cir. 1997) (adopting modified version of the Data
General standard). Even if deleting a single icon from Windows 95 or providing users with
additional information in the boot sequence of Windows implicated Microsoft's exclusive right to
create derivative works, imposing antitrust liability on Microsoft for prohibiting these minor
modifications would hardly frustrate the objectives of the Copyright Act. Such actions neither
"compromise[] Microsoft's creative expression" nor interfere with legitimate return for its creativity,
FF 228 (JA ____); Microsoft objects only because they threaten its operating system monopoly.
The other cases Microsoft cites are no more helpful to its defense. Four involve patents, not
copyrights, and thus shed no light on the Copyright Act.(71) The rest illustrate the unilluminating
proposition that not every use of a copyright violates antitrust law and do not respond to the facts
of this case.(72) See FF 209-13 (JA ____).
- Microsoft's Conduct Was Exclusionary Even Though It Did Not
Completely Exclude Navigator From The OEM Distribution
Channel
Microsoft argues that its "OEM license agreements also are unobjectionable because they do
not unduly restrict Netscape's opportunities to distribute Navigator." MS Br. 107. That assertion
cannot be reconciled with the findings of fact. The court found that Microsoft's agreements with
OEMs, which restricted Navigator's distribution and erected obstacles to Navigator's usage, were
not justified by any procompetitive interest and, indeed, were anticompetitive. See CL at 39-41
(citing numerous findings) (JA ____); pp. 16-24, supra (citing evidentiary basis for findings). The
court's findings are overwhelmingly supported by the evidence, and their legal sufficiency to
support Section 2 liability is not undermined by the fact that Netscape could seek new users through
far less efficient and fruitful channels. See CL at 53 (JA ____).
First, the court below applied the correct legal standard. Contrary to Microsoft's suggestions
(MS Br. 107), Section 2 of the Sherman Act does not require the government to show that Microsoft
took actions that completely denied Netscape access to distribution channels for its Web browser.
Section 2 standards require only that the conduct "threatens to have a significant exclusionary
impact" in the relevant market, U.S. Healthcare, Inc. v. Healthsource, Inc., 986 F.2d 589, 598 (1st
Cir. 1993), or reasonably appears "capable of making a significant contribution to the creation,
maintenance, or expansion of monopoly power," 3 Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 650a, at 67 (rev.
1996). The district court could therefore find that Microsoft's campaign was "exclusionary" and
"anticompetitive" without finding that Microsoft completely denied Netscape access to consumers
or even the most preferred channels for distributing its Web browser.
Second, the court correctly applied that standard to the facts. The court assessed the ultimate
effect of Microsoft's campaign in the operating system market, where Microsoft maintained its
monopoly. The court correctly recognized that Microsoft's attempts to exclude Navigator from the
OEM distribution channel were aimed at preventing Netscape from establishing a software platform
that would weaken the applications barrier to entry protecting the Windows monopoly. See pp. 12,
23-24, supra.
Microsoft argues that the OEM license agreements "did not foreclose Netscape's distribution
of Navigator." MS Br. 107 (capitalization altered). That contention does not respond to the correct
legal standard applied by the district court. Microsoft notes that OEMs were permitted to pre-install
Navigator on PCs and that many OEMs did so. MS Br. 107-09 (citing FF 217 (JA ____)). If
Microsoft is simply denying that it blocked Netscape from all OEM distribution, the point is legally
irrelevant. The court below found that Microsoft "largely succeeded in exiling Navigator from the
crucial OEM distribution channel." FF 239 (JA ____). That finding is sufficient to establish that
Microsoft engaged in exclusionary conduct. If Microsoft instead is disputing the district court's
factual finding, its assertion ignores the supporting evidence. Based on an internal Microsoft
document, the court found that in January 1998, "of the sixty OEM sub-channels (fifteen major
OEMs each offering corporate desktop, consumer/small business, notebook, and workstation PCs),
Navigator was being shipped through only four." FF 239 (JA ____), GX 421 at MS7 000680 (JA
____). The evidence also supports the court's finding that "most of the PCs shipped with Navigator
featured the product in a manner much less likely to lead to usage than if its icon appeared on the
desktop." FF 239 (JA ____). And it is usage, not mere distribution, that affects the middleware
threat to Microsoft's monopoly, as Microsoft recognized. See p. 31 & n.51, supra; see also CL at
53-54 (JA ____); FF 359 (JA ____),
Microsoft cannot credibly contest those findings as clearly erroneous. Indeed, Microsoft's
challenge to the district court's finding rests on one ambiguous statement in one document coming
out of the November 1998 AOL-Netscape acquisition: "Estimate client [i.e., the Navigator browser]
on 22% of OEM shipments with minimal promotion." DX 2440 (sealed) at 341778 (quoted portion
unsealed), cited at MS Br. 109. That lone statement could not possibly upset the district court's
determination that Microsoft had effectively exiled Navigator from the OEM channel or that the
foreclosure was enough to achieve the relevant anticompetitive effect of preventing Netscape from
achieving platform status that would threaten the applications barrier to entry. Nothing in the record
explains the source or method of the "[e]stimate" in this anonymous document, which was not
subject to cross-examination. The statement includes all shipments, even those without the desktop
pre-installation that is most likely to lead to usage. See p. 24, supra; see also GX 2116 (sealed) (JA
____). And the statement may be an inaccurate shorthand for the quite different proposition that
OEMs accounting for 22% of PC shipments include Navigator on at least some of their PCs. See
Fisher Tr. 6/04/99 am at 28:5-29:2 (JA ____). In short, that document in no way undermines the
court's findings that, in contrast to IE's 100% presence, Netscape's appearance in the OEM channel
had been reduced to insignificance in terms of securing actual usage and therefore fulfilling its
promise as a middleware threat to Microsoft's operating system monopoly.
As the district court noted, Microsoft did not foreclose every possible means by which
Netscape could distribute Navigator, even within the OEM channel. See MS Br. 107-09 (citing FF
217-18). But the court also determined that those possibilities were of limited significance. See FF
217 ("availability of space for added icons did not make including a Navigator icon inexpensive for
OEMs"; rather, "increas[ing] the amount of Internet-related clutter on the desktop" "increas[es] the
incidence of support calls and product returns"); FF 218 ("click[ing] to invoke an alternate user
interface" results in a "mode of presentation [that] proved to be much less effective than the one
Microsoft foreclosed"; developing effective displays to run before Windows began loading required
programming and related efforts that were "simply not worth the cost"; special button on keyboard
is "extremely costly" and "a less effective form of promotion than automatically advertising
Navigator in the initial boot process") (JA ____). Microsoft's suggestion (MS Br. 108) that the
court was wrong in assessing customer confusion overlooks the trial evidence, which the court, as
factfinder, properly credited. See FF 217 (JA ____); see also FF 159 (JA ____); p. 17 & n.25,
supra. In any event, that challenge misses the point: Because of Microsoft's anticompetitive
conduct, OEMs in fact decided either not to include Navigator at all or not to feature it prominently
on PCs loaded with IE. By contrast, all PCs had IE.
- The District Court Correctly Concluded That Microsoft Wrongfully
Excluded Netscape Navigator From The IAP Channel
Microsoft contends (MS Br. 109-11) that the district court erred in holding it liable under
Section 2 for actions aimed at excluding Navigator from the IAP distribution channel. See CL at
41-42 (JA ____). First, Microsoft argues (MS Br. 109-10) that the court's finding that Microsoft's
exclusive dealing arrangements with IAPs did not violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act precludes
a finding that Microsoft's exclusion of Navigator from the IAP channel violated Section 2. See also
MS Br. 98-99. Second, Microsoft argues (MS Br. 110-11) that the district court erred, as a matter
of fact, in finding that Microsoft had excluded Navigator from the IAP distribution channel. Neither
argument is sound.
- The Court's Section 1 Determination Does Not Preclude A Finding
That Microsoft's Exclusion Of Navigator From The IAP Channel
Violated Section 2
Microsoft incorrectly relies on the district court's rejection of Section 1 liability as a basis for
questioning its Section 2 findings. The court concluded that Microsoft's exclusive dealing contracts
with IAPs (as well as with one OEM, Compaq) were not unlawful under Section 1, construing that
provision to condemn:
only those agreements that have the effect of foreclosing a competing manufacturer's
brands from the relevant market. More specifically, courts are concerned with those
exclusive dealing arrangements that work to place so much of a market's available
distribution outlets in the hands of a single firm as to make it difficult for other firms
to continue to compete effectively, or even to exist, in the relevant market.
CL at 52 (emphasis added) (JA ____). The court found that there was no liability under Section 1
because "the evidence does not support a finding that these agreements completely excluded
Netscape from any constituent portion of the worldwide browser market, the relevant line of
commerce." Id. at 53 (emphasis added) ( JA ___).
The government believes that the court's total-exclusion test demands far more than the law
requires, but it had no occasion to appeal that ruling because the court's Section 2 remedy provides
full relief from the challenged conduct. See p. 5, supra. In any event, even assuming the
correctness of the court's Section 1 ruling, Microsoft's inference that the ruling precludes Section
2 liability does not follow. Microsoft overlooks a fundamental fact: The court's Section 1 ruling
addressed the effects of Microsoft's conduct in the Web browser market, but the Section 2 monopoly
maintenance violation concerns the operating system market.
As in the case of the OEM channel, Microsoft's anticompetitive conduct regarding IAPs had
the effect of preserving Microsoft's monopoly power in the operating systems market. Even if it
did not completely exclude Navigator, Microsoft prevented Navigator from becoming so widely
used as to provide ISVs with a suitable alternative platform to Windows. See CL at 41-42 (JA
____). Microsoft's exclusionary actions in the IAP channel "contributed significantly to preserving
the applications barrier to entry." Id. at 41 (JA ____). The government established that Microsoft's
conduct resulted in unlawful maintenance of Microsoft's Windows monopoly irrespective of
whether Microsoft's conduct was sufficient to establish a restraint of trade in a separate line of
commerce: "the Web browser market." See CL at 53 (JA ____).
- Microsoft's Conduct Was Exclusionary Even Though It Did Not
Completely Exclude Navigator From The IAP Distribution Channel
Microsoft erroneously contests (MS Br. 110-11) the district court's conclusion that
Microsoft's actions, which lacked pro-competitive justification, "successfully ostracized Navigator"
from the IAP channel. See CL at 42 (JA ____), FF 242-310 (JA ____); see pp. 24-28, supra.
Microsoft relies primarily on an anonymous document created at the end of 1998 ("Estimate 24%
share of top 20 ISP's distributions," DX 2440 (sealed) at 341778 (quoted portion unsealed) (JA
____)), and on AOL's contractual right to replace IE with Navigator in early 2001. MS Br. 110.
But the document's percentage figure and AOL's future right to change its practices can establish
only that, after Microsoft dropped some of its restrictions in the spring of 1998 (FF 271 (JA ____)),
Navigator was not totally excluded from the IAP channel. Microsoft also relies on the same 1998
document to show that Navigator was the default browser on "all RBOC [regional Bell operating
companies] and Earthlink distributions." MS Br. 110. But the RBOCs were small-scale IAPs, and
any default status for Netscape on Earthlink before mid-1998 was inconsistent with Microsoft's
agreement with Earthlink, which barred such status until then. See FF 257, 266, 268-69 (JA ____).
More importantly, Microsoft does not contest the district court's extensive findings supporting
its determination that Microsoft "successfully ostracized Navigator as a practical matter" from the
IAP channel. CL at 42 (JA ____); see FF 242-310 (JA ____). Nor does Microsoft challenge the
court's findings that its restrictions "were far broader than they needed to be in order to achieve any
economic efficiency" and that "Microsoft's campaign to seize the IAP channel significantly
hampered the ability of consumers to make their choice of Web browser products based on the
features of those products." FF 247 (JA ____). And Microsoft does not deny that its campaign was
ultimately successful in "protecting the applications barrier to entry" that preserves its operating
systems monopoly. FF 308 (JA ____); see FF 309-10 (describing Microsoft's dramatic increase in
IE usage share) (JA ____). Like its efforts in the OEM distribution channel, Microsoft's
exclusionary efforts in the IAP distribution channel prevented Netscape from eroding the
applications barrier to entry. See FF 377-85 (JA ____). The district court was entirely justified in
concluding that, "whether they are viewed separately or together, the OEM and IAP components
of Microsoft's anticompetitive campaign merit a finding of liability under § 2." CL at 42 (JA ____).
- The District Court Correctly Ruled That Aspects Of Microsoft's Java
Implementation Violated Section 2
Microsoft devotes one paragraph of its brief (MS Br. 111-12) to challenging the court's
conclusion that certain aspects of Microsoft's Java implementation were anticompetitive and
"restricted significantly the ability of other firms to compete on the merits in the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems." CL at 43 (JA ____); see pp. 35-38, supra. In doing so,
Microsoft defends the aspects of its conduct that are defensible but ignores those that are not. The
court did not question that Microsoft was entitled to develop "a high-quality JVM that permitted
cross-platform programs written in 'pure Java' to run faster and with fewer errors" or that Microsoft
was entitled to create "Java development tools that enable ISVs to write either cross-platform Java
programs or Java programs that take advantage of unique features and functionality of Windows."
MS Br. 112.
But the court correctly concluded that Microsoft was not entitled to take actions such as using
"its monopoly power to prevent firms such as Intel from aiding in the creation of cross-platform
interfaces" and "deliberately design[ing] its Java development tools so that developers who were
opting for portability over performance would nevertheless unwittingly write Java applications that
would run only on Windows." CL at 43 (JA ____). The court rightly concluded that such actions
"cannot be described as competition on the merits, and they did not benefit consumers." Id. at 44
(JA ____). The court correctly found that Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive actions "to obstruct
the development of Windows-compatible applications if they would be easy to port to other
platforms and would thus diminish the applications barrier to entry." Id. (JA ____); see FF 386-407
(JA ____).
- The District Court Correctly Based Liability On Microsoft's Course Of
Conduct As A Whole, As Well As On Its Individual Acts
Microsoft asserts that its "conduct taken as a whole did not violate Section 2." MS Br. 112-14
(capitalization altered). In making that argument, Microsoft primarily focuses on its "agreements
with Apple and various ICPs and ISVs," which it says are "not anticompetitive in and of
themselves." Id. at 112. Microsoft contends that the court wrongly held that "conduct not itself
anticompetitive can become unlawful when viewed with other conduct." Id. Microsoft
misunderstands both the court's decision and the controlling law.
The court below correctly concluded that the "full extent" of Microsoft's investment of
"substantial resources to enlist ICPs, ISVs, and Apple in its campaign against the browser threat"
lacked a valid business justification and could "only be explained by Microsoft's desire to protect
the applications barrier to entry from the threat posed by Navigator." CL at 42-43 (JA ____). The
court's conclusion is supported by extensive factual findings, including findings detailing the
specific exclusionary effects of Microsoft's actions. FF 311-56, especially 329-30, 340, 355-56 (JA
____); see pp. 28-32, supra. Microsoft makes no serious effort to show that those findings are
clearly erroneous. See MS Br. 114.
Microsoft mischaracterizes certain actions that supported the court's liability findings as "not
anticompetitive in and of themselves." MS Br. 112. The district court imposed liability only for
anticompetitive conduct that had "significant exclusionary impact." CL at 38 (JA ____). Some of
Microsoft's acts, although anticompetitive in character, failed to have a "significant exclusionary
impact," see, e.g., FF 330, 336 (JA ____), so notwithstanding that those acts were anticompetitive
in character, the court did not find those acts to be independent bases for liability.
Microsoft (MS Br. 112) is also mistaken if it means to suggest that the district court treated
conduct that was "not itself anticompetitive" as unlawful in light of its combination with other
lawful conduct. Microsoft infers that the court did so by referring to Continental Ore Co. v. Union
Carbide & Carbon Co., 370 U.S. 690 (1962). See CL at 44 (JA ____). The district court cited that
case for the unexceptional proposition that "plaintiffs should be given the full benefit of their proof
without tightly compartmentalizing the various factual components and wiping the slate clean after
scrutiny of each," 370 U.S. at 699, and that, when the separate categories of anticompetitive conduct
"are viewed, as they should be, as a single, well-coordinated course of action," they reveal "the full
extent of the violence that Microsoft has done to the competitive process . . . ." CL at 44, citing
Continental Ore.
The district court did not say, or even suggest, that a defendant who "has not engaged in an
unlawful conspiracy, and has committed no acts in themselves violative of the Sherman Act, could
be found guilty of antitrust violations on some theory that the acts have 'synergistic effects' that
convert lawful conduct into violations of law." MS Br. 113, quoting S. Pac. Communications v.
AT&T, 556 F. Supp. 825, 888 (D.D.C. 1982) (emphasis in original), aff'd, 740 F.2d 980 (D.C. Cir.
1984). To the contrary, the court found that Microsoft had committed a number of anticompetitive
acts that, both independently and collectively, violated Section 2. See, e.g., CL at 42-43 ("whether
they are viewed separately or together, the OEM and IAP components of Microsoft's
anticompetitive campaign merit a finding of liability under § 2") (JA ____).
In any event, Microsoft is mistaken if it means to suggest that a series of actions, which
standing alone would not be unlawful, can never, in combination, result in a violation of the
Sherman Act. See, e.g., Swift & Co. v. United States, 196 U.S. 375, 396 (1905). An individual act
that serves no legitimate purpose and is intended to exclude a rival might nevertheless have so
modest an effect on competition as not to violate the Sherman Act. But a coordinated campaign of
such acts that in the aggregate has the requisite impact on the marketplace is unlawful. See City of
Groton v. Conn. Light & Power Co., 662 F.2d 921, 929 (2d Cir. 1981). As a matter of both logic
and sound antitrust law, the market effects of Microsoft's anticompetitive actions should be
considered in their totality. It would be irrational to allow a monopolist to inflict a thousand
anticompetitive cuts, many perhaps causing only small injury in isolation, that collectively
extinguish or disable competition in the relevant market. The Sherman Act does not require courts
to ignore the realities of an anticompetitive course of conduct. See, e.g., City of Anaheim v. S. Cal.
Edison, 955 F.2d 1373, 1376 (9th Cir. 1992) ("it would not be proper to focus on specific individual
acts of an accused monopolist while refusing to consider their overall combined effect").
- Microsoft's Exclusionary Conduct Contributed Significantly To The
Maintenance Of Its Operating Systems Monopoly
Microsoft contends that it cannot properly be found liable for unlawfully maintaining its
operating systems monopoly unless its anticompetitive "'behavior has contributed significantly to
the . . . maintenance of the monopoly.'" MS Br. 115, quoting 3 Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 650c,
at 69 (emphasis added by Microsoft). That treatise makes clear that the difficulties of proving the
relationship between particular exclusionary acts and monopoly power justify presuming a sufficient
causal relationship from conduct that "reasonably appear[s] capable of making a significant
contribution to . . . maintaining monopoly power." 3 Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 651c, at 78. See
also Multistate Legal Studies, Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Legal & Prof'l Publ'ns, Inc., 63
F.3d 1540, 1550 (10th Cir. 1995); Data General, 36 F.3d at 1182. That is just what the district
court found.
1. The court did not find that Microsoft drove existing competitors from the operating system
market. That was not Microsoft's goal. Rather, Microsoft's concern was that "middleware
threatened to demolish Microsoft's coveted monopoly power. Alerted to the threat, Microsoft strove
over a period of approximately four years to prevent middleware technologies from fostering the
development of enough full-featured, cross-platform applications to erode the applications barrier."
CL at 38 (JA ____). The court additionally found that Microsoft's anticompetitive strategy had the
desired effect. "Microsoft's campaign succeeded in preventing for several years, and perhaps
permanently Navigator and Java from fulfilling their potential to open the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems to competition on the merits." CL at 39, citing FF 133, 378 (JA
____). "Microsoft placed an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive fortune, thereby
effectively guaranteeing its continued dominance in the relevant market." CL at 44 (JA ____). It
"has retarded, and perhaps altogether extinguished, the process by which . . . two middleware
technologies could have facilitated the introduction of competition." FF 411 (JA ____). The court
specifically concluded, on the basis of extensive findings of fact, that "Microsoft achieved this result
through exclusionary acts that lacked procompetitive justification." CL at 39 (JA ____); see pp. 18-19, 22-23, 28, 33-34, 36, supra.
Those findings more than suffice to demonstrate causation in a monopoly maintenance case.
Microsoft's campaign to protect the applications barrier to entry "threaten[ed] to defeat or forestall
the corrective forces of competition and thereby sustain or extend the defendant's agglomeration
of power." Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 488 (Scalia, J., dissenting). Such conduct, which
materially increased the likelihood that Microsoft's monopoly power would be preserved,
establishes the necessary contribution to the maintenance of monopoly. See FF 411 (JA ____). And
maintaining this monopoly necessarily generates future harm to consumers, in addition to the harm
they already had experienced through the constriction of their choices. Fisher Tr. 1/7/99 am at 62:1-9, Tr. 1/12/99 am at 28:21-29:18 (consumers often benefit in short run from predatory campaign
with potential for long-run consumer harm) (JA ____).
2. Microsoft incorrectly contends that the government would have had to rely on a
"speculative chain of causation" to prove that Microsoft's actions contributed significantly to the
maintenance of its monopoly. Under Microsoft's view, the government had to show: (1) that
Netscape's Navigator would have developed into a platform capable of exposing enough APIs to
support full-fledged applications; (2) that sufficient ISVs would have by-passed the Windows APIs
to "eliminat[e] the 'applications barrier to entry'"; and (3) that a new market would have developed
for the "low-level" operating systems that would displace Windows. MS Br. 117. Microsoft is
wrong both that the law requires the government to prove those elements and that the government
in this case failed to make the requisite showing of causation.
As a threshold matter, Microsoft's position is anomalous in light of its proven anticompetitive
campaign to eliminate the middleware threat. If Microsoft believed that middleware posed no
competitive threat in the absence of proof that Microsoft's proffered "chain of supposition" would
come to pass and that no such proof existed, then Microsoft's anticompetitive campaign would have
been nothing but a senseless and very costly effort to ward off a chimerical threat. See MS Br. 117-18. But the evidence is overwhelming that Microsoft itself deemed the middleware threat to be
profound. See FF 68-78 (JA ____). Microsoft thus effectively asks this Court to excuse its attacks
on any threat to its monopoly that, although taken seriously by Microsoft itself, is not sufficiently
mature to have already proved itself a success if only left alone. That is not the causation standard
of Section 2. Indeed, such a requirement, if adopted, would encourage monopolists to undermine
competition by preying on nascent competitive threats, before market experience could demonstrate
their seriousness with sufficient certainty.
In any event, Microsoft's proposed causation requirement is unsound at each step. The first
link in Microsoft's posited chain of causation would require that Netscape, by itself, expose the APIs
that would "allow ISVs to write full-fledged applications." MS Br. 117. As to this, Microsoft
observes that "Netscape's Barksdale denied" that Netscape thought Navigator "could supplant
Windows as the leading platform for PC applications." Id. But this argument overlooks that
Netscape could and did make the Java APIs available by distributing Sun's Java runtime
environment with Navigator and thus posed a middleware threat apart from the APIs exposed by
Netscape itself. FF 76 (JA ____). Moreover, even if Barksdale's statement accurately described
the beliefs of Netscape executives, it would be immaterial. Netscape did not need to "supplant
Windows as the leading platform" in order to facilitate competition in the operating systems market.
Netscape's Navigator merely needed to provide a sufficiently attractive and widely used platform
to erode the applications barrier to entry.
Microsoft's second link would require that many ISVs write applications relying entirely on
middleware APIs "without making calls to the underlying operating system." MS Br. 117. That
assertion ignores the significance of partial reliance on middleware APIs, which reduces the cost of
porting applications to other operating systems. As the district court explained:
Java developers need to port their applications only to the extent that those applications
rely directly on the APIs exposed by a particular operating system. The more an
application written in Java relies on APIs exposed by the Java class libraries, the less
work its developer will need to do to port the application to different operating systems.
The easier it is for developers to port their applications to different operating systems,
the more applications will be written for operating systems other than Windows. . . .
The closer Sun gets to this goal of "write once, run anywhere," the more the
applications barrier to entry will erode.
FF 74 (JA ____). In other words, middleware can reduce the applications barrier to entry even if
it does not completely eliminate an ISV's need to make calls to the operating system.
The third link in Microsoft's posited chain is the enticement of new operating system entrants
into a market in which "the principal value of an operating system would have been usurped by the
middleware layer." MS Br. 117. This argument is unsound. If, as the government proved and the
court found, entry barriers would have been lower absent Microsoft's anticompetitive conduct, profit
opportunities for new entrants and existing fringe competitors (like Linux) would have been greater
absent that conduct. In that event, it follows that: new firms would have greater incentives to enter
the market; new and existing firms would be more willing to undertake entrepreneurial and
technological innovation in pursuit of the enhanced profit opportunities; or existing rivals (whose
development costs had already been sunk) would have been able to compete more aggressively.
In short, Microsoft's proposed causation requirement demands far too much. Contrary to
Microsoft's suggestions (MS Br. 117, citing FF 411 (JA ____)), proof of unlawful monopoly
maintenance does not require a showing that, but for the challenged conduct, the monopolist's
power would have been crumbling by the date evidence closed at trial. A threat that is not
immediate can nevertheless be real. Microsoft feared that Navigator would become "an alternative
platform for applications development." FF 72 (JA ____); see also FF 75 (JA ____). The district
court found Microsoft's perceptions of the looming threat to be valid. And it found that the actions
that Microsoft took against Navigator and Java "hobbled a form of innovation that had shown the
potential to depress the applications barrier to entry sufficiently to enable other firms to compete
effectively against Microsoft." FF 411 (JA ____). Microsoft's conduct "retarded, and perhaps
altogether extinguished," the possibility that Navigator and Java would have ignited competition.
Id. When accomplished by anticompetitive means, that is the essence of unlawful monopoly
maintenance.
II. MICROSOFT ATTEMPTED TO MONOPOLIZE THE BROWSER MARKET
The court correctly held that Microsoft unlawfully attempted to monopolize the market for
Web browsers in two ways, each of which is a sufficient basis for the court's judgment. First,
Microsoft proposed to Netscape in June 1995 that the two companies divide up the market in a way
that would have given Microsoft monopoly power in Web browsers. Second, anticompetitive acts
engaged in by Microsoft to maintain its operating system monopoly after Netscape refused that offer
also constituted attempted monopolization of the Web browser market. CL at 45-46 (JA ____).
The offense of attempted monopolization has three elements: (l) predatory or anticompetitive
conduct; (2) a specific intent to monopolize; and (3) a dangerous probability of success in achieving
monopoly power. Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan, 506 US. 447, 456 (1993). The district court
found that each element was satisfied by both the June 1995 proposal and the subsequent predatory
campaign. In so finding, the court applied correct legal standards and drew proper inferences from
the evidence. See Ass'n for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women v. NCAA, 735 F.2d 577, 585-86 &
n.12 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (conduct, intent, and dangerous probability findings are reviewed for clear
error); see also H.J., Inc. v. Int'l Tel. & Tel. Corp., 867 F.2d 1531, 1540-41 (8th Cir. 1989) (these
elements are fact questions).
- Microsoft's Proposal To Netscape In June 1995 Constituted Attempted
Monopolization
l. The district court correctly held that Microsoft's June 1995 proposal to Netscape was
anticompetitive. CL at 45 (JA ____). Microsoft's response is to characterize the proposal as a
routine instance of "technical discussions" between firms making purely complementary software
programs "an operating system vendor and an ISV" and to note that some joint ventures are
procompetitive. MS Br. 118. That response merely sidesteps the district court's findings that
Microsoft's proposal was anticompetitive because it solicited, with sanctions threatened for refusal,
the cessation of competition in the Windows-compatible segment of the browser market by
Microsoft's only significant rival. FF 79-89 (JA ____).
Microsoft sought to reach an agreement with Netscape that would have eliminated competition
between them in browsers. "[W]ith the encouragement and support of Gates, a group of Microsoft
executives commenced a campaign in the summer of 1995 to convince Netscape to halt its
development of platform-level browsing technologies for Windows 95." FF 80 (JA ____). To
induce Netscape "to forswear any platform ambitions," Microsoft made various offers: to work with
Netscape to develop "value-added" software to run on top of Microsoft's platform and to cede to
Netscape the development of Web browsers for the Mac OS, UNIX, and Microsoft's pre-Windows
95 operating systems (or, alternatively, to license Netscape's underlying code for a Microsoft-branded browser to run on those platforms). FF 82-83 (JA ____). In exchange, Netscape would
have to limit its Windows 95 version of Navigator to a "user-interface shell." FF 85 (JA ____).
Microsoft offers no procompetitive business justification for the proposal that its only
significant browser competitor stop competing. If accepted, it would have removed Netscape as
Microsoft's only significant rival over the pace and direction of innovation in platform-level
browsers for the dominant operating system, Windows. See United States v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 743
F.2d 1114, 1118-19 (5th Cir. 1984); see also Palmer v. BRG of Ga., Inc., 498 U.S. 46, 49-50 (1990)
(per curiam) (agreement not to compete is anticompetitive on its face).
2. The district court also properly concluded that Microsoft's proposal showed a specific
intent to monopolize the browser market; indeed, Microsoft does not even dispute that. "Specific
intent" is variously defined as intent "to achieve monopoly power, to accomplish forbidden
monopoly, to acquire power to control price, or to exclude competition." 3A Philip E. Areeda &
Herbert Hovenkamp, Antitrust Law ¶ 805a, at 322-23 (1996) (citing cases). Intent "to control"
competition is enough. Dial A Car, Inc. v. Transp., Inc., 82 F.3d 484, 486 (D.C. Cir. 1996)
(approving findings requiring "intent to destroy or control competition"); see also A.H. Cox & Co.
v. Star Mach. Co., 653 F.2d 1302, 1308 (9th Cir. 1981) (Kennedy, J.) ("intent to control prices or
exclude competition"). The required intent may be established directly or by inference from
defendant's conduct. Spectrum Sports, 506 U.S. at 459; Conoco Inc. v. Inman Oil Co., 774 F.2d
895, 905 (8th Cir. 1985). And parties are presumed to intend the natural consequences of their
actions. CL at 45, quoting 3A Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 805b, at 324 (JA ____).
The district court held that Microsoft demonstrated the requisite specific intent with its
proposal: "Microsoft's effort to convince Netscape to stop developing platform-level browsing
software for the 32-bit versions of Windows was made with full knowledge that Netscape's
acquiescence in this market allocation scheme would, without more, have left Internet Explorer with
such a large share of browser usage as to endow Microsoft with de facto monopoly power in the
browser market." CL at 45, citing FF 79-89 (JA ____). Indeed, Microsoft's proposal is, by its
terms, a direct statement of intent to control the browser platform for Windows 95, i.e., to exercise
power over that product's quality in a critical dimension of its value, and is therefore sufficient to
establish the requisite specific intent to monopolize. See, e.g., Gen. Indus. Corp. v. Hartz Mountain
Corp., 810 F.2d 795, 803 (8th Cir. 1987); William Inglis & Sons Baking Co. v. ITT Cont'l Baking
Co., 668 F.2d 1014, 1028 (9th Cir. 1982); see generally 3A Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 806b, at 328-30.
3. The district court also correctly held that the June 1995 proposal created a dangerous
probability that Microsoft would succeed in monopolizing the browser market. CL at 45-46 (JA
____). The agreement that Microsoft proposed would have deprived Netscape (the only firm with
a significant share of the browser market) of the ability to compete on the basis of innovation in
platform-level browser technologies for Windows 95, leaving Netscape only a "very narrow" space
"between the user and Microsoft's platform domain" in which to innovate. FF 85 (JA ____).
Microsoft would have controlled the fundamental technology for Web browsers running on
Windows 95. FF 80-81, 88 (JA ____). The agreement would thus have given Microsoft control
over the pace and direction of browser technology and severely limited Netscape's ability to
compete with it through innovation. Indeed, the proposal might have led to Netscape's complete
elimination as an independent competitor in the browser market, leaving Microsoft as the only
significant source of Web browsers for the dominant Windows 95 operating system and perhaps for
other systems as well. FF 88 (JA ____). "Netscape's assent to Microsoft's market division proposal
would have, instanter, resulted in Microsoft's attainment of monopoly power in a second market."
CL at 46 (JA ____).
These findings that the direct result of the proposed agreement would have been the very
control over the market that constitutes monopoly power are enough to support the dangerous
probability finding. CL at 46, citing American Airlines, 743 F.2d at 1118-19 (JA ____); accord 3A
Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 806b, at 328-30. American Airlines fully supports the district court's
conclusion. In that case, American Airlines proposed a price increase with Braniff, its only rival,
at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. As the Fifth Circuit concluded, had Braniff accepted American's
proposal, the two airlines by collaborating "would have monopolized the market." American
Airlines, 743 F.2d at 1118. In the same manner, had Netscape accepted Microsoft's offer in June
1995, it would have collaborated with Microsoft and acceded to Microsoft's monopoly control over
the development of browsers compatible with Windows.
Microsoft's arguments to the contrary are unpersuasive. First, Microsoft contends (MS Br.
122) that the district court "simply accepted plaintiffs' unproven allegation of a 'browser' market,"
but that market is amply supported by the court's findings of fact. As the court found, "there is a
consensus in the software industry as to the functionalities that a Web browser offers a user": a
means "to select, retrieve, and perceive resources on the Web. There is also a consensus in the
software industry that these functionalities are distinct from the set of functionalities provided by
an operating system." FF 150 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton ¶ 68, Barksdale ¶ 90, Farber ¶ 11 (JA
____); Tr. 1/6/99 am at 5:3-5 (JA ____); see also FF 154 (JA ____). "Consumer demand for
software functionality that facilitates Web transactions, and the response by browser vendors to that
demand, creates a market for Web browsing functionality." FF 201 (JA ____). There are no other
practical substitutes for browsers from a user's standpoint, and they thus constitute a distinct market,
even if browsers are not now licensed at a positive price. Id. (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 80, Barksdale ¶ 90
(JA ____). Indeed, Microsoft and others measure browser market share and evaluate the merits of
browser products by comparing them to other browsers, not to a wider array of applications or other
software. Barksdale ¶¶ 90-91 (JA ____); GX 673 at MS6 6005881, 334 at MS98 0104679, GX 713,
714 (Microsoft documents reflecting tracking of, and attempts to increase, "browser share") (JA
____). Rather than attack the court's findings as clearly erroneous, Microsoft merely cites the
testimony of its own witness and its proposed findings (MS Br. 122), which the district court
reasonably rejected.
Second, Microsoft criticizes the court's finding that almost all of Netscape's share would have
devolved on Microsoft (MS Br. 123, quoting CL at 45-46), but Microsoft would have monopolized
the market simply by controlling technology and innovation. Microsoft asserts that new entrants
like "Apple, BookLink, IBM or Spyglass" would have deprived Microsoft of control once Netscape
had receded by agreement. MS Br. 123. In light of Microsoft's imminent release of IE to be
distributed with every copy of Windows 95 and its confessed incentive to invest in and promote its
own browser as protection for its Windows franchise, however, the court reasonably found that
"Microsoft quickly would have gained such control over the extensions and standards that network-centric applications (including Web sites) employ as to make it all but impossible for any future
browser rival to lure appreciable developer interest away from Microsoft's platform." FF 89 (JA
____). That finding also suffices to rebut Microsoft's assertion that the government "did not allege,
and the district court did not find, that there are any barriers to entry into the 'browser' market."
MS Br. 123. See also FF 144 (Microsoft relied on studies showing consumer reluctance to switch
browsers) (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 81 (barriers to entry, including network effects, "prevent companies
that might be able to produce a browser from entering the market") (JA ____).
Finally, Microsoft argues that there was no dangerous probability of success because the
Microsoft officials who presented the proposal to Netscape were not "senior executives capable of
binding the company" and that Microsoft's senior management ultimately dropped the effort. MS
Br. 123. But the findings make clear that the Microsoft employees who attended the meetings with
Netscape CEO Barksdale acted with the knowledge and approval of senior management. CEO
Gates gave his "encouragement and support" to the campaign to convince Netscape not to offer
competing platform-level browsing technologies. FF 80 (JA ____); GX 22 (JA ____). Microsoft's
senior executives were well aware of the planned agenda, and received an account of the meeting
just hours after it ended.(73) Gates received reports from Dan Rosen and Thomas Reardon about the
June 21 meeting and made his own assessment that Netscape would not comply with Microsoft's
demands; Rosen's superiors then instructed him to drop the effort to reach agreement. FF 87 (JA
____); GX 535-537, 540 (JA ____). On that record, Gates's decisions to let subordinates present
the proposal and to drop it after concluding that Netscape would not agree are legally immaterial.
There is no reason to doubt that the proposal would have been implemented if Netscape had agreed.
See American Airlines, 743 F.2d at 1118-19.
- Microsoft's Pattern Of Conduct Following Netscape's Failure To
Accept Its Proposal Constituted Attempted Monopolization
1. The evidence of Microsoft's predatory conduct satisfies the anticompetitive conduct
element of attempted monopolization. CL at 45 (JA ____). In so concluding, the court relied on
Microsoft's "well-documented efforts to overwhelm Navigator's browser usage share with a
proliferation of Internet Explorer browsers inextricably attached to Windows," upon which the court
had relied to find Microsoft liable for allegedly maintaining its OS monopoly. Id. (JA ____).
Microsoft did not confine itself to competing on the merits with Netscape because Microsoft
executives knew "that simply developing its own attractive browser product, pricing it at zero, and
promoting it vigorously would not divert enough browser usage from Navigator to neutralize it as
a platform." FF 143, accord FF 134 (quoting Gates), FF 166 (quoting Allchin) (JA ____).
2. Microsoft's efforts to exile Navigator from the most efficient channels of distribution also
evidence the requisite specific intent to monopolize. Microsoft argues (MS Br. 120) that the district
court found that it intended only to prevent Navigator from becoming "the standard software for
browsing the Web" but did not find an intent to monopolize the browser market. To the contrary,
the court expressly found that Microsoft "set out to maximize Internet Explorer's share of browser
usage at Navigator's expense." FF 133 (JA ____); see also FF 378; CL at 45 (JA ____). Moreover,
specific intent to monopolize does not require an intent to destroy rivals completely (see MS Br.
124); it requires only the intent to eliminate competition by anticompetitive means and thereby
create monopoly power. See, e.g., Times-Picayune Publ'g Co. v. United States, 345 U.S. 594, 626
(1953) ("intent to destroy competition or build monopoly").
Microsoft is incorrect (MS Br. 121) that the court erroneously applied a negligence standard
for specific intent. Rather, the court's conclusion that Microsoft officials "knew, or should have
known" that their continued efforts to defeat Netscape would cause a dangerous probability that
Microsoft would monopolize the browser market properly applied Spectrum Sports. See 506 U.S.
at 459 ("'predatory' tactics . . . may be sufficient to prove the necessary intent to monopolize, which
is something more than an intent to compete vigorously"). Although Microsoft might have chosen
lesser means to protect its OS monopoly, it consciously and intentionally chose to engage in conduct
that constituted an attempted monopolization of the browser market. CL at 45 (JA ____). An intent
to acquire monopoly power over browsers is not negated by the fact that the chosen path was also
a means of maintaining the Windows monopoly.
Microsoft knew that "Navigator's slow demise would leave a competitive vacuum for only
Internet Explorer to fill." CL at 45 (JA ____). Microsoft internal documents show that it intended
to enlarge IE's share to far more than 50%, see GX 60 ("We should be after . . . 75% by the end of
FY99"), and Microsoft fully expected to dominate the Web browser market. GX 173 (projecting
88% for new Internet connections for FY99); see also GX 42 (Maritz), 279 and 20 (Gates) (JA
____). Indeed, Microsoft defined the browser war as a contest over who would "win" and fought
to ensure that IE prevailed over Navigator. FF 166 (JA ____). And Microsoft concededly intended
to prevent Netscape from becoming a standard, so that Microsoft would control platform-creating
features of browsers, itself a form of monopoly power. See, e.g., FF 89 (JA ____).
3. The court was correct that Microsoft's course of predatory conduct created a dangerous
probability of Microsoft attaining monopoly power in Web browsers. CL at 46 (JA ____).
Microsoft says (MS Br. 123) that "shares of 50% or less are insufficient to establish a dangerous
probability of monopolization," but the district court found that Microsoft's share of incremental
browser usage was already above 60% in 1998 and that the trend of IE increasing market share at
Netscape's expense "continues unabated." CL at 46 (JA ____); FF 372 (JA ____). See M & M
Med. Supplies & Serv., Inc. v. Pleasant Valley Hosp., Inc., 981 F.2d 160, 168 (4th Cir. 1992)
(greater than 50% share shows dangerous probability of success); see also Multistate Legal Studies,
Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Legal & Prof'l Publ'ns, Inc., 63 F.3d 1540, 1554-55 (10th Cir.
1995) (significant rise in market share during period of predation from insignificant share at outset
can support finding of dangerous probability); 3A Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 807d1, at 354-55
(collecting cases), ¶ 807e2, at 359 & n.70. Microsoft quotes out of context the district court's
finding that "Navigator's installed base will continue to grow" (MS Br. 124, quoting FF 378) and
ignores the court's further conclusion that "[t]he population of browser users is expanding so
quickly that Navigator's installed base has grown even as its usage share has fallen." FF 378
(emphasis added) (JA ____). "Navigator's installed base may continue to grow, but Internet
Explorer's installed base is now larger and growing faster." FF 378 (JA ____).
Microsoft contends that there can be no dangerous probability because there are no barriers
to entry into the browser market. MS Br. 123-24. That premise, however, is belied by the unique
incentive Microsoft has to protect its operating system monopoly by preventing loss of control of
the browser market and by Microsoft's own recognition of the "positive feedback" effects of its
acquiring a dominant browser share. GX 42, 279 (JA ____); see p. 92, supra.
Finally, AOL's purchase of Netscape while the case was in trial (MS Br. 123-24) does not
negate the district court's finding of dangerous probability, which a court determines as of the time
of the conduct. Subsequent events that might lessen the danger, conceivable in almost any market,
are no more a defense when they occur during trial. Taylor Publ'g Co. v. Jostens, Inc., 216 F.3d
465, 475 (5th Cir. 2000), quoting American Airlines, supra ("we do not rely on hindsight but
examine the probability of success at the time the acts occur"); General Industries, 810 F.2d at 807.
The evidence in the record provides no basis to conclude that AOL would substitute Navigator for
IE in the foreseeable future,(74) and Microsoft obviously cannot rely on post-trial developments.
Microsoft's assertion that, after the trial, "AOL announced its intent to replace IE with Navigator
in AOL's proprietary client software" (MS Br. 125) thus counts for nothing, both because it is
legally immaterial and because it has, in fact, come to nothing. Indeed, reflecting the continuing
increase in IE's market share, Microsoft has since then declared that "[t]he browser wars are over."
RX 20 (April 19, 2000 Microsoft job announcement) (JA ____); see also Henderson Decl. ¶ 10 (JA
____); RX 23 (as of April 2000, IE share was at 69%, Navigator down to 19%) (JA ____).
III. MICROSOFT VIOLATED SECTION 1 OF THE SHERMAN ACT BY TYING
INTERNET EXPLORER TO WINDOWS
The district court correctly ruled that Microsoft's efforts to prevent OEMs and consumers
from obtaining a "browserless" version of Windows resulted in an unlawful tie of Windows and IE
under Section 1. CL at 47-51 (JA ____). The conduct at issue, which provided part of the basis for
the court's finding that Microsoft had violated Section 2 by unlawfully maintaining its operating
systems monopoly, also provides a basis for Section 1 tying liability.
"A tying arrangement is 'an agreement by a party to sell one product but only on the condition
that the buyer also purchases a different (or tied) product.'" Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical
Servs., Inc., 504 U.S. 451, 461 (1992), quoting N. Pac. R. Co. v. United States, 356 U.S. 1, 5-6
(1958). Section 1 prohibits such arrangements if: (1) there are two separate products, (2) the
defendant has market power in the tying product, (3) there is an agreement by a party to sell one of
the products only on the condition that the buyer also buy a different product (or refrain from
acquiring the other product from a competitor), and (4) the arrangement affects a "substantial
volume of interstate commerce" in the tied product. Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 461-62; see Foster
v. Maryland State Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 590 F.2d 928, 931 (D.C. Cir. 1978); Multistate Legal Studies,
Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Legal & Prof'l Publ'ns, Inc., 63 F.3d 1540, 1546 (10th Cir.
1995). The district court found that Microsoft's tying of Windows and IE satisfied all four elements
of the Supreme Court's test. CL 47-51 (JA ____). Microsoft disputes only the first element of that
test, the "separate products" requirement.
The court below concluded that Microsoft Windows and IE were separate products under the
Supreme Court's decision in Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde, 466 U.S. 2 (1984).
CL at 50-51 (JA ____). The court recognized, however, that a panel of this Court had employed
a seemingly different test for determining whether products are technologically "integrated" in a
prior consent decree proceeding involving Microsoft. See United States v. Microsoft Corp., 147
F.3d 935 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (Microsoft II). The district court acknowledged that the Jefferson Parish
approach that it followed "is arguably at variance" with the analytical approach of the Microsoft II
panel, but the court also noted that Microsoft II interpreted a consent decree, rather than Section 1
of the Sherman Act, and is "thus not formally binding" in this case. CL at 47-48 (JA ____). The
district court concluded that it was "bound to follow [the Supreme Court's] guidance and not at
liberty to extrapolate a new rule governing the tying of software products." Id. at 51 (JA ____).
Microsoft contends (MS Br. 69-70, 70-71) that the district court erred by relying on the
Jefferson Parish test, rather than the "integrated products" rationale set out in Microsoft II, in
determining whether Windows and IE are a "single product." Microsoft is mistaken. The district
court followed the proper course in applying the conventional Jefferson Parish test and correctly
concluded that Windows and IE are separate products. Furthermore, the same result would obtain
if the Microsoft II "integrated products" rationale were applied to the court's factual findings in this
case. Finally, Microsoft is mistaken in its additional and separate contention that the tie "did not
foreclose competition in the browser market." MS Br. 69, 80-83.
- Microsoft Is Liable Under The Supreme Court's Tying Decisions
1. For purposes of tying analysis, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled "that the answer
to the question whether one or two products is involved turns not on the functional relation between
them, but rather on the character of the demand for the two items." Jefferson Parish, 466 U.S. at
19. The Court has focused on whether there is separate demand for the two items because the
prohibition on tying is concerned with foreclosure of competition on the merits in the tied product,
which can occur only if there can be such competition separate from competition in the tying
product. Id. at 12-14, 19-22. The Supreme Court has accordingly condemned tying arrangements
that link distinct markets that are "distinguishable in the eyes of buyers." Id. at 19, citing
Times-Picayune Publ'g Co. v. United States, 345 U.S. 594 (1953).
The Jefferson Parish test inquires whether "there is a sufficient demand for the purchase of
[the tied product] separate from [the tying product] to identify a distinct product market in which
it is efficient to offer" the two products "separately." 466 U.S. at 21-22; accord Eastman Kodak,
504 U.S. at 462 ("sufficient consumer demand so that it is efficient for a firm to provide" them
separately). This test requires the court to ask whether a supplier in a competitive market would
provide the products separately, thus distinguishing situations in which the refusal to supply them
separately is efficient from situations in which the refusal might be profitable only because of its
adverse effect on competition. See, e.g., Eastman Kodak, 504 U.S. at 462-63; Jefferson Parish, 466
U.S. at 21-22.
2. Applying Jefferson Parish, the court held that Windows and IE are separate products. CL
at 48-49, 50-51 (JA ____). "[T]he commercial reality is that consumers today perceive operating
systems and browsers as separate 'products' for which there is separate demand." Id. at 49, citing
FF 149-54. "This is true notwithstanding the fact that the software code supplying their discrete
functionalities can be commingled in virtually infinite combinations, rendering each
indistinguishable from the whole in terms of files of code or other taxonomy." Id., citing FF 149-50, 162-63, 187-91. In comparing "the 'character of demand' for the two products, as opposed to
their 'functional relation,'" Jefferson Parish, 466 U.S. at 19, the court found that:
Web browsers and operating systems are "distinguishable in the eyes of buyers." Id.;
Findings ¶¶ 149-54. Consumers often base their choice of which browser should reside
on their operating system on their individual demand for the specific functionalities or
characteristics of a particular browser, separate and apart from the functionalities
afforded by the operating system itself. Id. ¶¶ 149-51. Moreover, the behavior of other,
lesser software vendors confirms that it is certainly efficient to provide an operating
system and browser separately, or at least in separable form. Id. ¶ 153. Microsoft is
the only firm to refuse to license its operating system without a browser. Id.
CL at 50-51 (JA ____); see p. 23 n.40 supra. The court specifically concluded that "Microsoft's
decision to offer only the bundled 'integrated' version of Windows and Internet Explorer
derived not from technical necessity or business efficiencies; rather, it was the result of a deliberate
and purposeful choice to quell incipient competition before it reached truly minatory proportions."
Id. at 51 (JA ____) (emphasis added).
3. Microsoft does not contend that the district court committed any error in applying the
Jefferson Parish test to the facts of this case. Rather, Microsoft argues that the court should have
applied the "integrated products" standard set out in Microsoft II. MS Br. 70-71. The court,
however, was fully justified in relying on the Jefferson Parish test in analyzing the tying claim.
First, the Jefferson Parish test reflects the Supreme Court's authoritative guidance on how to
apply Section 1 to tying arrangements. The Supreme Court spoke clearly in Jefferson Parish, and
the district court "was bound to follow its guidance," CL at 51 (JA ____), unless and until that Court
concludes that a different standard is more appropriate in particular circumstances. See, e.g.,
Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484 (1989). This Court,
sitting en banc, is also obligated to follow Jefferson Parish, but it is not obligated to follow
Microsoft II. See, e.g., LaShawn v. Barry, 87 F.3d 1389, 1395 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (en banc).
Second, the Microsoft II decision did not provide direct guidance on how to apply Section 1
to tying arrangements. As noted above, that case was an appeal from a preliminary injunction in
a contempt case that involved construction of a consent decree, and the panel's task was to "discern
the bargain that the parties struck." 147 F.3d at 946. The panel stated that "[t]he antitrust question
is of course distinct" and "[t]he parties agree that the consent decree does not bar a challenge under
the Sherman Act." Id. at 950 n.14. Thus, even if Windows and IE were one product under the
consent decree's integration test, the Microsoft II majority recognized that the question whether they
are also one product for purposes of a Section 1 tying violation would remain to be determined in
an antitrust case. See Lessig Br. 10-12 (concluding that there is "no reason to read an opinion
interpreting a consent decree as interpreting the contours of antitrust law") (JA ____).
Third, the Microsoft II decision would have only limited application here, in any event, in
light of the important differences between the products at issue in Microsoft II and the products at
issue in this case. The dispute in Microsoft II centered on whether Microsoft's bundling of
particular combinations of Windows and IE specifically, the combinations of Windows 95 with
IE3 and IE4 were "integrated products" for purposes of the consent decree. See 147 F.3d at 940.
The test the Court articulated rested on the existence of some "physical or technological
interlinkage." See id. at 949, quoting 10 Phillip E. Areeda et al., Antitrust Law ¶ 1746b, at
227 (1996).
Importantly, however, this case also involves Microsoft's tying of IE1 and IE2 to Windows,
and neither of those products involved such linkage. Indeed, the court below found that IE1 "was
a separable, executable program supplied on a separate disk." FF 175 (JA ____). Microsoft has
never argued that IE1 or IE2 was any more "integrated" with Windows than is any other Microsoft
application, such as Word, Excel, or Flight Simulator or, for that matter, any non-Microsoft
applications, such as Corel's WordPerfect 8, designed to run on the Windows operating system.
Microsoft urges this Court to follow the Microsoft II analysis, but ignores the district court's
conclusion that Microsoft had unlawfully tied those early versions of IE to Windows. See CL at 50
(JA ____); FF 158-60 (JA ____). That conclusion is important because this case involves a single
tying claim. Whatever the implications of Microsoft II for the versions of Windows and IE that are
physically linked, it provides no basis to reverse the district court's determination that Microsoft
unlawfully tied IE1 and IE2.
- Microsoft Is Liable Under The Microsoft II Rationale For Distinguishing
Integrated Products
The district court's holding is correct even under Microsoft II's analytical framework.
Microsoft's reliance on Microsoft II's "integrated product" test overlooks two important
considerations: (1) the court condemned tying and not integrated design, and (2) the principles
articulated in Microsoft II must be applied in light of the facts the court found in this case.
- The District Court Condemned Tying, Not Integrated Design
Microsoft characterizes the court's decision as imposing Section 1 liability on the basis of the
company's "integrated design of Windows," i.e., the inclusion in Windows of "'system services not
directly related to Web browsing'" that enhance "'the functionality of a wide variety of
applications.'" MS Br. 74, quoting Microsoft II, 147 F.3d at 950-51. That characterization is
inaccurate. The district court did not condemn Microsoft for innovation in operating systems or
Web browsers, for integrated design, or for providing any other benefit to computer users. See pp.
65-68, supra. The antitrust wrong was not that Microsoft added capabilities to Windows, but rather
that its actions "forced Microsoft's customers and consumers to take Internet Explorer as a condition
of obtaining Windows." CL at 47 (JA ____).
The district court drew a sharp contrast between the consumer benefits of "Microsoft's
provision of Web browsing functionality with its Windows operating system at no additional
charge" and the lack of consumer benefits attributable to "Microsoft's refusal to offer a version of
Windows 95 or Windows 98 without Internet Explorer." FF 186 (JA ____). The court correctly
discerned that there was no reason why Microsoft could not provide a "browserless" version of
Windows. FF 187 (JA ____). It found Microsoft's contention that removing the browser would
cripple Windows' non-browser functionality to be contrary to the evidence. FF 181-83 (JA ____).
Rather, as the court determined, Microsoft could provide a version of Windows without IE, which
would give users all of the non-browsing features that Windows with IE provides without including
browsing functionality, by simply removing the user access to browser functionality while retaining
whatever code is necessary to enhance the functionality of other applications. See FF 165, 184 (JA
____). Compare Microsoft II, 147 F.3d at 951. Indeed, the district court found (FF 177-88 (JA
____); pp. 22-23, supra) that Microsoft could have distributed "a browserless Windows" that
nevertheless provided each of the specific benefits Microsoft's quotation from this Court's earlier
discussion of Windows 95 ascribes to the "integrated design," as well as the other benefits Microsoft
claims for it, see MS Br. 74-75, quoting Microsoft II, 147 F.3d at 950-51.
Microsoft focuses on computer code in determining whether Windows and IE are separate
products. MS Br. 77-80. The district court found, to the contrary, that consumers approach
software products on the basis of functionalities provided to the user, and not of the specific design
or implementation of software code. FF 149 (JA ____). A Web browser "provides the ability for
the end user to select, retrieve, and perceive resources on the Web" and is thus distinguished from
an operating system, which provides a different set of functionalities. FF 150 (JA ____). But the
"software code supplying their discrete functionalities can be commingled in virtually infinite
combinations, rendering each indistinguishable from the whole in terms of files of code or any other
taxonomy." CL at 49 (JA ____); see also FF 162-63 (JA ____). Indeed, IE, like many other
applications, shares code with and updates software files in Windows when it is installed. See, e.g.,
Felten ¶ 61 (JA ____); Weadock Tr. 11/17/98 am at 25:15-26:10 (JA ____).
This important distinction between functionality and code answers Microsoft's complaint
that the government has not identified the "software code" that constitutes the "'tied' product." See
MS Br. 79. A "browserless Windows" is Windows with no accessible browsing functionality,
regardless of how that is accomplished. Adding or removing the means of user access to a given
function, by whatever means, amounts to adding or removing the software product. FF 165 (JA
____); see also FF 183-85 (JA ____); Felten Tr. 12/14/98 am at 33:5-15 (JA ____); Weadock ¶¶ 18-19 (JA ____). Microsoft itself claimed that "IE Uninstalls Easily" using the Add/Remove feature
provided in Windows 95, even though most of the IE code remains afterward. See FF 165 (JA
____); GX 352 (JA ____).(75) Similarly, as Professor Lessig has pointed out in a brief Microsoft cites
to this Court (MS Br. 74), operating systems ordinarily "erase" or "delete" files by removing them
"from the drive's file listing," leaving their content in place but hidden "from the ordinary ways a
user gets access to a file"; the "ordinary meaning of 'deleting' or 'erasing' a file therefore is simply
to make it inaccessible." Lessig Br. 21 (JA ____).
- Windows and IE Would Be Considered Separate Products If Microsoft II
Were Applied To The Facts Of This Case
Applied to the facts of this case, Microsoft II's "integration" test leads to the same conclusion
that obtains under Jefferson Parish: Windows and IE are separate products.
a. Microsoft does not dispute that the Jefferson Parish test and the Microsoft II test would
lead to the same result in the case of products that are not physically or technologically interlinked,
such as the tie of IE1 and IE2 to Windows. Furthermore, even in the class of physically or
technologically interlinked items, those items that Jefferson Parish would treat as "one product"
would be "one product" under the Microsoft II test. The possibility of different results under the
two tests, therefore, is limited to those physically or technologically linked items that Jefferson
Parish would treat as separate products but Microsoft II would not. But even that difference is
limited because the Jefferson Parish test itself takes into account technological (and other) benefits
of joint provision of two items. That test looks, not just to the existence of separate demand, but
also to the efficiency of separately providing the two products. See 466 U.S. at 21-22. Accordingly,
the Jefferson Parish test, like the Microsoft II test, would take account of technological benefits that
would be lost by separate provision in determining whether the item in question is one product or
two. See Microsoft II, 147 F.3d at 949 (technological commingling of two items treated as one
product only if the "integrated design offers benefits when compared to a purchaser's combination
of corresponding stand-alone functionalities").
The most striking difference between Jefferson Parish and Microsoft II is that Microsoft II
can be read to suggest that a defendant can establish that two products have been "integrated"
merely by "ascribing facially plausible benefits to its integrated design." Id. at 950; see MS Br. 71.
We do not understand the Microsoft II majority to mean, however, that courts should ignore
evidence, presented in the course of a Section 1 trial, that demonstrates the absence of actual
benefits that would "justify a product's bridging of two formerly separate markets." 147 F.3d at 959
(Wald, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). Microsoft II was decided in the context of a
preliminary injunction and on the basis of a "limited record" that provided only partial information
about Windows 95 and later versions of IE; Windows 98 was not before the Court. See 147 F.3d
at 950 & n.15. The panel was properly reluctant to decide definitively the benefits of integration
in that context. But it expressly contemplated assessment of actual evidence: It left the "ultimate
sorting out of any factual disputes" to the lower court, id. at 951 n.15, and recognized that its
conclusion about integration might require "reexamination on a more complete record," id. at 952.
The Microsoft II test thus departs from Jefferson Parish only insofar as it focuses the "separate
product" inquiry on whether there is some "technological value to integration" that makes it "better
in some respect" than leaving the purchaser to "combine the separate products on his own." Id. at
949. "The question is not whether the integration is a net plus," id. at 950, or whether, in Jefferson
Parish terms, it is "efficient"; the question is only whether there is some "technological value to
integration." Adding different functionalities into a bundle can always be said to have some value,
such as reduced distribution or transaction costs. But importantly, Microsoft II made clear that it
is not enough merely to "bolt" two products together. Id. at 949. The test requires that the
integrated design add "some technological value," compared to a purchaser's combination of
separate products. Id. See generally Hollaar Br. 7-12 (discussing technological and non-technological benefits of combining computer programs).
b. Windows and IE are separate products under this integration test. Microsoft has bound
together Windows 98 and IE in a way that gives the user no option but to take IE, yet provides no
technological benefits. CL at 51 (JA ____). The court specifically found that "there is no technical
justification for Microsoft's refusal to meet consumer demand for a browserless version of Windows
98." FF 177 (JA ____). Microsoft could offer all the non-browsing features of Windows 98
without including web browsing functionality. Id. (JA ____); see Felten ¶ 66 (JA ____); Felten Tr.
6/10/99 am at 9:4-12 (JA ____). "No consumer benefit can be ascribed . . . to Microsoft's refusal
to offer a version of . . . Windows 98 without Internet Explorer." FF 186 (JA ____). Because
Microsoft's binding of IE to Windows served only an anticompetitive purpose, see FF 155-74 (JA
____), Microsoft did "nothing more than to metaphorically 'bolt' two products together." Microsoft
II, 147 F.3d at 949. That bolting provides no significant benefits compared to making available a
version of Windows 98 with the browser uninstalled in addition to the version with IE, or providing
the browser separately to be combined with Windows by PC manufacturers or end users. FF 177,
186, 191 (JA ____); Felten ¶ 66 (JA ____); Felten Tr. 6/10/99 am at 9:4-12, Allchin Tr. 2/1/99 pm
at 37:9-25, 39:4-24, 41:9-14, 45:9-25 (JA ____).
The illegality of the tie of Windows 95 and IE follows a fortiori from the illegality of the
Windows 98-IE tie. In Windows 95, Microsoft actually provided, and permitted consumers to use,
an Add/Remove function that effectively removed IE. FF 165 (JA ____). Microsoft's action
indicates that there was no technological benefit to requiring customers to take IE along with
Windows, for otherwise Microsoft would not have made it easy for users to remove it. Moreover,
to the extent that IE3 commingled code with Windows 95, the "primary motivation" "was to ensure
that the deletion of any file containing browsing-specific routines would also delete vital operating
system routines and thus cripple Windows 95." FF 164 (JA ____); see Microsoft II, 147 F.3d at 949
n.12 ("commingling of code" alone is not sufficient evidence of "true integration"; "[c]ommingling
for an anticompetitive purpose (or for no purpose at all) is what we refer to as 'bolting'"). No
technological benefits of this commingling appear in the record, and Microsoft identifies none in
its brief.
- Microsoft's Tying Had Significant Competitive Consequences
Microsoft argues that its tying, whatever the label, should be found lawful because its
competitive consequences "are not those to which the tying prohibition is addressed." MS Br. 80.
But the central purpose of tying law is to protect competition in the tied product by preventing the
forced taking of the defendant's product so as to curtail the opportunities of independent sellers of
the tied product. See Jefferson Parish, 466 U.S. at 12, 21. Here, as the district court summarized,
Microsoft's unlawful tying "caused Navigator's usage share to drop substantially from 1995 to
1998," and "Microsoft's refusal to offer Internet Explorer separately from Windows" achieved
"foreclosure." CL at 49 (JA ____). Microsoft's attempts to minimize those competitive effects are
insubstantial.
Microsoft points out that it did not charge OEMs a separately stated price for IE. MS Br. 80.
But that fact cannot be determinative of whether IE and Windows are tied, for otherwise a seller
rigidly insisting on selling the tied and tying products together could often circumvent tying law
simply by charging a single price for the bundle, even though the insistence would be "actively
harmful" to the aims of tying law. Microsoft II, 147 F.3d at 948. Thus, tying law does not permit
a seller to transform two products into one merely by combining line items on an invoice. See
Multistate Legal Studies, 63 F.3d at 1548 ("Where the price of a bundled product reflects any of the
cost of the tied product, customers are purchasing the tied product, even if it is touted as being
free"); 3A Areeda & Hovenkamp ¶ 760b6, at 51 ("the tie may be . . . more subtle, as when a
machine is sold or leased at a price that covers 'free' servicing"). See also CL at 50 (JA ____).
Microsoft observes that Windows is not designed to be "incompatible" with Navigator. MS
Br. 82. That assertion, even if true, is irrelevant. There is no requirement in tying law that
purchasers in a tying arrangement be unable to use competitors' versions of the tied product.
Microsoft may have utilized a subtler strategy than technological sabotage to force customers to take
IE with Windows, but that does not make Microsoft's conduct any less a tie. In any event,
Microsoft made it likely that "using Navigator on Windows 98 would have unpleasant consequences
for users." FF 172 (JA ____). Microsoft challenges neither that finding nor the related finding that
"Windows 98 override[s] the user's choice of default browser in certain circumstances." FF 171
(JA ____). It merely tries to put a better face on such findings. See MS Br. 82-83.
Finally, Microsoft argues that its tying arrangement did not prevent Netscape from getting
Navigator into the hands of consumers. MS Br. 83, citing Roy B. Taylor Sales, Inc. v. Hollymatic
Corp., 28 F.3d 1379, 1383 (5th Cir. 1994) (noting that, where "only dealers are subject to a tie,
competitors do not lose a segment of the tied market if there are genuine available paths to
consumers") (footnote omitted). Microsoft ignores the relevant part of that case, which supports
the district court's decision here. The defendant, Hollymatic, sold machines for making hamburger
patties to its dealer, Taylor. Hollymatic also required Taylor to buy Hollymatic's patty paper. But
Taylor's customers were free to buy Hollymatic machines from Taylor while buying patty paper
elsewhere. Id. at 1383. Reasoning that such ties "create relatively little danger to competition,
provided consumers may purchase the two goods separately," the court applied rule of reason
analysis to the requirement. Id. (footnote omitted). Critically, however, the court added in a
footnote, which Microsoft omits, that when a tie at the distributor level results in consumer purchase
of the items together, there is foreclosure at the consumer level. Id. at 1383 n.23.
This case fits the Hollymatic footnote. Microsoft quotes the district court's finding that
Netscape had "access to every PC user worldwide" (MS Br. 83), without noting the part of the same
sentence referring to Microsoft's preemption of "the most efficient channels of distribution." CL
at 53 (JA ____); see pp. 31-32, supra. By contractual provision and technological artifice,
Microsoft ensured that its tied sales to OEMs resulted in tied sales by the OEMs to consumers.
Indeed, that was the point of the tie. As the district court explained, "Microsoft has never allowed
OEMs to ship Windows 95 to consumers without [IE]" and has even barred OEMs from using the
very features Microsoft allowed consumers to use to uninstall IE from Windows 95. FF 158, 176
(JA ____). Microsoft "knew that the inability to remove [IE] made OEMs less disposed to
pre-install Navigator onto Windows 95." FF 159 (JA ____).
Similarly, Microsoft refused to license Windows 98 to OEMs unless they
also agreed to abstain from removing the icons for [IE] from the desktop.
[FF] 213. Consumers were also effectively compelled to purchase [IE]
along with Windows 98 by Microsoft's decision to stop including [IE] on
the list of programs subject to the Add/Remove function and by its decision
not to respect their selection of another browser as their default. [FF]
170-72.
CL at 50 (JA ____). Microsoft's efforts were not wasted: Consumers cannot buy Windows without
IE. The intended anticompetitive effect did occur.
IV. THE DISTRICT COURT DID NOT COMMIT REVERSIBLE ERROR IN THE
SCHEDULING OR CONDUCT OF THE PROCEEDINGS ON LIABILITY
Microsoft argues that the district court erred in various scheduling, procedural, and evidentiary
rulings. MS Br. 64, 67, 141-45. To the contrary, the court properly exercised its broad discretion
to provide a fair and expeditious resolution of this case.
- The District Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion In Managing Its Docket
Microsoft argues (MS Br. 67, 142-44) that the district court committed reversible error in
allowing five months for pre-trial preparation. Microsoft bears a "heavy burden" in making this
argument, In re Fine Paper Antitrust Litig., 685 F.2d 810, 817 (3d Cir. 1982), because a "trial court
is endowed with great discretion to make decisions concerning trial schedules," United States v.
Taylor, 487 U.S. 326, 343 (1988).
An appellate court will not interfere with a trial court's control of its docket "except upon the clearest
showing that the procedures have resulted in actual and substantial prejudice to the
complaining litigant." Similarly, [it] will not upset a district court's conduct of
discovery procedures absent "a demonstration that the court's action made it impossible
to obtain crucial evidence . . . ."
Fine Paper, 685 F.2d at 817-18 (internal citations omitted); see Berry v. District of Columbia, 833
F.2d 1031, 1037 n.24 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (discretion in managing docket); Carey Can., Inc. v.
Columbia Cas. Co., 940 F.2d 1548, 1559 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (discretion in discovery and evidentiary
rulings). Microsoft does not come close to meeting this standard.
Civil litigation is meant to be "just, speedy, and inexpensive." Fed. R. Civ. P. 1 (emphasis
added). As Microsoft recognizes (MS Br. 142), the district court was determined to avoid the delay
that dogged prior Section 2 cases against IBM and AT&T. That objective was more than "perhaps"
laudable (id.) it was essential. Microsoft itself emphasizes that the computer industry is subject
to "rapid technological change" and "dramatic improvements" that "regularly alter the entire
competitive landscape." Id. at 16 (capitalization altered). Courts routinely expedite matters in light
of the public interest involved, and a five-month trial preparation time was reasonable (and hardly
"a 100-yard dash," id. at 142) especially in light of Microsoft's extraordinary resources, its unique
knowledge of the subject matter of the suit, and the government's heavy reliance on Microsoft's
own documents and statements. Indeed, early in the case, Microsoft agreed to a prompt trial date.
See Tr. 8/6/98 at 11:22-12:2 (JA ____). Thereafter, the court accommodated reasonable requests
to postpone the trial three times, by a total of six weeks each time in response to jointly stipulated
proposed scheduling orders.(76) The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Microsoft's
final request for a two-week delay in light of the company's failure to demonstrate a need for further
delay. See Order (Oct. 14, 1998) (JA ____); Pls.' Opp'n To MS's Mot. For Continuance (Oct. 13,
1998) (JA ____); Tevanian Dep. (Oct.19, 1998 ), Gosling Dep. (Oct. 30, 1998 & Nov. 6, 1998)
(depositions taken after receiving direct trial testimony) (JA ____).
There is no merit to Microsoft's contention that the government "dramatically expanded" (MS
Br. 142) its case following Microsoft's initial acquiescence in the trial schedule. The complaint and
other documents clearly put Microsoft on notice, at the outset, of the government's central claim of
monopoly maintenance. See, e.g., US Compl. ¶¶ 4-5, 13, 36, 37, 138-39 (JA ____); Mem. In Supp.
Of Mot. For Prelim. Inj. at 4-5 (May 18, 1998) (PI Memo) (JA ____). That claim has remained the
core of the government's case throughout these proceedings. See United States v. Microsoft Corp.,
1998-2 Trade Cas. (CCH) ¶ 72,261 (D.D.C. 1998) (denying Microsoft's summary judgment
motion); CL at 35-44 (JA ____). All the evidence that Microsoft claims "dramatically expanded"
the case relates to that claim. To be sure, the district court did permit the government to discover
and present additional evidence not specifically mentioned in the complaint, but that was entirely
proper. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 requires only a "short and plain statement," not a listing
of all of a plaintiff's evidence. Caribbean Broad. Sys., Ltd. v. Cable & Wireless PLC, 148 F.3d
1080, 1085-86 (D.C. Cir. 1998); Atchinson v. District of Columbia, 73 F.3d 418, 421-22 (D.C. Cir.
1996).
Microsoft was not prejudiced by the introduction of additional evidence not specifically
enumerated in the complaints. Contrary to its contentions (MS Br. 143), Microsoft had sufficient
opportunity to obtain and, in fact, did obtain extensive discovery. The district court did not limit
the number of depositions Microsoft could take or interrogatories it could serve. Pretrial Order
No. 1, ¶¶ 2-3 (June 12, 1998) (JA ____). The court granted Microsoft's requests for leave to
conduct additional depositions after discovery had ended (Order at 1-2 (Oct. 14, 1998) (JA ____);
Tr. 10/28/98 am at 13:25-14:7 (JA ____)), and to take extensive additional document discovery and
four more depositions including that of Steve Case, AOL's chairman and CEO in mid-trial after
AOL acquired Netscape.(77) Even with respect to the allegations it says were "expanded," Microsoft
had sufficient notice of, and obtained all of the discovery it needed to prepare its defenses to,
additional evidence concerning Java,(78) Intel,(79) Apple,(80) RealNetworks,(81) and IBM.(82) Microsoft has
not shown any prejudice let alone "actual and substantial" prejudice from the discovery
schedule. Critically, Microsoft never identified to the district court any specific additional
depositions or document discovery it needed but was unable to complete before trial; now, on
appeal, it simply asserts that, if it had more time, it would have conducted more discovery.
Microsoft also objects (MS Br. 143) to the district court's decision to limit each side to twelve
witnesses in the opening phase of the trial, and three in the rebuttal phase. But Microsoft agreed
to the twelve-witness limit for each side's case-in-chief. See Tr. 12/2/98 am at 11:3-4 (the court
stating, "Keep in mind that both sides agreed to the number of witnesses") (JA ____); Pretrial Order
No. 1, ¶ 11 (June 12, 1998) (establishing limit) (JA ____); see also Manual for Complex
Litigation (Third) § 21.643 (1995) (recommending limiting the number of witnesses). Moreover,
the district court repeatedly made clear its willingness to consider any proposals for additional
witnesses via live testimony, video deposition, or written direct testimony,(83) but Microsoft never
requested additional witnesses during trial. In addition, Microsoft took full advantage of the court's
use of written direct trial testimony by submitting testimony longer and more detailed than
Microsoft could reasonably have expected to adduce in live direct testimony.(84)
- The District Court Did Not Rely On Inadmissible Hearsay In Making Any
Essential Finding Of Fact
Microsoft incorrectly contends that the district court impermissibly admitted certain hearsay
evidence, MS Br. 144-45. District court evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion and
are not reversed unless manifestly erroneous. Gen. Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 141-42
(1997). The standard of review is at its most deferential in bench trials because judges are skilled
at assessing the reliability of evidence. Accordingly, a district judge has broad discretion to admit
hearsay. See Pan Am. World Airways, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 505 F.2d 989, 996 (2d Cir.
1974); see also Harris v. Rivera, 454 U.S. 339, 346 (1981) ("In bench trials, judges routinely hear
inadmissible evidence that they are presumed to ignore when making decisions.").
Furthermore, Microsoft must show that it has been substantially prejudiced by reliance on
inadmissible evidence. "[I]n bench trials, the admission of incompetent or irrelevant evidence is not
a ground for reversal when there is sufficient competent evidence to support the judgment and it
does not appear that the court was induced by . . . [inadmissible] evidence to make essential findings
that it otherwise would not have made." Greater Kan. City Laborers Pension Fund v. Superior Gen.
Contractors, Inc., 104 F.3d 1050, 1057 (8th Cir. 1997) (internal quotation omitted); see also United
States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 176 (1974). Accord Multi-Med. Convalescent & Nursing Ctr. of
Towson v. NLRB, 550 F.2d 974, 977 (4th Cir. 1977).
Microsoft makes no serious effort to meet these rigorous standards. It argues that reliance on
inadmissible hearsay was "inevitable given the way the trial was conducted" (MS Br. 145),
apparently alluding to the fact that the district court, without objection from Microsoft, allowed
"liberal use of summary witnesses, as necessary." Tr. 6/9/98 at 2:15-18 (JA ____); Pretrial Order
No. 1, ¶¶ 11-12 (June 12, 1998) (JA ____). The use of summary witnesses is consistent with the
district court's broad authority to "exercise reasonable control over the mode and order of
interrogating witnesses and presenting evidence so as to (1) make the interrogation and presentation
effective for the ascertainment of the truth, [and] (2) avoid needless consumption of time . . . ."
Fed. R. Evid. 611(a). See also Manual for Complex Litigation (Third) § 22.51 (1995);
Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 6026.
Microsoft clearly understood that testimony by summary witnesses "may involve hearsay
statements," and it "agree[d] that the parties should be given some latitude in view of the Court's
decision to permit the use of summary witnesses." MS's Mot. In Lim. To Excl. Hearsay Stmts. In
Direct Exam. Of Jim Barksdale at 2 (Oct. 19, 1998) ("Motion in Limine") (JA ____). Indeed,
Microsoft exhibited that understanding by introducing a substantial amount of hearsay evidence of
its own. See, e.g., Maritz Tr. 1/25/99 pm at 5:6 (admitting hearsay contained in videotape
testimony), Tr. 10/26/98 am at 28:12-29:25 (admitting news articles), Tr. 10/29/98 pm at 12:9-13:4
(same), Tr. 11/19/98 pm at 71:11-72:16 (admitting accounting firm's study of venture capital
market) (JA ____).
Furthermore, the court repeatedly stated that the weight, if any, given to hearsay would be
subject to further assessment (see, e.g., Tr. 1/25/99 pm at 4:20-5:24, 6:15-10:23; Tr. 10/26/98 am
at 29:18-22; Tr. 10/20/98 pm at 4:21-5:13; Tr. 11/19/98 pm at 81:21-82:6 (JA ____)), and that
hearsay evidence would be subject to a later motion to strike (see Tr. 1/25/99 pm at 4:20-5:24, Tr.
10/20/98 pm at 5:15-6:6 (JA ____)). The district court also offered Microsoft the opportunity to
introduce additional evidence, even including additional witnesses, to respond to any objectionable
hearsay. Tr. 10/20/98 pm at 5:7-14 (JA ____). Microsoft never took up that offer.
Microsoft asserts (MS Br. 145) that a number of findings of fact were based in part on hearsay
evidence, but it identifies only one finding that "Microsoft threatened to penalize individual OEMs
that insisted on pre-installing and promoting Navigator" (FF 241) (JA ____) that it claims is
supported only by hearsay. Microsoft's claim is false: FF 241 is amply supported both by competent
direct testimony and by admissible hearsay. At the trial, IBM executive Garry Norris testified that
he was present at a March 1997 meeting in which a Microsoft executive stated that "We have a
problem if [IBM] load[s] Netscape" on its PCs and that there would be "MDA repercussions" in
effect, that IBM would receive lower discounts, and thus pay a higher price for Windows than its
OEM competitors, if IBM persisted in loading Navigator. Tr. 6/8/99 am at 49:9, 50:17 (JA ____);
see also id. at 28:22-31:23 (JA ____).
Norris's in-court testimony was corroborated by his contemporaneous notes of the March
1997 meeting, which were plainly admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(1) and were
admitted without objection by Microsoft. GX 2164 (JA ____); see Norris Tr. 6/8/99 am at 23:7-23:25, 35:13-36:7. 46:1-47:3 (JA ____). In addition, FF 241 was supported by an e-mail written
by a Gateway employee after he "just got off the phone" with Microsoft, which records a Microsoft
employee stating (1) that Gateway's use of Netscape on its corporate intranet was "a HUGE issue
with MS" and threatening that Microsoft "wants to get back to doing co-marketing and sales
campaigns with [Gateway], but . . . won't if they see [Gateway] is anything but pro Microsoft";
(2) that "Dell turned Netscape down because they did not want to hurt their relationship with
Microsoft" and that "they (Dell) get special things because of it"; and (3) that the issue of Gateway's
usage of Netscape "has Ballmer's attention as well." GX 308 (JA ____). Microsoft did not object
to admission of this exhibit, which also was clearly admissible under Rule 803(1).
Moreover, the findings that Microsoft asserts are based in part on hearsay FF 49-50, 54
(BeOS and Linux are not significant competitors to Windows) (JA ____) are also supported by
admissible non-hearsay evidence. See, e.g., GX 568 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton Tr. 12/1/98 am at
45:13-49:4 (BeOS is not a significant competitor to Windows), 51:12-15 (playing excerpts of
deposition of Bryan Sparks) (Linux does not "have the application base to really compete as a
desktop") (JA ____); GX 1568 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 6/3/99 pm at 25:14-17 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton Tr. 12/1/98 am at 56:17-59:4 (Linux is not a significant competitor to Windows) (JA ____);
GX 1378 (CEO Gates's statement that "I've never had a customer mention Linux to me") (JA
____). Indeed, Microsoft's own expert acknowledged that Linux and BeOS were not competitive
constraints on Microsoft in the short run and that he could not predict whether they ever would be.
See Schmalensee Tr. 1/13/99 pm at 52:4-53:16, 42:16-22, 69:21-70:21; 72:18-73:14 (JA ____).
And in any event, the hearsay evidence supporting these findings was clearly admissible, either
because Microsoft stipulated to its admission (see, e.g., GX 2091 (news article quoting IBM
executive's statement that there "are just not enough applications to make it worthwhile" for IBM
to install Linux on its PCs)) (JA ____); Tr. 6/3/99 pm at 79:11-12 (JA ____)), or because the
evidence was admissible under a hearsay exception (see, e.g., GX 1240 (sealed) (Compaq internal
report regarding BeOS) (JA ____). See also Fed. R. Evid. 803(6) (hearsay exception for business
records of regularly conducted activity)).
Finally, Microsoft's argument that the district court improperly admitted the deposition
testimony of Bruce Jacobsen "to prove contested issues" lacks merit. MS Br. 141-42. Microsoft
does not identify any finding supported solely by this testimony. Moreover, Microsoft stipulated
to the admission of Mr. Jacobsen's deposition testimony and responded to its substance by counter-designating excerpts pursuant to Rule 106 and by supplementing Robert Muglia's direct testimony
with ten additional pages.(85) Microsoft offers no foundation or explanation for its assertion that it "noticed and took depositions in reliance" on its belief that deposition excerpts would be offered to
prove only subordinate or predicate issues. MS Br. 141. Indeed, Microsoft's assertion is belied by
the fact that at trial Microsoft stipulated to the admission of hundreds of pages of excerpts from
dozens of depositions. See, e.g., Stip. & Order Regarding Dep. Excerpts (Jan. 13, 1999); Stip. &
Order Regarding Dep. Excerpts (June 22, 1999); Stip. & Order Regarding Dep. Excerpts (June 30,
1999) (JA ____). And Microsoft relied on deposition excerpts in its own proposed findings,
including on points Microsoft argues are central to its case. See, e.g., MS Rev. Prop. FF at ¶¶ 477-78 (citing excerpts from Andreessen and Clark depositions regarding Navigator's distribution).
V. THE DISTRICT COURT PROPERLY ORDERED STRUCTURAL AND
CONDUCT REMEDIES AND FOLLOWED APPROPRIATE PROCEDURES IN
DOING SO
Microsoft violated the antitrust laws through a wide range of predatory and exclusionary acts
that maintained its operating system monopoly by protecting and raising the applications barrier to
entry. CL at 44-50 (JA ____). That illegal conduct restricted consumer choice and deterred
innovation in the personal computer industry. Id. (JA ____). To undo these anticompetitive effects
and prevent further illegal conduct, the district court properly ordered structural and conduct relief
that alters Microsoft's incentive and ability to destroy competition. The court's remedy was lawful
and appropriate, and Microsoft's complaint that the court did not engage in sufficient process before
ordering its remedy is without merit.
- The District Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion In Ordering The Remedy
Remedies in Sherman Act cases should end the unlawful conduct, prevent its recurrence, and
undo its anticompetitive consequences. See Nat'l Soc'y of Prof'l Eng'rs v. United States, 435 U.S.
679, 697 (1978); United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 366 U.S. 316, 326 (1961); Int'l
Salt Co. v. United States, 332 U.S. 392, 401 (1947). "The District Court is clothed with 'large
discretion' to fit the decree to the special needs of the individual case." Ford Motor Co. v. United
States, 405 U.S. 562, 573 (1972). That discretion includes the power to impose divestiture, "the
most important of antitrust remedies. It is simple, relatively easy to administer, and sure." du Pont,
366 U.S. at 330-31 (remedying violation of Section 7 of Clayton Act). Divestiture has long been
used to remedy monopolization violations of Section 2. See, e.g., United States v. United Shoe
Mach. Corp., 391 U.S. 244 (1968); United States v. Crescent Amusement Co., 323 U.S. 173 (1944);
United States v. Am. Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106, 187-88 (1911); Standard Oil Co. v. United States,
221 U.S. 1, 79 (1911). In Crescent Amusement, for example, the Supreme Court upheld a
divestiture when an exercise of power by a combination violated the Sherman Act and its continued
existence created a "tempting opportunity" for further anticompetitive conduct. 323 U.S. at 189.
As the Supreme Court has explained, a divestiture should "(1) put 'an end to the combination or
conspiracy when that is itself the violation'; (2) deprive 'the antitrust defendants of the benefits of
their conspiracy'; and (3) 'break up or render impotent the monopoly power which violates the
Act.'" Int'l Boxing Club of N.Y., Inc. v. United States, 358 U.S. 242, 253 (1959).
- Divestiture Of Microsoft Into "OpsCo" And "AppsCo"
a. The centerpiece of the district court's decree is the separation of Microsoft's operating
systems and applications businesses into two independent companies pursuant to a detailed plan that
Microsoft itself is to prepare. FJ § 1.a (JA ____). That structural remedy seeks to redress the
cornerstone of the government's complaint and proof at trial, which was that Microsoft had
unlawfully sought to maintain its monopoly power in the PC operating systems market. The
"OpsCo" will own the Windows operating systems (including Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
2000, Windows NT, and Windows CE) and have a perpetual license to Internet Explorer. The
"AppsCo" will own Microsoft's other businesses, including its Office suite of desktop applications,
its developer tools business, and Internet Explorer. This divestiture preserves Microsoft's existing
business units, but fundamentally alters incentives and restores lost competitive conditions by:
reducing the applications barrier to entry; reducing incentives for the separated businesses to act
anticompetitively; and ensuring that future technologies with the potential to threaten the Windows
monopoly are able to compete unfettered by Microsoft's anticompetitive strategies. The remedy
aims to permit competition rather than Microsoft, the government, or the courts to determine
which technologies prevail in the marketplace.
Separating OpsCo from AppsCo responds directly to the violations proved at trial. The
evidence showed and the district court found that, as part of its illegal efforts to defeat the
emergence of middleware, Microsoft repeatedly used its dual control over the operating system and
applications to undertake product development and marketing schemes that have no legitimate
justification and were done solely to perpetuate its Windows monopoly. See, e.g., McGeady Tr.
11/9/98 pm at 54:19-20 (Microsoft is "'going to fight this [the threat from Navigator] with both
arms,' the OS arm and the applications arm") (JA ____); FF 345 (using "the importance of Mac
Office to Apple's survival," to cause Apple to take steps to protect Microsoft's OS monopoly); RX
1 (using control over Office and applications so that they work only with Microsoft's operating
system for PDAs rather than with Palm operating system); RX 2 (JA ____); Harris ¶¶ 102-13 (JA
____). Microsoft took these actions passing up profit opportunities for its applications because
of its powerful incentive to protect the OS monopoly. FF 355 (JA ____).
The divestiture will reduce the applications barrier to entry, directly offsetting the harm found
by the district court. Because AppsCo will no longer have a stake in the Windows monopoly, it will
cease to have an incentive to protect that monopoly and will, instead, be able to respond to ordinary
market incentives to port its powerful and widely used applications such as Excel, the Office suite,
and Internet Explorer to other platforms, such as Linux or sub-PC operating systems installed on
personal digital assistants or wireless telephones, thereby both immediately making those operating
systems more attractive to users and increasing their credibility and the likelihood that other ISVs
will write applications for them.
AppsCo also will have incentives to invent new products that exploit a variety of technologies
that may threaten the Windows monopoly. See Shapiro Decl. 9-10 (JA ____); Henderson Decl.
¶¶ 19-22, 104-06 (JA ____); Romer Decl. ¶¶ 20, 25 (JA ____). AppsCo will have incentives to
develop its own cross-platform middleware. Office and IE expose APIs, have extraordinarily broad
distribution, and thus have significant potential to erode the applications barrier to entry. A firm
that owned Office and IE but not the Windows monopoly would have a greater incentive to develop
Office or IE into alternative platforms and to encourage ISVs to write to their APIs. Henderson
Decl. ¶¶ 102-03 (JA ____); Romer Decl. ¶¶ 20, 25-27 (JA ____). And because Office and IE (like
Windows) have a dominant level of market penetration, those applications could provide a valuable
distribution channel for other types of middleware that may arise as future threats to the applications
barrier to entry. Henderson Decl. ¶ 66 (JA ____); Romer Decl. ¶ 6 (JA ____). Although the
divestiture cannot re-create the threat from Navigator and Java that arose in the mid-1990s and has
been illegally crushed by Microsoft, it will restore marketplace conditions that foster such threats.
b. Microsoft offers a number of arguments against the divestiture, mixing both legal and
factual arguments to contend that the district court abused its discretion in ordering structural relief.
Microsoft's arguments lack merit.
First, Microsoft contends that divestiture of a "unitary" company is unprecedented. See MS
Br. 128-29. But the Supreme Court rejected that very argument ninety years ago, when made by
Standard Oil in an effort to forestall divestiture. See, e.g., Pet. Standard Oil Br., No. 09-725, at 120-21 ("[t]he inherent vice of this decree is that it seeks to create an artificial division which never
existed before") (JA ____); id. at 284 ("[a]ll these . . . are naturally a part of one whole all
operated together and to and with each other all are useful to the other, and to be so useful must
have a connection with one or more of the others . . . . There are many parts, but each part has its
place, and if a part is taken out, the whole structure is disintegrated") (JA ____). See Standard Oil,
221 U.S. 1.
The Supreme Court rejected a similar argument in United Shoe Machinery. The company
cited approvingly from district court findings that United Shoe Machinery "conducted all machine
manufacture at a single plant . . . with one set of jigs and tools, one foundry, one laboratory for
machinery problems, one managerial staff, and one labor force; and that no means existed of
dividing these facilities or converting them into three factories." Resp. United Shoe Machinery Br.,
No. 597, at 5 (JA ____). The Supreme Court, however, reversed the district court's order denying
the government's request that the company be broken up. United Shoe Machinery, 391 U.S. at 251-52. And in the AT&T case, the company made the same argument, in terms strikingly similar to
those used by Microsoft now. Compare AT&T's Third Statement Of Contentions & Proof at 2125
(D.D.C.) (No. 74-1698) (Mar. 10, 1980) ("The integrated structure of the Bell System has provided
Bell with an unparalleled opportunity to employ a systems approach in order to realize economies
of scale and sharing and effectively to manage the technology of the world's largest, most complex
and most reliable assemblage of electronic equipment.") (JA ____), with MS Br. 133 ("Microsoft's
unified structure also enables it to conceive and implement bold ideas that span operating systems
and applications."). That United Shoe Machinery and AT&T ultimately were broken up pursuant
to consent decrees does not detract from the appropriateness of or authority for a court-ordered
divestiture. United Shoe Machinery agreed to a breakup only after the Supreme Court held that the
district court had erred by not ordering one. United Shoe Machinery, 391 U.S. at 251.
In any event, Microsoft is not the "unitary" company it now claims to be. For years,
Microsoft has had separate operating systems and applications divisions, housed in different
buildings (RX 49 (JA ____)), with little interaction between them. Two books about Microsoft,
cited approvingly by Microsoft's testifying economic expert (Schmalensee ¶¶ 195-96 (JA ____)),
emphasize that Microsoft's organizational strength lies in people working in small teams, along
product lines. RX 45, 46 (JA ____). Those groups work independently, making technology sharing
difficult. RX 40, 46 (JA ____). The fact that Microsoft voluntarily reorganizes itself about every
two years itself refutes the notion that the court-ordered divestiture plan would disrupt the ability
of the new companies to operate effectively. See RX 40, 43 (JA ____).
Second, Microsoft contends that divestiture is not supported by a causal connection between
its conduct and its "market position." MS Br. 129-30. But the divestiture ordered by the district
court does not affect Microsoft's position in any market. Instead, as explained above, it simply
changes incentives so that that position will be used in procompetitive ways, rather than in the
anticompetitive ways found by the court. Divestiture thereby reduces the applications barrier to
entry that the court found Microsoft had unlawfully increased.
Moreover, Microsoft's own documents make clear that the company viewed Navigator and
Java as threats to its Windows monopoly, and that it undertook the anticompetitive campaign found
by the district court precisely because it believed there was a "causal connection" (MS Br. 129)
between that campaign and the perpetuation of its Windows monopoly. See FF 411 (JA ____); see
also pp. 83-84, supra. The district court found that Microsoft's actions did to a considerable extent
forestall the threat to the barrier to entry protecting its monopoly. See FF 385 ("Microsoft has
succeeded in forestalling the development of enough full-featured, cross-platform, network-centric
applications to render the applications barrier penetrable . . . .") (JA ____).
Third, Microsoft argues (MS Br. 130) that divestiture extends far beyond what is necessary
to remedy its anticompetitive conduct, relying on United States v. National Lead Co., 332 U.S. 319
(1947). But National Lead stands for the principle that "[a]n understanding of the findings of fact
is essential" to determining the proper remedy. 332 U.S. at 338. As the Supreme Court
subsequently explained, in National Lead "there was no showing that the plants sought to be
divested were either unlawfully acquired or used in a manner violative of the antitrust laws." Schine
Chain Theatres, Inc. v. United States, 334 U.S. 110, 128 (1948) (emphasis added). Here, the district
court found that Microsoft used its dual control of the operating system and applications business
anticompetitively, thus justifying divestiture even if Microsoft initially obtained its monopoly
legitimately.
The district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that divestiture was more
appropriate on these facts than a remedy limited to conduct restrictions. As the Supreme Court has
long held, "[w]hen the purpose to restrain trade appears from a clear violation of law, it is not
necessary that all of the untraveled roads to that end be left open and that only the worn one be
closed." Int'l Salt, 332 U.S. at 400. Nothing in antitrust law limits courts to ordering injunctive
conduct remedies against proven antitrust violators. Prof'l Engineers, 435 U.S. at 698; Zenith Radio
Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., 395 U.S. 100, 132 (1969); United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 340
U.S. 76, 88-89 (1950); Schine, 334 U.S. at 128; United States v. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., 321
U.S. 707, 727 (1944). Microsoft's operating system monopoly and dominance in applications
(including IE) give it the incentive and ability to undertake the forms of anticompetitive conduct
proved at trial and to pursue future variants of its past anticompetitive strategies that are impossible
to predict. See, e.g., RX 1 at MSCE 0097924 (e-mail from CEO Gates to senior Microsoft
executives discussing Microsoft's strategy for Windows CE, its operating system for personal digital
assistants (PDAs): "We really need to demonstrate to people like Nokia why our PDA will connect
to Office in a better way than other PDAs[,] even if that means changing how we do flexible schema
in Outlook and how we tie some of our audio and video advanced work to only run on our PDAs.")
(JA ____). Injunctive relief crafted for the long term necessarily would involve complex and highly
intrusive restrictions on Microsoft's conduct, might result in regulation rather than consumer choice
determining market outcomes, and would require continued monitoring of Microsoft's future
activities. See United States v. AT&T, 552 F. Supp. 131, 167-68 (D.D.C. 1982) ("it is unlikely that,
realistically, an injunction could be drafted that would be both sufficiently detailed to bar specific
anticompetitive conduct yet sufficiently broad to prevent the various conceivable kinds of behavior
that AT&T might employ in the future"), aff'd sub nom. Maryland v. United States, 460 U.S. 1001
(1983).
The court's ordering of structural relief also reasonably took into account two other factors
bearing on the propriety of conduct remedies. First, the court noted Microsoft's "untrustworthy"
response to the court's 1997 injunctive order in the consent decree case. Remedy Order at 62 (JA
____). Microsoft attempts to avoid blame by claiming that "it was DOJ that misled the court" into
issuing the order. See MS Br. 48. But that claim is inaccurate, for the government was clear that
Microsoft (1) should be barred only from forcing OEMs to accept and preinstall IE 3 and (2) would
be free to do this by, for example, making separately available to OEMs who did not want to install
IE the COMCTL32 file, which Microsoft said was essential to Windows operation and which it
routinely distributed separately from IE 3. U.S. Reply Br. 16-17 (Nov. 20, 1997); see also DX 1715
at 22871-72 (JA ____). Microsoft's defiant response to the 1997 conduct order was properly
considered by the court as part of its determination that conduct restrictions alone would not be
sufficient to ensure adequate relief. See Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States, 410 U.S. 366, 381
(1973) ("The proclivity for predatory practices has always been a consideration for the District
Court in fashioning its antitrust decree."). Second, Microsoft did not even attempt to argue that its
proposed remedy would restore competition adversely affected by its illegal conduct. See MS's
Mem. In Supp. Of Its Prop. Final J. at 2 (May 10, 2000) (requests for relief to restore competition
"are unwarranted as a matter of law") (JA ____). Because Microsoft had known for months, if not
years, of the real possibility of a break-up if plaintiffs prevailed on liability (see pp. 138-39, infra),
but chose not to submit any remedy plan except the plainly inadequate May 10 proposal, the court
was well within its discretion to accept the government's proposal.
Fourth, Microsoft contends that divestiture is inappropriate because the challenged conduct
could reasonably have been thought permissible. MS Br. 132. But Microsoft focuses on the tying
claim, rather than the monopoly maintenance charge that animated the court's structural relief. Any
uncertainty about the proper standard for the tying of software products cannot cast doubt on the
illegality of Microsoft's overall course of anticompetitive conduct to maintain its monopoly, which
violated well-established antitrust principles.
Fifth, Microsoft argues that divestiture regardless of how it would be planned and
implemented by Microsoft under the court's order will jeopardize important public benefits. MS
Br. 133. But the court's findings demonstrate the harms to competition caused by Microsoft's
conduct and the need for sound remedies to ameliorate such harms. See pp. 120-22, supra. The
government presented the declarations of prominent experts who agreed that the benefits to society
created by the remedy would far outweigh the costs. See, e.g., Shapiro Decl. 13-15 (JA ____);
Henderson Decl. ¶¶ 122-25 (JA ____); Romer Decl. ¶¶ 9, 57-70 (JA ____). The district court thus
did not abuse its discretion in rejecting Microsoft's complaint that the costs of divestiture were
unjustified.(86)
Microsoft's predictions (MS Br. 133) that separating its operating systems and applications
businesses will cause the company to reduce its innovation conflict with its own established
practices and public statements. Microsoft often touts its close working relationships with ISVs and
the enhancements to Windows that have come from outside developers. See MS Br. 18-19, 118;
MS Rev. FF ¶¶ 34, 259, 312 (JA ____); Maritz ¶¶ 133, 136-52 (JA ____). There is no reason to
believe that OpsCo could not continue to work effectively with an independent AppsCo.
Sixth, Microsoft contends that divestiture will cause unforeseen practical problems. MS Br.
133-34. Microsoft questions some details of the divestiture, but such questions are premature. The
judgment appropriately leaves the details of divestiture to future proceedings and orders Microsoft,
which knows its operations best, to suggest an implementation plan. Particular problems can be
addressed in those proceedings. Requiring the defendant to supply a detailed divestiture plan is both
traditional and sensible. See Citizen Publ'g Co. v. United States, 394 U.S. 131, 135 (1969); United
States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 577 (1966). A divestiture order "requires careful, and often
extended, negotiation and formulation." Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U.S. 294, 309
(1962). At this stage, the Court need only affirm that the broad outline of the divestiture is not an
abuse of discretion.
Finally, Microsoft contends (MS Br. 125) that "the whole decree must be vacated should any
part of the district court's liability ruling be reversed," but the law is otherwise. The "inveterate and
certain" rule in suits in equity is that "the appellee may . . . urge in support of a decree any matter
appearing in the record." Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Ludwig, 426 U.S. 479, 480-81 (1976) (per
curiam) (internal citations omitted). Microsoft's only cited authority for its contention is not to the
contrary. See Concord Boat Co. v. Brunswick Corp., 207 F.3d 1039, 1053-54 (8th Cir.) (vacating
a damages award because the verdict form had not asked the jury to allocate damages among
claims), cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 428 (2000).
- Conduct Restrictions
Because divestiture will not take place until one year after all appeals in this case are resolved,
the district court ordered transitional conduct restrictions to protect competition until the structural
remedy becomes effective. Some conduct restrictions will terminate upon divestiture; others, three
years later. See FJ §§ 1.d, 3 (JA ____). Those conduct restrictions are designed to prevent
Microsoft from repeating specific exclusionary strategies and actions that are "of the same type or
class as unlawful acts which the court has found to have been committed or whose commission in
the future unless enjoined, may fairly be anticipated from the defendant's conduct in the past."
Zenith Radio, 395 U.S. at 132; accord U.S. Gypsum, 340 U.S. at 89; Bausch & Lomb, 321 U.S. at
727; Int'l Salt, 332 U.S. at 400. The conduct remedies will begin the process of reducing entry
barriers and prevent further Microsoft exclusionary conduct before divestiture. They also ensure
that, after the breakup, OpsCo will not be able to repeat Microsoft's exclusionary practices or
interfere with the lowering of entry barriers that the structural remedy is designed to effect. They
thus serve as an important adjunct to the divestiture provisions at the heart of the decree.
Microsoft makes two broad attacks against the conduct remedies. MS Br. 134-41. It also
attempts to incorporate by reference other arguments it made in the district court. Those arguments
not made in its opening brief, however, should be treated as waived. See p. 46, supra.
a. Microsoft contends that Section 3.b of the conduct remedy will require it to disclose
proprietary information about its operating system to its competitors, "effectively plac[ing it] in the
public domain." MS Br. 135. This claim is wrong. Section 3.b addresses Microsoft's practice of
withholding from disfavored independent software vendors (ISVs) i.e., ISVs that supported
competing operating systems or whose products threatened to erode the Windows monopoly the
information necessary to facilitate interoperation of ISVs' software with Windows. It requires
Microsoft to disclose to all ISVs only the Windows interface information that it gives to its own
applications developers. FJ § 3.b (JA ____).
The district court's findings provide ample justification for that requirement. Microsoft
expressly conditioned the timing of disclosure to Netscape of critically important information about
Windows 95 on Netscape's agreement not to compete. FF 90 (JA ____). When Netscape did not
agree, Microsoft's delay in disclosing the information delayed Netscape's release of its browser and
caused it to miss most of the holiday selling season. FF 91 (JA ____). Microsoft similarly withheld
a scripting tool needed by Netscape. FF 92 (JA ____). The court recognized more generally that
ISVs are "highly dependent" on early and predictable disclosures of technical information by
Microsoft in developing their software products and that this dependence gives Microsoft
considerable power over ISVs that it utilized in an anticompetitive manner. FF 338 (JA ____).
Microsoft used this power in the First Wave agreements to condition early disclosure of important
technical information to some ISVs on their agreeing to favor two Microsoft middleware products,
Internet Explorer and Microsoft's version of the Java Virtual Machine. FF 338-40 (JA ____).
Unless prevented from doing so by the Final Judgment, Microsoft would retain the power to
withhold important technical information from third-party developers whose products might threaten
Windows' monopoly power.
Far from requiring Microsoft to put "nearly all intellectual property associated with Windows"
in the public domain (MS Br. 136), the provision requires Microsoft to make available to all
applications developers only information it now provides to Microsoft applications developers and
to preferred third-party developers, information that those developers use to make their products
more attractive complements to Windows. The decree does not prevent Microsoft from protecting
its legitimate interests by conditioning disclosure of the information on strict confidentiality or
restrictions that limit use of the information other than "for the sole purpose of enabling their
products to interoperate effectively" with Microsoft platform software and bundled middleware.
FJ § 3.b.iii (JA ____). See, e.g., GX 1125, 804 (JA ____); see also GX 1519, 2164, 2167 (JA
____). The decree also provides ISVs access in a secure facility to "relevant and necessary portions
of the source code and any related documentation . . . for the sole purpose of enabling their products
to interoperate effectively with Microsoft Platform Software." FJ § 3.b (JA ____).
b. Microsoft argues that the conduct remedies interfere with its "product design and impair
Microsoft's ability to preserve the integrity of Windows and to distribute upgraded components of
Windows to its installed base of users." MS Br. 137. Its arguments focus on Sections 3.g, 3.a.iii,
and 3.f of the decree.
First, Section 3.g prohibits Microsoft from "binding" separate middleware products to its OS
unless it permits OEMs and end users to license a version of the OS "in which all means of End-User Access to that Middleware Product can readily be removed." Remedy Order at 68 (JA ____).
Microsoft asserts (MS Br. 138) that the provision "would subject many existing and virtually all new
features of Microsoft's operating systems to challenge," but that assertion ignores the decree's
definition of "Middleware Product," which is limited to (i) five specifically enumerated types of
middleware (browsers, e-mail clients, multimedia viewers, instant messaging software, and voice
recognition software) and (ii) other software that both (a) is or has been in the past year distributed
separately from the OS in the retail, IAP, ICP, ISV, or OEM channels by Microsoft (or by another
company if Microsoft acquired the product from that company) and (b) provides functionality
similar to that of competing, non-Microsoft middleware. FJ § 7.r (JA ____). Section 3.g is thus
limited to those middleware products for which there is separate consumer demand.
Similarly, Microsoft's argument (MS Br. 138) that features such as HTML Help and Windows
Update would be "preclude[d]" because they rely on IE is erroneous. Section 3.g requires only that
end users and OEMs be able to remove end user access to the middleware product in this case, the
browser not the APIs or code. See FF 183-85 (JA ____); Felten Decl. ¶¶ 92, 94 (JA ____).
Finally, Microsoft's assertion (MS Br. 138-39) that offering an "unbinding" option for OEMs and
end users for the few covered middleware products in existing operating systems would take "far
longer than six months[,] would cost hundreds of millions of dollars," and would result in a "far
inferior" OS cannot be reconciled with the record in this case and the district court's findings.
Professor Felten's removal program for Microsoft's browser, which achieves just the type of
removal of access that Microsoft would be required to provide under Section 3.g without degrading
any other part of the OS, was developed in a very short time and at minimal expense. See FF 177,
181, 183-84 (JA ____). As the district court found, "[g]iven Microsoft's special knowledge of its
own products, the company is readily able to produce an improved implementation of the concept
illustrated by Felten's prototype removal program." FF 182, 177 (JA ____).
Second, Section 3.a of the decree seeks to end Microsoft's practice of using its Windows
monopoly to penalize OEMs that favored Netscape and to reward those that favored Internet
Explorer. It prohibits Microsoft from taking any adverse action against an OEM for dealing in a
product that competes with a Microsoft product, a prohibition fully justified by the court's findings
of fact. See, e.g., FF 64, 115-32, 139, 175-77, 203-08, 230-41 (JA ____); CL at 39-41, 44, 46 (JA
____).
Microsoft attacks (MS Br. 139-40) Section 3.a.iii, which allows OEMs to make modest
modifications to Windows to enable them to promote software that competes with Microsoft's.
Among other things, that section prevents Microsoft from punishing OEMs that display a user
interface other than the Windows desktop (provided that an icon allowing the user to access the
Windows desktop is also displayed) or that configure their machines to automatically launch non-Microsoft middleware, operating systems, or applications. FJ §§ 3.a.iii(3), 3.a.iii(4) (JA ____).
Permitting alterations of this kind is necessary for alternative forms of middleware to compete for
distribution, promotion, and usage sufficient to lower the applications barrier to entry.
Microsoft's opposition to Section 3.a.iii rests mainly on the premise that OEMs will act
irrationally and force their customers to accept "less functional" versions of Windows (MS Br. 140),
but the district court rejected those concerns in its findings of fact. Because OEMs sell computers
in a highly competitive market, they are likely to make only those modifications that reflect
consumer demand and increase consumer satisfaction; otherwise the OEMs will suffer lost sales and
increased support costs. FF 193, 222, 410 (JA ____). Indeed, Section 3.a.iii essentially authorizes
OEMs to do what Microsoft has already permitted of users (e.g., invoke an alternate interface,
change the default browser, uninstall a feature or an icon) and of selected OEMs (e.g., insert their
own "splash" screens, provide Internet sign-up help). See FF 171, 219, 222, 223 (JA ____).
Microsoft's assertion (MS Br. 139) that Section 3.a.iii would permit OEMs "to pass off altered
versions of Windows to consumers as Microsoft's creation, contrary to federal copyright and
trademark laws" similarly lacks merit. We agree that passing off would raise concerns under the
Lanham Act (although we have not located any basis for such concerns in U.S. copyright law), but
that is unlikely to occur. The alterations permitted under Section 3.a.iii(3) are a means by which
OEMs could distinguish their products from those of their competitors; an OEM would not want its
unique and valuable contribution to be mistaken for Microsoft's. In any event, a remedial decree
ordinarily would be construed to avoid authorizing a violation of an extant federal statute. Cf.
Walsh v. Schlecht, 429 U.S. 401, 408 (1977) (contracts construed to avoid violation of law).
Microsoft's opposition to Section 3.a.iii(4) is based on a similarly false premise. That
provision prevents Microsoft from restricting OEMs from configuring Windows to "launch
automatically any non-Microsoft Middleware, Operating System, or application." FJ § 3.a.iii(4) (JA
____). Microsoft asserts that Section 3.a.iii(4) grants OEMs "unlimited rights to modify Windows
in ways that transform it beyond recognition" and will lead inevitably to "the fragmentation of the
Windows platform." MS Br. 140. In fact, Section 3.a.iii(4) merely allows OEMs to configure their
systems to launch non-Microsoft software automatically, to insert a screen promoting their own
Internet access provider during the computer's Windows boot sequence, or to make non-Microsoft
middleware the default. Crucially, the provision expressly confines removal by an OEM of
Windows features to removal of "the means of End-User Access for Microsoft's Middleware
Product." FJ § 3.a.iii(4) (JA ____). In other words, Section 3.a.iii(4) allows what end users have
previously been permitted to do through the Windows "Add/Remove" function to remove the icon
or other means by which the end user invokes Microsoft middleware. It will not lead to
fragmentation of the Windows platform because little if any underlying Windows code and no APIs
will be deleted. See FF 165, 193 (JA ____); Felten Decl. ¶¶ 98-102 (JA ____).
Third, Section 3.f prevents Microsoft from contractually forcing OEMs and end users of
Windows to take other software products, whether they want them or not, as a condition to receiving
a Windows license. The district court found that Microsoft used such "contractual . . . shackles" in
violation of both Section 1 and Section 2 of the Sherman Act. CL at 39-40 (JA ____). Microsoft
complains that this provision will forbid it from distributing upgrades, such as bug fixes and
"updated versions of certain Windows components (e.g., IE and DirectX)" that Microsoft makes
available from time to time. MS Br. 141. That argument ignores critical language from Section 3.f,
which makes clear that the provision applies only to "any other Microsoft software product that
Microsoft distributes separately from the Windows Operating System product in the retail channel
or through Internet access providers, Internet content providers, ISVs or OEMs." FJ § 3.f (JA
____).
Section 3.f. will not lead to fragmentation of the Windows platform. Microsoft says that the
provision "contemplates actual removal of software code, as opposed to hiding 'End-User Access'
to the functionality it provides." MS Br. 141. To the contrary, like Section 3.a.iii (see pp. 132-34,
supra), Section 3.f prohibits Microsoft from preventing by contract only the kind of result that end
users have previously been allowed to achieve through the Windows "Add/Remove" function to
remove the icon or other means by which the end user invokes certain functionality. See Felten
Decl. ¶¶ 89, 94 (JA ____); FF 165, 193 (JA ____).
- The District Court Did Not Err By Entering Its Decree Without A Separate
Evidentiary Hearing On Remedy
The Final Judgment expressly contemplates further proceedings to determine the details of
Microsoft's "proposed plan of divestiture." FJ § 1.a (JA ____). Microsoft argues, however, that
the district court erred in entering the Final Judgment without holding a separate evidentiary hearing
on remedy. MS Br. 67, 125-28. A district court's refusal to hold an evidentiary hearing on
equitable relief is reviewed only for abuse of discretion, Davoll v. Webb, 194 F.3d 1116, 1139-40
(10th Cir. 1999), and there was no abuse here. Microsoft had early notice that it might face stern
remedies and had time to prepare arguments and gather evidence on the remedy issues but chose to
submit only a weak counter-proposal and not to submit any sworn declarations. That was a
calculated decision on its part. Although Microsoft complains about the process leading to entry
of the decree, it has no one to blame but itself.
1. Microsoft cites no case for the proposition that an antitrust court commits reversible error
when it fails to conduct an evidentiary hearing on remedy after an extensive trial on liability (see
MS Br. 125-28), and there appears to be no such authority. To the contrary, in United States v.
American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106 (1911), the Supreme Court determined that the relief must be
"wider than that awarded by the lower courts," remanded the case, and directed the lower court "to
hear the parties, by evidence or otherwise, as it may be deemed proper, for the purpose of
ascertaining and determining upon some plan or method of dissolving the combination and of
recreating, out of the elements now composing it, a new condition which shall be honestly in
harmony with and not repugnant to the law." Id. at 184, 187 (emphasis added). In National Lead,
a permanent injunction appears to have been entered without a separate evidentiary hearing on
remedy. See 332 U.S. at 329-34. And in Paramount Pictures, the procedure followed by the
district court was remarkably similar to that used by the district court in this case: "After a long
trial, an elaborate opinion on the merits, a full discussion as to the terms of the decree, . . . the terms
were finally promulgated." United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 131, 180 (1948)
(Frankfurter, J., dissenting). Although the Court remanded for further proceedings, it set aside part
of the district court's decree because it did not go far enough and should have considered divestiture
as a feature of the remedial decrees. Id. at 170-75. The Court left in place most of the decree
without requiring a hearing on remedy.
In a variety of other contexts, courts have rejected the argument that an evidentiary hearing
is required before issuance of a permanent injunction. "[I]t simply is not true that an evidentiary
hearing is always required before an injunction is issued. When the evidence presented by affidavit
and other documentation clearly establish the plaintiff's right to an injunction, a hearing need not
be conducted." United States v. Prod. Plated Plastics, Inc., 762 F. Supp. 722, 729 (W.D. Mich.
1991), aff'd, 955 F.2d 45 (6th Cir. 1992). See also Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc. v. Alpha
of Va., Inc., 43 F.3d 922, 938 (4th Cir. 1995); Am. Can Co. v. Mansukhani, 814 F.2d 421 (7th Cir.
1987) (affirming issuance of supplement to permanent injunction without conducting new
evidentiary hearing based on evidence already part of record). Other courts have held that a
complaining party must show prejudice to obtain reversal of a district court's decision to impose an
injunction without conducting an evidentiary hearing. See, e.g., Socialist Workers Party v. Ill. State
Bd. of Elections, 566 F.2d 586, 587 (7th Cir. 1977) (injunction for election); Eli Lilly & Co. v.
Generix Drug Sales, Inc., 460 F.2d 1096, 1106 (5th Cir. 1972) ("surprise alone is not a sufficient
basis for appellate reversal; appellant must also show that the procedures followed resulted in
prejudice" in issuance of permanent injunction after remand on basis of preliminary injunction
proceedings).
Microsoft cites United States v. Alcoa, 91 F. Supp. 333 (S.D.N.Y. 1950), to support its
argument (MS Br. 128) that divestiture may be ordered only after a protracted hearing, but that case
did not purport to state a general rule. While the court in Alcoa did hold an evidentiary hearing,
eight years and World War II had intervened since the close of the trial on liability, and the
aluminum industry had been "revolutionized" in the interim. United States v. Alcoa, 148 F.2d 416,
445 (2d Cir. 1945).
2. Microsoft says that it needed time, discovery, and an evidentiary hearing because "no one
could have imagined" (MS Br. 3) that plaintiffs would request structural relief. The district court,
however, found that Microsoft's "profession of surprise" at plaintiffs' proposed dissolution remedy
"is not credible." Remedy Order at 61 (JA ____). Microsoft makes no attempt to argue that this
finding is clearly erroneous, and, indeed, the finding is correct. Microsoft's suggestion that the
complaints did not "even hint" at structural relief (MS Br. 9-10, 128) does not square with the
request for "permanent relief as is necessary and appropriate to restore competitive conditions in the
markets affected by Microsoft's unlawful conduct." US Compl. § VIII, ¶ 3 (JA ____). That the
complaints also prayed for other, specific relief does not restrict plaintiffs from seeking broader
relief justified by the facts proved at trial. See United States v. Ward Baking Co., 376 U.S. 327,
332-33 & n.3 (1964). In American Tobacco, the Supreme Court ordered dissolution even though
the complaint had not specifically requested it. 221 U.S. at 149-50, 185-87.
Nearly a century of antitrust jurisprudence put Microsoft on notice that divestiture is an
appropriate form of relief in Section 2 cases. See, e.g., Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 221 U.S.
1, 79 (1911); American Tobacco, 221 U.S. at 187-88. And the government indicated on the trial's
first day, in October 1998, that an appropriate remedy would have to assure the "complete
extirpation" of an unlawfully maintained monopoly. Tr. 10/19/98 am at 17:16-20 (JA ____).
Moreover, Microsoft never denies nor could it that it was aware long before the Final
Judgment that the court might order a structural remedy. Well before the district court issued any
findings, academics (including two relied on by Microsoft (MS Br. 81)), were discussing possible
structural relief.(87) So, too, was Microsoft's amicus Association for Competitive Technology (ACT),
in a white paper that lists Microsoft's appellate counsel, Sidley & Austin, as an author.(88) (Microsoft
is a "member" of ACT,(89) and reportedly "helped create [ACT] on the eve of the trial." James V.
Grimaldi, Microsoft Filing Critical of Judge, Wash. Post, Nov. 28, 2000, at E1.)
On November 5, 1999, the district court issued Findings of Fact that "gave clear warning to
Microsoft that the result would likely be adverse" and that plaintiffs would propose a tough remedy.
Remedy Order at 61 (JA ____). That same day, Microsoft's general counsel acknowledged a
"drumbeat" calling for a breakup.(90) The press and academics increasingly discussed possible
remedies, including structural relief.(91) In early December 1999, it was publicly known that the
government had retained an investment bank to "assist the division in analyzing financial aspects
of the full range of potential remedies in U.S. v. Microsoft, including conduct and structural relief."
Joel Brinkley, U.S. Hires Advisory Firm in Microsoft Case, N.Y. Times, Dec. 3, 1999, at C2; Rajiv
Chandrasekaran, Justice Dept. Hires Firm to Study Microsoft 'Remedies,' Wash. Post, Dec. 3,
1999, at E3. Indeed, in January 2000, during the period of mediation between the government and
Microsoft over possible remedial actions, the prospect of court-ordered divestiture was deemed
sufficiently plausible by Microsoft's new CEO, Steve Ballmer, that he spoke out publicly against
a breakup. See Steve Ballmer, The Microsoft Suit, Wash. Post, Jan. 24, 2000, at A20 (letter to
editor). And on April 2, 2000, Bill Gates was reported as accusing the government of jeopardizing
a settlement by "demanding either a breakup of our company or other extreme concessions." Joel
Brinkley & Steve Lohr, Microsoft and U.S. Unable to Reach Antitrust Accord, N.Y. Times, Apr.
2, 2000, at A1; see also Joel Brinkley, U.S. and 17 States Ask Judge to Cut Microsoft in 2 Parts:
Serious Curbs Also Sought, N.Y. Times, Apr. 29, 2000, at A1 (quoting Ballmer as saying "[f]or
months, the government . . . [has] been repeating that Microsoft should be broken up") (emphasis
added).
When mediation failed and the court issued its Conclusions of Law on April 3, 2000 (five
months after its Findings), the court made clear that entry of a decree was fast approaching. During
chambers conferences the following two days, the court emphasized that it intended to complete
remedy proceedings "within sixty days" (Tr. 4/4/00 at 11:13-14, 14:20, 19:7-8 (JA ____)), i.e., by
early June, and scheduled a "hearing on remedies" for May 24. Schedl'g Order No. 8, at 2 (Apr.
5, 2000) (JA ____). To meet that timetable, the court ordered the government to submit a proposed
remedy by April 28 and Microsoft to specify by May 10 its "counter-proposal(s)" and its
"recommendations for future proceedings on the issue of remedy." Id. (JA ____).
Microsoft only briefly suggests citing its "limited space" that the district court promised
an evidentiary hearing but then reneged. MS Br. 142. But the district court never promised an
evidentiary hearing; it said only that it "assume[d] that there would be further proceedings," Tr.
4/4/00 at 8:25-9:1 (JA ____), without specifying what those "further proceedings" would entail.
Nor did the government request an evidentiary hearing, as Microsoft suggests. MS Br. 126. Pls.'
Mem. In Supp. Of Prop. Final J. at 44 (Apr. 28, 2000) (only "appropriate" proceedings) (JA ____).
In fact, there were further, appropriate proceedings seven weeks (and 410 pages) of pleadings
(including declarations) between the April 4-5 chambers conferences and the May 24 hearing, the
May 24 hearing itself, and then two more weeks (and another 135 pages) of responsive pleadings
to revise and litigate the decree's terms.(92) Although the court indicated at the April 4 conference
that it had considered possibly "replicat[ing] the procedure at trial with testimony in written form
subject to cross-examination," it made no commitment to do so, and it continued: "The more
abbreviated the process, the better I think the situation is, but I am open to suggestions." Tr. 4/4/00
at 11:6-9 (JA ____). The district court was unmistakable on a point about which Microsoft's brief
is silent: the court's intention to conclude the remedy proceedings within sixty days. The court's
Scheduling Order of April 5 is unambiguous, including the scheduling of a "hearing on remedies"
for May 24. Schedl'g Order No. 8, at 2 (Apr. 5, 2000) (JA ____). Microsoft did not seek
clarification of the April 5 Order or delay of the May 24 hearing.
3. On April 28, plaintiffs submitted their proposed final judgment.(93) This proposal, well
grounded in the trial record and supported by six declarations, addressed the three goals of antitrust
relief: "to terminate the unlawful conduct, to prevent its repetition in the future, and to revive
competition in the relevant markets." Remedy Order at 63 (JA ____); see p.120, supra. Microsoft
mischaracterizes the inclusion of declarations as a concession by the government that the district
court needed more information before imposing a remedy. MS Br. 126. To the contrary, the 78-day
trial, more than two dozen witnesses, thousands of exhibits, and over 1,500 pages of proposed
findings of fact had exhaustively explored Microsoft's conduct and its anticompetitive effects, so
the need for structural relief was already clear. The government simply availed itself of the
opportunity provided by the court (see Tr. 4/4/00 at 10:22-11:5 (JA ____)) to explain fully the
rationale of the proposed remedy and its feasibility. Microsoft chose not to take advantage of its
similar opportunity to buttress its proposed remedy or its objections to the government's proposal.
4. On May 10, Microsoft urged summary rejection of the government's divestiture proposal
and offered only an insubstantial counter-remedy. Microsoft spent 87 pages attacking plaintiffs'
proposed divestiture and conduct remedies but did not controvert any factual assertion in plaintiffs'
submission or include any declarations,(94) even though the court previously had said that "affidavits
might perhaps be the least support that we would be looking for." Tr. 4/4/00 at 11:4-5 (JA ____).
Microsoft never offered the district court nor has it offered this Court any reason to reject a
structural remedy that was not fully presented in its May 10 pleadings. Microsoft's proposed
counter-remedy(95) consisted of "modest conduct" restrictions (Remedy Order at 62 (JA ____)) that
would hardly have affected its ability to engage in anticompetitive conduct. Unlike the
government's proposed remedy, which satisfied the three goals of antitrust relief, Microsoft's
alternative decree was "plainly inadequate in all three respects." Id. at 63 (JA ____). Indeed,
Microsoft conceded that its proposed remedy did nothing to restore competition. See MS Final
Judgment Memo at 2 (requests for relief to restore competition "are unwarranted as a matter of
law") (JA ____).
Instead of offering a serious counterproposal, Microsoft suggested more delay. On May 10,
Microsoft sought a six-month delay for additional discovery without identifying what third-party
discovery it desired or what evidence might take so long to adduce. Thus, notwithstanding the
district court's clear intention to complete the remedy process by early June 2000, Microsoft
responded with a proposal that would stretch proceedings well into 2001.
The only specific discovery Microsoft said it would conduct was to depose plaintiffs' remedy
declarants. MS's Position As To Future Proceedings On The Issue Of Remedy at 4-5, 8 (May 10,
2000) (MS Future Proceedings) (JA ____). Yet Microsoft made no effort to depose the declarants
in the month before the May 24 hearing or afterward. Having made no such effort, Microsoft
cannot now complain that the declarations were inadmissible hearsay. See MS Br. 127, 145. The
hearsay rules apply loosely, if at all, to the district court's post-trial proceedings on remedy. See
United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 177 F. Supp. 1, 19-20 (N.D. Ill. 1959) (admitting,
over hearsay objection, report on tax consequences of government's remedy proposal), rev'd on
other grounds, 366 U.S. 316 (1961). Moreover, the declarations in question were by expert
witnesses, who may rely on hearsay in support of their opinions. See Fed. R. Evid. 703.
In addition, under Microsoft's plan, the proposed new round of discovery was to be followed
by a lengthy hearing. See MS Future Proceedings at 2 (JA ____). On May 22, Microsoft filed an
additional submission not called for by any outstanding court order. That submission, which could
have addressed any topic, did not include any declarations either to bolster its proposed remedy or
to counter the government's proposal. See MS's Reply In Further Supp. Of Its Mot. For Summ.
Rejection Of The Govt's Breakup Proposal (JA ____). The district court thus accurately
characterized Microsoft's effort as a delay tactic seeking a "second trial" and "an ex post and de
facto bifurcation of the case." Remedy Order at 61 (JA ____).
5. On May 24, the court conducted its long-scheduled hearing on remedies. Microsoft
initially asserted that the hearing could not address the merits of the remedy proposals. See Tr.
5/24/00 am at 4:16-25 (Microsoft counsel identifying the "only two matters" before the court as its
motion to strike the demand for a breakup and a schedule for further proceedings) (JA ____). The
court responded by confirming that the merits would be addressed, id. at 5:17-21 (JA ____), but
expressly invited Microsoft "to convince me that you need more time to be able to respond" (id. at
36:16-19 (JA ____); Microsoft, however, offered no concrete reasons. At the end of the all-day
hearing, the court announced that it contemplated no further proceedings and that it would soon
issue its decree. Tr. 5/24/00 pm at 33:5-6 (JA ____). Only then did Microsoft disclose and tender
a 35-page "Offer of Proof" describing the testimony concerning remedy that 16 witnesses (including
5 Microsoft employees) would give on its behalf. Tr. 5/24/00 pm at 33:5-10 (JA ____); MS's Offer
Of Proof (May 24, 2000) (JA ____). A week later, Microsoft submitted seven additional
descriptions of putative witness testimony. MS's Suppl. Offer Of Proof (May 31, 2000) (JA ____).
Yet even those "Offers of Proof" did not justify an evidentiary hearing. The testimony described
therein was redundant of evidence Microsoft adduced during the trial, redundant of arguments
regarding the need for or efficacy of divestiture Microsoft made in its May 10 and May 22 filings,
or irrelevant to the issues raised by the government's remedy proposal (e.g., describing problems
of Windows fragmentation when none would be created). Indeed, those unsworn, unsigned Offers
of Proof were not even admissible evidence.
Far from showing that Microsoft was unable to get its evidence before the court, therefore,
Microsoft's actions reveal its deliberate decision not to do so. Microsoft had the opportunity to
"develop and present evidence" on relief (MS Br. 67, 128) but chose not to present anything
significant. The district court thus did not "repudiat[e] [a] core element of due process." MS Br.
127. Rather, it was Microsoft that made a calculated decision not to take remedy seriously, not to
submit affidavits or even to disclose its Offers of Proof in a timely fashion, and to push for yet more
delay, even when the district court had made clear that the time for decision was at hand.
Microsoft's "failure to anticipate and to prepare to meet such an eventuality gives no reason to
afford it an opportunity to do so now." Remedy Order at 61 (JA ____).
6. Faced with the substantial record before it, the government's well-supported proposal,
Microsoft's lengthy arguments on the merits of dissolution, and Microsoft's facially deficient
counter-remedy, the district court properly entered its decree on June 7, 2000. "No further
proceedings [were] required" (Remedy Order at 61), even to reject Microsoft's claim that
implementing the decree would be difficult. See Prod. Plated Plastics, 762 F. Supp. at 731 (no need
for evidentiary hearing despite defendants' claim that "it is impossible for them to implement" the
decree). This was neither "astounding abdication" by the district court (MS Br. 11) nor "blind"
deference to the government's proposal (id. at 128). Rather, "it is well settled that once the
Government has successfully borne the considerable burden of establishing a violation of law, all
doubts as to the remedy are to be resolved in its favor." du Pont, 366 U.S. at 334; Ford Motor Co.
v. United States, 405 U.S. 562, 575 (1972).
Moreover, the district court was well within its discretion in concluding, based on its
experience, that it would not be aided by dueling experts speculating on what the decree would mean
for the future, Remedy Order at 62 (JA ____), especially when the Final Judgment itself
contemplates further proceedings to determine the details of a plan of reorganization. FJ § 1.a (JA
____). The district court retains jurisdiction to "modify the judgment as necessary . . . to
accommodate conditions changed with the passage of time." Remedy Order at 63 (JA ____).
VI. JUDGE JACKSON'S OUT-OF-COURT COMMENTS DO NOT MERIT
VACATING THE JUDGMENT OR REMOVING HIM FROM FURTHER
PROCEEDINGS
1. Microsoft claims (MS Br. 147-49) that comments Judge Jackson made about the case in
public lectures and newspaper interviews published after entry of the judgment demonstrate bias,
or an appearance of bias, and are therefore grounds for disqualification under 28 U.S.C. 455. Those
objections are unfounded. The Court should not take the extraordinary step of vacating the
judgment or ordering the judge to recuse himself from further proceedings in the case. MS Br. 149-50.
Section 455 requires recusal of judges who are biased or whose "impartiality might reasonably
be questioned." 28 U.S.C. 455(a), 455(b)(1). The Supreme Court has made clear, however, that
the bases for recusal on those grounds are limited. First, "judicial rulings alone almost never
constitute a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion." Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555
(1994). Second, "opinions formed by the judge on the basis of facts introduced or events occurring
in the course of the current proceedings, or of prior proceedings, do not constitute a basis for a bias
or partiality motion unless they display a deep-seated favoritism or antagonism that would make fair
judgment impossible." Id. at 555. The four comments that Microsoft cites as a basis for recusal
(MS Br. 146) founder on both Liteky rules.
The first comment (MS Br. 148) is a public statement attributed to Judge Jackson in the
Financial Times of October 6, 2000, as follows:
"Bill Gates is an ingenious engineer, but I don't think he is that adept at business
ethics," [Judge Jackson] said. "He has not yet come to realise things he did (when
Microsoft was smaller) he should not have done when he became a monopoly."
Peter Spiegel, Microsoft Judge Defends Post-Trial Comment, Fin. Times, Oct. 6, 2000, at 4. That
reported post-trial statement plainly does not show "deep-seated favoritism or antagonism." Liteky,
510 U.S. at 555. It reflects little more than the court's ultimate ruling that, in a series of actions
taken with Gates' participation and approval, Microsoft violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman
Act. See id. at 551 ("not subject to deprecatory characterization as 'bias' or 'prejudice' are opinions
held by judges as a result of what they learned in earlier proceedings").
The second comment (MS Br. 148) is a passage in Brinkley and Lohr's book that begins with
the authors' view that "the most damaging documents the ones that galvanized the resolve of state
and federal prosecutors were written months after that first government [document] request
arrived, months after Microsoft's leaders knew that everything they wrote was likely to wind up in
prosecutors' hands." Joel Brinkley & Steve Lohr, U.S. v. Microsoft 6 (2000). The authors
then write that Judge Jackson, who admitted those documents into evidence, likened the
phenomenon to the federal prosecution of drug traffickers, who are repeatedly caught as a result of
telephone wiretaps. "And yet, he said, 'they never figure out that they shouldn't be saying certain
things on the phone.'" Id. That comparison simply notes an analogy from the judge's trial
experience. It does not reflect "bias or prejudice." 28 U.S.C. 455.
The judge's apparent reference in a lecture (reported in the September 29, 2000, Washington
Post) to Microsoft's "intransigence" as a basis for ordering structural relief also shows no bias. The
remark essentially restates the court's determination, in its June 7, 2000, opinion on remedy, that
a structural remedy is needed in part because Microsoft was unwilling to accept the notion that it
broke the law and because it continued to engage in the sort of predatory conduct that the court
found unlawful. Remedy Order at 62 (JA ____); see Liteky, 510 U.S. at 550-51, 555. Contrary to
Microsoft's suggestion (MS Br. 148-49), the fourth cited comment (stating that cameras ought to
be available with, and without, light meters, Brinkley & Lohr, supra, at 263) does not refer to,
much less take issue with, Justice O'Connor's concurring opinion in Jefferson Parish, nor does it
reflect bias in any way. And the judge's "due process" remark, which Microsoft cites elsewhere in
its brief (MS Br. 11), essentially restates his ruling that due process did not require additional
proceedings on remedy beyond those conducted by the court. See pp. 144-45, supra.
Indeed, taken in their entirety, Judge Jackson's comments demonstrate neither bias nor the
appearance of bias. For example, the Brinkley and Lohr book quotes the judge describing Microsoft
as "a large and important company, innovative and admirable in a lot of ways." Brinkley & Lohr,
supra, at 277-78. The Washington Post article cited by Microsoft says: "But Jackson said he held
no ill will against the company or its co-founder and chairman, Bill Gates. 'I have never conceived
of this case as a contest of wills between me and Mr. Gates,' he said." James V. Grimaldi, Microsoft
Judge Says Ruling at Risk, Wash. Post, Sept. 29, 2000, at E1. And the Financial Times article
relied on by Microsoft reports that the judge made clear he was still "'full of admiration' for
Microsoft's accomplishments in the software industry." To be sure, the judge did not allow that
admiration to prevent him from fairly weighing the evidence and concluding that Microsoft had
violated the antitrust laws, but that is the mark of impartiality. As Judge Learned Hand observed,
if an examination of the evidence results in "bias," it "is precisely the bias which all evidence is
intended to create and which it should create, if a court does its duty." Alcoa, 148 F.2d at 433. That
is, of course, not "bias" within the meaning of Section 455.
2. Microsoft contends that Judge Jackson's statements are contrary to Canon 3A(6) of the
Code of Conduct for United States Judges, 175 F.R.D. 363 (1998), which provides:
A judge should avoid public comment on the merits of a pending or impending action,
requiring similar restraint by court personnel subject to the judge's direction and
control. This proscription does not extend to public statements made in the course of
the judge's official duties, to the explanation of court procedures, or to a scholarly
presentation made for the purposes of legal education.
175 F.R.D. at 367. Microsoft also asserts that Judge Jackson considered ex parte communications
in violation of Canon 3A(4) because of his "apparent decision to read letters he received from the
public during the trial" (MS Br. 150, citing Dartmouth Alumni Mag. Nov./Dec. 2000, at 44), but
the cited article does not say that Judge Jackson considered the letters in connection with any aspect
of the case. Without proof of judicial "bias or prejudice" within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. 455, a
violation of either part of the Canon does not justify reversal of the judgment or recusal of the judge
from subsequent proceedings. See United States v. Haldeman, 559 F.2d 31, 132-34 & n.297 (D.C.
Cir. 1976) (en banc); see also United States v. Barry, 961 F.2d 260, 263 (D.C. Cir. 1992); In re
Barry, 946 F.2d 913, 914 (D.C. Cir. 1991). As the introductory Commentary to the Code notes,
"the purpose of the Code would be subverted if the Code were invoked by lawyers for mere tactical
advantage in a proceeding." 175 F.R.D. at 365.
3. There is no need for the Court to interpret Canon 3A(6). Should it choose to do so as part
of its supervisory function to guide the course of future proceedings, however, the Court may wish
to take into account the following points. First, Canon 3A(6) contains an express proviso that its
"proscription does not extend to public statements made in the course of the judge's official duties,
to the explanation of court procedures, or to a scholarly presentation made for the purposes of legal
education." 175 F.R.D. at 367. After Barry, the Canon was revised to add the "legal education"
exception. Report of the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct at 7 (Sept. 1992).
At least three of the judge's public lectures are, by Microsoft's own description, "presentation[s]
made for the purposes of legal education": "an antitrust seminar in Washington, DC," "a law school
conference on Capitol Hill," and "a conference in Amsterdam sponsored by the International Bar
Association." MS Br. 146. Two other public lectures that Microsoft mentions speeches at
Dartmouth College and St. Mary's College of Maryland (MS Br. 146) appear from the press
reports (Microsoft has not provided actual texts) to have been efforts to teach students about the law.
As to the balance of the cited remarks, the introductory Commentary to the Code emphasizes that
"[t]he Canons are rules of reason" and that the overarching purpose of all the canons is preservation
of "[t]he integrity and independence of judges." 175 F.R.D. at 364, 370-71. Judge Jackson
demonstrated that integrity and independence in his conduct of the trial.
Second, although wisdom counsels judges to avoid public comment on a pending case, see
Barry, 961 F.2d at 263, Canon 3A(6) and its Commentary expressly contemplate that a judge may
perceive a public benefit in commenting on judicial matters of general concern. Questions of
interpreting the Canons ordinarily do not arise in the context of an appellate court's sitting in review
of a prior judicial decision. Nevertheless, if this Court were to conclude that such guidance is
appropriate, it could readily provide the necessary direction to the judge for conducting further
proceedings. Such prospective judicial administration should not affect the outcome of this appeal
because the remarks cited by Microsoft provide no reason to doubt Judge Jackson's impartiality.
CONCLUSION
The judgment of the district court should be affirmed.
|
ELIOT SPITZER
Attorney General of the
State of New York
PREETA D. BANSAL
Solicitor General
HARRY FIRST
Assistant Attorney General
MELANIE L. OXHORN
Assistant Solicitor General
RICHARD L. SCHWARTZ
Assistant Attorney General
120 Broadway
New York, New York 10271
JAMES E. DOYLE
Attorney General of Wisconsin
KEVIN J. O'CONNOR
Lead State Counsel
Office of Attorney General
State Capitol, Suite 114 East
Madison WI 53707-7857
(608) 266-8986
|
A. DOUGLAS MELAMED
Acting Assistant Attorney General
JEFFREY H. BLATTNER
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
JEFFREY P. MINEAR
DAVID C. FREDERICK
Assistants to the Solicitor General
MARY JEAN MOLTENBREY
Director, Civil Non-Merger Enforcement
CATHERINE G. O'SULLIVAN
ROBERT B. NICHOLSON
DAVID E. BLAKE-THOMAS
JOHN F. COVE, JR.
SUSAN M. DAVIES
ADAM D. HIRSH
ANDREA LIMMER
PHILLIP R. MALONE
DAVID SEIDMAN
CHRISTOPHER SPRIGMAN
Attorneys
Department of Justice
Washington D.C. 20530
(202) 514-2413
|
January 12, 2001
ADDENDUM A
STATUTES AND REGULATIONS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
17 U.S.C. § 101
17 U.S.C. § 102(a)
17 U.S.C. § 106
28 U.S.C. § 455
175 F.R.D. 363 et seq. (1998)
17 U.S.C. §101
* * *
A "derivative work" is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation,
musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art
reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast,
transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other
modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a "derivative work".
* * *
17 U.S.C. §102(a)
(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed
in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be
perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or
device. Works of authorship include the following categories:
(1) literary works;
(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
(7) sound recordings; and
(8) architectural works.
17 U.S.C. §106
Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
Subject to sections 107 through 121, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights
to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other
transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion
pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial,
graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual
work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and
(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital
audio transmission.
28 U.S.C. §455
Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding
in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:
(1) Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of
disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
(2) Where in private practice he served as lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with
whom he previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter,
or the judge or such lawyer has been a material witness concerning it;
(3) Where he has served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as counsel,
adviser or material witness concerning the proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the merits
of the particular case in controversy;
(4) He knows that he, individually or as a fiduciary, or his spouse or minor child residing in his
household, has a financial interest in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to the proceeding,
or any other interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(5) He or his spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the
spouse of such a person:
(i) Is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party;
(ii) Is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;
(iii) Is known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome
of the proceeding;
(iv) Is to the judge's knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.
(c) A judge should inform himself about his personal and fiduciary financial interests, and make a
reasonable effort to inform himself about the personal financial interests of his spouse and minor
children residing in his household.
(d) For the purposes of this section the following words or phrases shall have the meaning indicated:
(1) "proceeding" includes pretrial, trial, appellate review, or other stages of litigation;
(2) the degree of relationship is calculated according to the civil law system;
(3) "fiduciary" includes such relationships as executor, administrator, trustee, and guardian;
(4) "financial interest" means ownership of a legal or equitable interest, however small, or a
relationship as director, adviser, or other active participant in the affairs of a party, except that:
(i) Ownership in a mutual or common investment fund that holds securities is not a "financial
interest" in such securities unless the judge participates in the management of the fund;
(ii) An office in an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization is not a
"financial interest" in securities held by the organization;
(iii) The proprietary interest of a policyholder in a mutual insurance company, of a depositor in
a mutual savings association, or a similar proprietary interest, is a "financial interest" in the
organization only if the outcome of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the interest;
(iv) Ownership of government securities is a "financial interest" in the issuer only if the outcome
of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the securities.
(e) No justice, judge, or magistrate shall accept from the parties to the proceeding a waiver of any
ground for disqualification enumerated in subsection (b). Where the ground for disqualification arises
only under subsection (a), waiver may be accepted provided it is preceded by a full disclosure on the
record of the basis for disqualification.
(f) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this section, if any justice, judge, magistrate, or
bankruptcy judge to whom a matter has been assigned would be disqualified, after substantial judicial
time has been devoted to the matter, because of the appearance or discovery, after the matter was
assigned to him or her, that he or she individually or as a fiduciary, or his or her spouse or minor child
residing in his or her household, has a financial interest in a party (other than an interest that could
be substantially affected by the outcome), disqualification is not required if the justice, judge,
magistrate, bankruptcy judge, spouse or minor child, as the case may be, divests himself or herself
of the interest that provides the grounds for the disqualification.
175 F.R.D. 363
This Code applies to United States Circuit Judges, District Judges, Court of International Trade
Judges, Court of Federal Claims Judges, Bankruptcy Judges, and Magistrate Judges. Certain
provisions of this Code apply to special masters and commissioners as indicated in the "Compliance"
section. In addition, the Tax Court, Court of Veterans Appeals, and Court of Appeals for the Armed
Forces have adopted this Code. Persons to whom the Code applies must arrange their affairs as soon
as reasonably possible to comply with the Code and should do so in any event within one year of
appointment.
The Judicial Conference has authorized its Committee on Codes of Conduct to render advisory
opinions concerning the application and interpretation of this Code only when requested by a judge
to whom this Code applies. Requests for opinions and other questions [FN2] concerning this Code
and its applicability should be addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on Codes of Conduct as
follows:
Chairman, Committee on Codes of Conduct
c/o General Counsel
Administrative Office of the United States Courts
One Columbus Circle, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20544
(202) 273-1100
[FN1]. The Code of Conduct for United States Judges was initially adopted by the Judicial
Conference on April 5, 1973, and was known as the "Code of Judicial Conduct for United States
Judges." At its March 1987 session, the Judicial Conference deleted the word "Judicial" from the
name of the Code. Substantial revisions to the Code were adopted by the Judicial Conference at its
September 1992 session. Section C. of the Compliance section, following the code, was revised at
the March 1996 Judicial Conference. Canons 3C(3)(a) and 5C(4) were revised at the September
1996 Judicial Conference.
[FN2]. Procedural questions may be addressed to: Office of the General Counsel, Administrative
Office of the United States Courts, Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, Washington, D.C.,
20544, (202-273-1100).
CANON 3
A JUDGE SHOULD PERFORM THE DUTIES
OF THE OFFICE IMPARTIALLY AND DILIGENTLY
The judicial duties of a judge take precedence over all other activities. In performing the duties
prescribed by law, the judge should adhere to the following standards:
A. Adjudicative Responsibilities.
(1) A judge should be faithful to and maintain professional competence in the law, and should not
be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor, or fear of criticism.
(2) A judge should hear and decide matters assigned, unless disqualified, and should maintain order
and decorum in all judicial proceedings.
(3) A judge should be patient, dignified, respectful, and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses,
lawyers, and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity, and should require similar
conduct of those subject to the judge's control, including lawyers to the extent consistent with their
role in the adversary process.
(4) A judge should accord to every person who is legally interested in a proceeding, or the person's
lawyer, full right to be heard according to law, and, except as authorized by law, neither initiate nor
consider ex parte communications on the merits, or procedures affecting the merits, of a pending or
impending proceeding. A judge may, however, obtain the advice of a disinterested expert on the law
applicable to a proceeding before the judge if the judge gives notice to the parties of the person
consulted and the substance of the advice, and affords the parties reasonable opportunity to respond.
A judge may, with consent of the parties, confer separately with the parties and their counsel in an
effort to mediate or settle pending matters.
(5) A judge should dispose promptly of the business of the court.
(6) A judge should avoid public comment on the merits of a pending or impending action, requiring
similar restraint by court personnel subject to the judge's direction and control. This proscription
does not extend to public statements made in the course of the judge's official duties, to the
explanation of court procedures, or to a scholarly presentation made for purposes of legal education.
B. Administrative Responsibilities.
(1) A judge should diligently discharge the judge's administrative responsibilities, maintain
professional competence in judicial administration, and facilitate the performance of the administrative
responsibilities of other judges and court officials.
(2) A judge should require court officials, staff, and others subject to the judge's direction and
control, to observe the same standards of fidelity and diligence applicable to the judge.
(3) A judge should initiate appropriate action when the judge becomes aware of reliable evidence
indicating the likelihood of unprofessional conduct by a judge or lawyer.
(4) A judge should not make unnecessary appointments and should exercise that power only on the
basis of merit, avoiding nepotism and favoritism. A judge should not approve compensation of
appointees beyond the fair value of services rendered.
(5) A judge with supervisory authority over other judges should take reasonable measures to assure
the timely and effective performance of their duties.
C. Disqualification.
(1) A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might
reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances in which:
(a) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of
disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
(b) the judge served as lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom the judge
previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter, or the
judge or such lawyer has been a material witness;
(c) the judge knows that, individually or as a fiduciary, the judge or the judge's spouse or minor
child residing in the judge's household, has a financial interest in the subject matter in controversy or
in a party to the proceeding, or any other interest that could be affected substantially by the outcome
of the proceeding;
(d) the judge or the judge's spouse, or a person related to either within the third degree of
relationship, or the spouse of such a person:
(i) is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party;
(ii) is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;
(iii) is known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome
of the proceeding; or
(iv) is to the judge's knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.
(e) the judge has served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as counsel,
advisor, or material witness concerning the proceeding or has expressed an opinion concerning the
merits of the particular case in controversy.
(2) A judge should keep informed about the judge's personal and fiduciary financial interests, and
make a reasonable effort to keep informed about the personal financial interests of the judge's spouse
and minor children residing in the judge's household.
(3) For the purposes of this section:
(a) the degree of relationship is calculated according to the civil law system; the following relatives
are within the third degree of relationship: parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, great grandparent,
great grandchild, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, niece and nephew; the listed relatives include whole and
half blood relatives and most step relatives;
(b) "fiduciary" includes such relationships as executor, administrator, trustee, and guardian;
(c) "financial interest" means ownership of a legal or equitable interest, however small, or a
relationship as director, advisor, or other active participant in the affairs of a party, except that:
(i) ownership in a mutual or common investment fund that holds securities is not a "financial
interest" in such securities unless the judge participates in the management of the fund;
(ii) an office in an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization is not a
"financial interest" in securities held by the organization;
(iii) the proprietary interest of a policy holder in a mutual insurance company, or a depositor in a
mutual savings association, or a similar proprietary interest, is a "financial interest" in the organization
only if the outcome of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the interest;
(iv) ownership of government securities is a "financial interest" in the issuer only if the outcome
of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the securities.
(d) "proceeding" includes pretrial, trial, appellate review, or other stages of litigation.
(4) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Canon, if a judge to whom a matter has been
assigned would be disqualified, after substantial judicial time has been devoted to the matter, because
of the appearance or discovery, after the matter was assigned to him or her, that he or she individually
or as a fiduciary, or his or her spouse or minor child residing in his or her household, has a financial
interest in a party (other than an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome),
disqualification is not required if the judge, spouse or minor child, as the case may be, divests himself
or herself of the interest that provides the grounds for the disqualification.
D. Remittal of Disqualification.
A judge disqualified by the terms of Canon 3C(1), except in the circumstances specifically set out
in subsections (a) through (e), may, instead of withdrawing from the proceeding, disclose on the
record the basis of disqualification. If the parties and their lawyers after such disclosure and an
opportunity to confer outside of the presence of the judge, all agree in writing or on the record that
the judge should not be disqualified, and the judge is then willing to participate, the judge may
participate in the proceeding. The agreement shall be incorporated in the record of the proceeding.
COMMENTARY
Canon 3A(3). The duty to hear all proceedings fairly and with patience is not inconsistent with the
duty to dispose promptly of the business of the court. Courts can be efficient and businesslike while
being patient and deliberate.
The duty under Canon 2 to act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and
impartiality of the judiciary applies to all the judge's activities, including the discharge of the judge's
adjudicative and administrative responsibilities. For example, the duty to be respectful of others
includes the responsibility to avoid comment or behavior that can reasonably be interpreted as
manifesting prejudice or bias towards another on the basis of personal characteristics like race, sex,
religion, or national origin.
Canon 3A(4). The proscription against communications concerning a proceeding includes
communications from lawyers, law teachers, and other persons who are not participants in the
proceeding, except to the limited extent permitted. It does not preclude a judge from consulting with
other judges, or with court personnel whose function is to aid the judge in carrying out adjudicative
responsibilities. A judge should make reasonable efforts to ensure that this provision is not violated
through law clerks or other staff personnel.
An appropriate and often desirable procedure for a court to obtain the advice of a disinterested
expert on legal issues is to invite the expert to file a brief amicus-curiae.
Canon 3A(5). In disposing of matters promptly, efficiently and fairly, a judge must demonstrate
due regard for the rights of the parties to be heard and to have issues resolved without unnecessary
cost or delay. A judge should monitor and supervise cases so as to reduce or eliminate dilatory
practices, avoidable delays and unnecessary costs. A judge should encourage and seek to facilitate
settlement, but parties should not feel coerced into surrendering the right to have their controversy
resolved by the courts.
Prompt disposition of the court's business requires a judge to devote adequate time to judicial duties,
to be punctual in attending court and expeditious in determining matters under submission, and to
insist that court officials, litigants and their lawyers cooperate with the judge to that end.
Canon 3A(6). The admonition against public comment about the merits of a pending or impending
action continues until completion of the appellate process. If the public comment involves a case
from the judge's own court, particular care should be taken that the comment does not denigrate
public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary in violation of Canon 2A. This
provision does not restrict comments about proceedings in which the judge is a litigant in a personal
capacity, but in mandamus proceedings when the judge is a litigant in an official capacity, the judge
should not comment beyond the record.
"Court personnel" does not include the lawyers in a proceeding before a judge. The conduct of
lawyers is governed by the rules of professional conduct applicable in the various jurisdictions.
ADDENDUM B
INDEX TO THE DISTRICT COURT'S FINDINGS OF FACT
| FF Number | J.A. Page |
| I. Background | 1-17 | |
| II. The relevant market | 18 | |
| A. Demand substitutability | 19 | |
| 1. Server operating systems | 19 | |
| 2. Non-Intel-compatible PC operating systems | 20-21 | |
| 3. Information appliances | 22-23 | |
| 4. Network computers | 24-26 | |
| 5. Server-based computing generally | 27 | |
| 6. Middleware | 28-29 | |
| B. The possibility of supply responses | 30-32 | |
| III. Microsoft's power in the relevant market | 33-34 | |
| A. Market share | 35 | |
| B. The applications barrier to entry | 36 | |
| 1. | Description of the applications barrier to entry |
| 36-44 | |
| 2. | Empirical evidence of the applications barrier to entry |
| 45 | |
| a. OS/2 Warp | 46 | |
| b. The Mac OS | 47 | |
| c. Fringe operating systems | 48-50 | |
| 3. Open-source applications development | 51 | |
| 4. Cloning the 32-bit Windows APIs | 52 | |
| C. Viable alternatives to Windows | 53-56 | |
| D. | Price restraint posed by Microsoft's installed base |
| 57 | |
| E. Price restraint posed by piracy | 58 | |
| F. Price restraint posed by long-term threats | 59-60 | |
| G. Significance of Microsoft's innovation | 61 | |
| H. Microsoft's pricing behavior | 62-66 | |
| I. Microsoft's actions toward other firms | 67 | |
| IV. The middleware threats | 68 | |
| A. The Netscape Web browser | 69-70 | |
| B. Sun's implementation of the Java technologies | 73-77 | |
| C. Other middleware threats | 78 | |
| V. Microsoft's response to the browser threat | 79 | |
| A. | Microsoft's attempt to dissuade Netscape from developing Navigator as a platform |
| 79-89 | |
| B. Withholding crucial technical information | 90-92 | |
| C. | The similar experiences of other firms in dealing with Microsoft |
| 93 | |
| 1. Intel | 94-103 | |
| 2. Apple | 104-110 | |
| 3. RealNetworks | 111-114 | |
| 4. IBM | 115-132 | |
| D. | Developing competitive Web browsing software |
| 133-135 | |
| E. | Giving Internet Explorer away and rewarding firms that helped build its usage share |
| 136-142 | |
| F. | Excluding Navigator from important distribution channels |
| 143 | |
| 1. | The importance of the OEM and IAP channels |
| 144-148 | |
| 2. | Excluding Navigator from the OEM channels |
| 149 | |
| a. Binding Internet Explorer to Windows | | |
| i. | The status of Web browsers as separate products |
| 149-154 | |
| ii. Microsoft's actions | 155-174 | |
| iii. Lack of justification | 175-198 | |
| iv. | The market for Web browsing functionality |
| 199-201 | |
| b. | Preventing OEMs from removing the ready means of accessing Internet Explorer and from promoting Navigator in the boot sequence |
| 202-229 | |
| c. | Pressuring OEMs to promote Internet Explorer and to not pre-install or promote Navigator |
| 230-238 | |
| d. | The effect of Microsoft's actions in the OEM channel |
| 239-241 | |
| 3. Excluding Navigator from the IAP channel | 242-247 | |
| a. | The Internet Explorer access kit agreements |
| 248-252 | |
| b. The referral server agreements | 253-271 | |
| c. The online services folder agreements | 272 | |
| i. AOL | 273-304 | |
| ii. Other online services | 305-306 | |
| d. | Effect of Microsoft's actions in the IAP channel |
| 307-310 | |
| 4. | Inducing ICPs to enhance Internet Explorer's
usage share at Navigator's expense |
| 311-336 | |
| 5. | Directly inducing ISVs to rely on Microsoft's
browsing technologies rather than APIs
exposed by Navigator |
| 337-340 | |
| 6. | Foreclosing Apple as a distribution
channel for Navigator |
| 341-356 | |
| G. | Microsoft's success in excluding Navigator
from the channels that lead most efficiently
to browser usage |
| 357 | |
| H. | The success of Microsoft's effort to
maximize Internet Explorer's usage
share at Navigator's expense |
| 358 | |
| 1. | The change in the usage shares of
Internet Explorer and Navigator |
| 359-374 | |
| 2. The cause of the change in usage shares | 375-376 | |
| I. | The success of Microsoft's effort to protect
the applications barrier to entry from the
treat posed by Navigator |
| 377-385 | |
| VI. | Microsoft's response to the threat posed by
Sun's implementation of Java |
| 386 | |
| A. | Creating a Java implementation for
Windows that undermined portability and
was incompatible with other implementations |
| 387-394 | |
| B. | Inducing developers to use the Microsoft
implementation of Java rather than Sun-
compliant implementations |
| 395-403 | |
| C. | Thwarting the expansion of the Java class libraries |
| 404-406 | |
| D. | The effect of Microsoft's efforts to prevent
Java from diminishing the applications
barrier to entry |
| 407 | |
| VII. | The effect on consumers of Microsoft's efforts to
protect the applications barrier to entry |
| 408-412 | |
ADDENDUM C
WITNESSES, DEPONENTS, AND OTHERS NAMED IN THIS BRIEF
| Name | Title or Position |
| Allchin, James | Senior Vice President, Personal and Business Systems Group, Microsoft
Corp. |
| Andreessen, Marc | Executive Vice President, Products and Marketing, Netscape
Communications Corp. |
| Barck, Russell | Business Developer, Intel Corp. |
| Barksdale, James | Former President and CEO, Netscape Communications Corp. |
| Barrett, Phillip | Senior Vice President, Media Technologies Group, RealNetworks, and a
former Microsoft employee |
| Case, Steve | Chairman and CEO, America Online Inc. |
| Chase, Brad | Vice President, Marketing and Software Developer Relations for Personal
and Business Systems Group, Microsoft Corp. |
| Clark, James | Former CEO, Netscape Communications Corp. |
| Colburn, David | Senior Vice President, Business Affairs, America Online Inc. |
| Croll, Brian | Director, Product Marketing for the Solaris Operating System, Sun
Microsystems, Inc. |
| Currie, Peter | Former Chief Financial Officer, Netscape Communications Corp. |
| Decker, Stephen | Director, Software Procurement, Compaq Computer Corp. |
| Engstrom, Eric | General Manager, Windows Client and Collaboration Division, Multimedia,
Microsoft Corp. |
| Farber, David | Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems, Moore
School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania |
| Felten, Edward | Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Princeton University |
| Fisher, Frank | Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and
Director, National Bureau of Economic Research |
| Gates, Bill | President and CEO, Microsoft Corp. |
| Gosling, James | Chief Scientist of Java Software Division, Vice President and Sun Fellow,
Sun Microsystems Inc. |
| Harris, William | CEO, Intuit Inc. |
| Jacobsen, Bruce | Chief Operating Officer and President, RealNetworks Inc., and a former
Microsoft employee |
| Jones, Chris | Product Unit Manager of the Internet Explorer Team, Microsoft
Corp. |
| Kanicki, Joseph | Senior Manager in Worldwide Procurement, Dell Computer Corp. |
| Kannegaard, Jon | Vice President of Java Platform Products, Sun Microsystems Inc. |
| Kempin, Joachim | Senior Vice President of OEM Sales Group, Microsoft Corp. |
| Kies, Jon | Senior Product Manager for Packard Bell, NEC Inc. |
| Maritz, Paul | Group Vice President, Platforms and Applications, Microsoft Corp. |
| McGeady, Steven | Vice President in the Content Group, Intel Corp. |
| Mehdi, Yusuf | Director of Marketing, Internet and Applications Client Groups, Microsoft
Corp. |
| Mehta, Kumar | Research manager for Internet Client and Collaboration Division,
Microsoft Corp., reported to Mehdi and Chase |
| Muglia, Robert | Senior Vice President of Application and Tools Group, Microsoft
Corp. |
| Myhrvold, Cameron | Vice President of the Internet Customer Unit, Strategic Relationships,
Microsoft Corp. |
| Norris, Garry | Former Program Director of Software Strategy and Strategic Relations,
IBM PC Company |
| Phillips, Chris | Business Development Manager, Microsoft Corp. |
| Popov, Michael | Vice President and COO of Staff Operations, Sun Microsystems
Inc. |
| Reardon, Thomas | Program Manager in the Interactive Media Group, Microsoft Corp. |
| Romano, John | Operating Manager for the Asia Pacific Region, Home Products Division,
Hewlett Packard Corp. |
| Rose, John | Former Senior Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Computing
Group, Compaq Computer Corp. |
| Rosen, Daniel | General Manager of New Technology, Microsoft Corp. |
| Sasaki, Curtis | Group Marketing Manager for Consumer and Embedded Technologies,
Sun Microsystems Inc. |
| Schaaff, Timothy | Senior Director of the Interactive Media Group, Apple Computer
Corp. |
| Schiller, Phillip | Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, Apple Computer
Corp. |
| Schmalensee, Richard | Gordon Y. Billard Professor of Economics and Dean, MIT Sloan School of
Management |
| Schuler, Barry | President of the Interactive Services Group, America Online, Inc. |
| Silverberg, Brad | Former Senior Vice President of the Applications and Internet Client
Group, Microsoft Corp. |
| Slivka, Benjamin | General Manager in the Windows Team, Microsoft Corp. |
| Soyring, John | Director of Network Computing Software Services, IBM Corp. |
| Sparks, Bryan | President and CEO, Caldera Corp. |
| Sullivan, Robert | Director of Content Technology, Intel Corp. |
| Tevanian, Avadis | Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Apple Computer
Corp. |
| Vesey, Scott | Windows Web Browser Product Manager, The Boeing Company |
| Von Holle, James | Director of Software and Internet Services, Gateway 2000 |
Warren-Boulton, Frederick | Principal with MiCRA (Microeconomic Consulting and Research
Associates Inc.) |
| Weadock, Glenn | President, Independent Software Inc. |
| Whittier, Ronald | General Manager of the Content Group, Intel Corp. |
| Wildfeuer, Christian | Microsoft employee with responsibility for running marketing focus
groups. |
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this 12th day of January, 2001, I caused two copies of the
foregoing BRIEF FOR APPELLEES UNITED STATES AND THE STATE PLAINTIFFS to be
served, as follows:
BY HAND:
Bradley P. Smith
Sullivan & Cromwell
1701 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 956-7500
Counsel for Appellant Microsoft
Randall J. Boe
Theodore W. Ullyot
America Online, Inc.
22000 AOL Way
Dulles, Virginia 20166
Tel: (703) 448-8700
Fax: (703) 265-1495
Counsel for AOL
Donald M. Falk
Mayer, Brown & Platt
1909 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
Tel: (202) 263-3000
Fax: (202) 263-3300
Counsel for SIIA
Carl Lundgren
Valmarpro Antitrust
5035 South 25th Street
Arlington, Virginia 22206-1057
Tel: (703) 235-1910
Fax: (703) 235-5551
Robert S. Getman
359 West 29th Street
Suite G
New York, New York 10001
Tel: (212) 594-6721
Fax: (212) 594-6732
Counsel for TAFOL
Robert H. Bork
1150 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: (202) 862-5851
Fax: (202) 862-5899
Counsel for ProComp
BY OVERNIGHT COURIER:
John Warden
Sullivan & Cromwell
125 Broad Street
New York, New York 10004
Tel: (212) 558-4000
Counsel for Appellant Microsoft
Paul T. Cappuccio
Time Warner
75 Rockefeller Plaza
Floor 28
New York, New York 10019
Counsel for AOL |
Edward J. Black
Jason M. Mahler
Computer & Communications
Industry Association
666 Eleventh Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
Tel: (202) 783-0070
Fax: (202) 783-0534
Counsel for CCIA
Louis R. Cohen
C. Boyden Gray
Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering
2445 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037-1420
Tel: (202) 663-6000
Fax: (202) 663-6363
Counsel for ACT and CompTIA
Laura Bennett Peterson
700 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
Tel: (202) 298-5608
Fax: (202) 298-8788
David Burton
333 North Fairfax Street
Suite 302
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Counsel for CMDC
Dr. Lee Hollaar
Professor of Computing Science
School of Computing
University of Utah
3190 Merrill Engineering Building
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Tel: (801) 581-3203
Fax: (810) 581-5843
William Neukom
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, Washington 98052
Tel: (425) 869-1327
Counsel for Appellant Microsoft
______________________
David E. Blake-Thomas
(202) 616-5949
(202) 514-2413
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FOOTNOTES
1. For general background about the terminology and technical issues presented in the case, see FF
1-17 (JA ____); Felten ¶¶ 11-28, Farber ¶ 11, Gosling ¶¶ 7-11, Tevanian ¶¶ 8-9, 12, Warren-Boulton ¶¶ 20-25, Barksdale ¶¶ 69-70 (JA ____); GX 1050 (Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary).
2. See Schmalensee Tr. 1/14/99 am at 24:9-25, Tevanian Tr. 11/4/98 pm at 11:21-12:13 (JA ____).
3. See GX 401 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 6/1/99 am at 27:1-16, Warren-Boulton Tr. 11/23/98 pm at 8:20-25, 9:17-25 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton ¶¶ 33-41 (JA ____).
4. See also Fisher ¶¶ 72-78, Warren-Boulton ¶¶ 42-63 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 6/1/99 am at 27:1-6,
27:14-16, Kempin Tr. 2/25/99 pm at 97:24-99:8 (JA ____).
5. See Fisher ¶ 64, Warren-Boulton ¶¶ 41, 45 (JA ____); GX 1 (JA ____).
6. See also Tevanian ¶ 14, Fisher ¶ 64, Warren-Boulton ¶ 41 (JA ____).
7. See Norris Tr. 6/7/99 am at 66:15-67:6, Rose Tr. 2/17/99 pm at 17-20 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 63,
Rose ¶ 17 (JA ____).
8. See Warren-Boulton ¶ 195, Fisher ¶¶ 127-29, 241(JA ____); Tr. 6/1/99 am at 37:21-38:24, 39:14-40:6, 60:15-62:2 (JA ____).
9. See FF 31-32, 36-52 (JA ____); GX 679 at 8 (JA ____); Gosling ¶¶ 15, 18, Tevanian ¶ 15, Fisher
¶¶ 66-70, Warren-Boulton ¶¶ 53, 54, 57 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 298:2-23 (Von Holle Dep.) (JA
____).
10. See GX 510 at MS7 004130 (Chase) (JA ____); Kempin Tr. 2/25/99 pm at 98:18-99:5, Rose Tr.
2/17/99 pm at 19-20, 24-25 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 71 (JA ____).
11. Tr. 1/13/99 at 717:21-718:4 (Slivka Dep.), Tevanian Tr. 11/4/98 pm at 11:12-12:18 (JA ____);
Warren-Boulton ¶ 53 (JA ____); GX 523 at MS98 0103654 (JA ____).
12. See Gosling ¶¶ 10-12, Barksdale ¶ 75 (JA ____).
13. See Harris ¶ 25, Barksdale ¶¶ 71-73, Gosling ¶¶ 13-14, Fisher ¶¶ 70-71 (JA ____).
14. See Warren-Boulton ¶ 57, Fisher ¶ 43 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 6/1/99 am at 52-56, Warren-Boulton
Tr. 11/24/98 am at 52-53, Schmalensee Tr. 1/14/99 am at 34 (JA ____).
15. See Maritz ¶ 236 (JA ____); GX 21 at MS98 0102395, GX 521 at MS98 0103337 (JA ____);
Maritz Tr. 1/28/99 am at 56:8-57:1 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 724 (Slivka Dep.) (JA ____).
16. See FF 69-77 (JA ____); GX 20 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 460-61, 502-07 (Gates Dep.), Maritz
Tr. 1/28/99 am at 56:20-57:1, Tr. 1/13/99 at 578:2-14 (Jones Dep.), Tr. 1/13/99 at 637:14-638:22
(Mehdi Dep.), Muglia Tr. 2/26/99 pm at 4:8-18 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 88 (JA ____); GX 42 at MS6
6010347 (JA ____).
17. See GX 523 at MS98 0103658, GX 407 at MS6 5005709, GX 21 at MS98 0102395, 0102397 (JA
____).
18. Accord GX 540 at MS98 0010342, GX 536 at MS98 0009585 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 581:20-582:18 (Jones Dep.), Tr. 10/27/98 am at 39-40 (JA ____); GX 18, 24, 27, 501, 535, 537, 557, 952,
953, GX 331 at MS98 0103672, GX 25 at MS98 0009973, GX 33 at NSC 017098-100 (JA ____).
19. GX 33, 34 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶¶ 25, 106, 110-12 (JA ____); Tr. 10/27/98 am at 53:3-54:23
(JA ____); DX 2555 at 429:10-430:8 (JA ____).
20. GX 243, 248 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶¶ 207-09, 213 (JA ____); Tr. 10/22/98 pm at 53:14-18, Tr.
10/26/98 pm at 59-67 (JA ____).
21. GX 39 at MS6 5005719-20, GX 42 at MS6 6010346, GX 296, GX 56 at TXAG 0009634 (JA
____).
22. GX 511, GX 432 (sealed), GX 56 at TXAG 0009635, GX 296, GX 42 at MS6 6010346 (JA
____).
23. Fisher ¶¶ 122-23, Schmalensee ¶ 211 (JA ____); Schmalensee Tr. 1/20/99 am at 21, Maritz Tr.
1/26/99 pm at 18-22 (JA ____); GX 112 (JA ____).
24. GX 93, 204, 233 at MS98 0125655 (JA ____); Barksdale ¶ 125, Harris ¶ 92, Fisher ¶ 214 (JA
____).
25. See Tr. 1/13/99 at 304:17-305:12, 310:24-312:21(Von Holle Dep.), Tr. 2/18/99 am at 61:2-63:19
(Decker Dep.), Tr. 12/16/98 am at 17:3-11 (Kies Dep.) (JA ____); Weadock ¶ 39 (JA ____).
26. See Kempin Tr. 2/25/99 am at 43:4-15 (JA ____); GX 295 (Gates memo), 297 (JA ____).
27. See also FF 204-07 (JA ____); Schmalensee Tr. 1/20/99 am at 33-35 (JA ____); GX 649-50, 645,
301, 304, 1129 at MSV 0005245, 647 at MSV 0002127 (sealed), 1183 at MS98 0009095-96
(sealed), 458 at MS98 0009146 (sealed) (JA ____).
28. See GX 36 (JA ____); Weadock Tr. 11/16/98 pm at 92:16-22 (JA ____); Felten ¶¶ 21-22, Fisher
¶ 159 (JA ____).
29. See Kempin ¶¶ 17-22, 46, 57-58 (JA ____); GX 379, 304 (JA ____); Norris Tr. 6/7/99 pm at
62:25-63:25 (JA ____).
30. FF 151 (JA ____); see GX 1242 at 7 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 332-33 (Kanicki Dep.), Tr.
11/17/98 am at 52-53 (Vesey Dep.) (JA ____).
31. See GX 302, 319, 2191 (JA ____).
32. Accord GX 307, 309, 2141 (JA ____).
33. See GX 302, 307, 309, 319 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton ¶¶ 189-94 (JA ____).
34. See Fisher ¶¶ 124, 126, Warren-Boulton ¶ 185 (JA ____); Schmalensee Tr. 6/24/99 pm at 16:12-21, Fisher Tr. 6/1/99 am at 40:7-25, 68:18-69:10 (JA ____); GX 39 at MS6 5005720, GX 59 (JA
____).
35. Accord GX 140 at MS98 0107151, 138 at MS6 6005045, GX 151, 601, 606, 143, 63, 146, 137
(JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 106-07, 111 (Barrett Dep.) (JA ____).
36. GX 521 (JA ____); Allchin Tr. 2/3/99 am at 56-58 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 143 (JA ____).
37. See Felten ¶ 51 (JA ____); Farber Tr. 12/9/98 am at 53:3-16, Felten Tr. 12/14/98 am at 27:11-19,
29:11-17, Tr. 12/14/98 pm at 14:7-11 (JA ____).
38. See also FF 187-93 (JA ____); Farber ¶ 24, Felten ¶ 31 (JA ____); Felten Tr. 6/10/99 am at 18-20, Allchin Tr. 2/1/99 pm at 41:9-14 (JA ____).
39. See Felten ¶¶ 56-57, Fisher ¶ 165, Soyring ¶¶ 21-22, Warren-Boulton ¶ 181 (JA ____);
Warren-Boulton Tr. 11/24/98 pm at 22-23, Muglia Tr. 2/26/99 pm at 67, Felten Tr. 6/10/99 am at
62 (JA ____).
40. See DX 2572 at 53-54, 115-16 (IBM) (JA ____); Tevanian ¶ 24 (Apple) (JA ____); Tr. 12/10/98
pm at 60:10-62:1 (Sun), Tr. 12/15/98 am at 62:25-64:6 (SCO), Tr. 1/13/99 at 190:18-191:2
(Novell), Tr. 12/16/98 am at 50:24-51:8 (Caldera) (JA ____).
41. See also FF 156-57 (JA ____); GX 623, 521 (JA ____); Allchin Tr. 2/3/99 am at 56 (JA ____);
Fisher ¶ 143 (JA ____).
42. GX 53 (JA ____).
43. See Felten ¶ 67 (JA ____); Weadock Tr. 11/16/98 pm at 44:16-23 (JA ____); GX 364 at MS7
004719 (JA ____).
44. See Myhrvold Tr. 2/10/99 am at 27-28, Schmalensee Tr. 1/20/99 am at 56:19-57:23, Tr. 1/13/99
at 689-91 (Silverberg Dep.) (JA ____); GX 81, 198, 1019, 51 at MS7 005539 (JA ____).
45. See Myhrvold Tr. 2/10/99 am at 62:7-25 (JA ____); GX 39, 440, 472, 179 (JA ____); Chase
¶¶ 51-52, Myhrvold ¶¶ 10, 32-33 (JA ____).
46. See Chase Tr. 2/16/99 am at 29:14-30:3 (JA ____); Warren-Boulton ¶ 103 (JA ____).
47. See Tevanian ¶¶ 30-34 (JA ____); Maritz Tr. 1/28/99 pm at 27:13-28:18 (JA ____).
48. GX 1167 at § 3.1 (JA ____); see also GX 266 (JA ____); Tevanian ¶¶ 38, 41; Tr. 11/9/98 am at
40-44, Tr. 11/4/98 pm at 61-62 (JA ____).
49. Tevanian ¶¶ 37-39, 42 (JA ____); Barksdale Tr. 10/27/98 am at 18:11-19:15 (JA ____); GX 595
(JA ____).
50. See Fisher ¶ 191, Barksdale ¶¶ 32, 158, 227-28, 230 (JA ____); Barksdale Tr. 10/21/98 am at 69,
Myhrvold Tr. 2/9/99 pm at 41:4-42:1 (JA ____); GX 204 (JA ____).
51. Accord Myhrvold Tr. 2/9/99 pm at 49, 62-63, Tr. 1/13/99 at 635-36 (Mehdi Dep.), Fisher Tr.
6/1/99 pm at 22-23, Tr. 12/15/98 am at 21:6-13 (Gates Dep.) (JA ____); GX 510 at MS7 004127
(JA ____).
52. See Barksdale ¶¶ 223-24, Gosling ¶ 37 (JA ____); Barksdale Tr. 10/27/98 pm at 20:4-12, Tr.
10/21/98 pm at 55-56, Warren-Boulton Tr. 11/24/98 am at 74:8-13, Myhrvold Tr. 2/10/99 pm at 29-32:13 (JA ____); see also FF 197-98 (JA ____).
53. See Fisher Tr. 1/11/99 pm at 57:15-58:20, 1/7/99 pm at 36:21-37:4, Warren-Boulton Tr. 11/23/98
am at 82:3-84:24 (JA ____).
54. See Warren-Boulton ¶ 88 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 1/7/99 pm at 36:23-37:4 (JA ____).
55. See Barksdale ¶¶ 232-38 (JA ____); Fisher Tr. 6/4/99 pm at 5:18-7:6, 6/2/99 am at 7-9, Myhrvold
Tr. 2/10/99 am at 62:7-25 (JA ____); GX 173 (JA ____).
56. See Fisher ¶¶ 124, 128 (JA ____); GX 48, 515 at MS98 0203013, 20 at MS98 01128763, 407 at
MS6 5005709 (JA ____).
57. See Fisher ¶¶ 124-28 (JA ____); GX 40, 42, 112, 511, 39 at MS6 5005720, 510 at MS7 004127
(JA ____).
58. FF 379 (JA ____); GX 343, 39 at MS6 5005720 (JA ____).
59. See Muglia ¶ 8, Maritz ¶ 243 (JA ____); Tr. 2/26/99 pm at 4:8-18, 9:3-21, Tr.12/2/98 am at
24:15-22 (Gates Dep.) (JA ____); DX 2568 at 90-91 (Gates) (JA ____).
60. McGeady Tr. 11/9/98 pm at 56-57, 67-71, 11/10/98 am at 6-8, 14-18 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 110 (JA
____); GX 566 (JA ____).
61. GX 279 at 1-2 (JA ____); McGeady Tr. 11/9/98 pm at 14:14-16:5, 67:14-68:7 (JA ____); Fisher
¶ 111-12 (JA ____).
62. McGeady Tr. 11/10/98 pm at 12, 11/12/98 am at 62:22-63:5, 69:14-17, Engstrom Tr. 2/23/99 pm
at 33 (JA ____); GX 284, 289 (JA ____).
63. Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 21 F. Supp. 2d 1109, 1127-28 (N.D. Cal. 1998)
(granting preliminary injunction), vacated, 188 F.3d 1115, 1123 (9th Cir. 1999), on remand, 87 F.
Supp. 2d 992, 998 (N.D. Cal. 2000) (reinstating preliminary injunction).
64. See GX 278 (JA ____); McGeady Tr. 11/10/98 pm at 38, 75:7-76:22, 11/9/98 pm at 31-32, Tr.
11/12/98 pm at 45:23-49:3 (Sullivan Dep.) (JA ____).
65. See GX 279 (JA ____); McGeady Tr. 11/9/98 pm at 13:11-16:5, 43-45 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 109
(JA ____); DX 2595 at 21-23, 74-75 (JA ____).
66. See Fisher ¶¶ 114-15 (Apple) (JA ____); FF 104-10 (Apple), 111-14 (RealNetworks), 115-32
(IBM) (JA ____).
67. See Barksdale Tr. 10/21/98 pm at 55, 10/26/98 am at 31:23-33:1, 10/27/98 pm at 24:5-25:3,
Fisher Tr. 1/12/99 pm at 22:10-18, 6/2/99 am at 25:5-26:3 (JA ____); Fisher ¶ 24 (JA ____).
68. See also Data Gen. Corp. v. Grumman Sys. Support Corp., 36 F.3d 1147, 1182 (1st Cir. 1994);
Barry Wright Corp. v. ITT Grinnell Corp., 724 F.2d 227, 230 (1st Cir. 1993) (Breyer, J.); Multistate
Legal Studies, Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Legal & Prof'l Publ'ns, Inc., 63 F.3d 1540, 1550
(10th Cir. 1995); C.E. Servs., Inc. v. Control Data Corp., 759 F.2d 1241, 1247 (5th Cir. 1985).
69. See, e.g., Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 588-89 (1986);
Stearns Airport Equip. Co., Inc. v. FMC Corp., 170 F.3d 518, 524 & n.3 (5th Cir. 1999); Advanced
Health-Care Servs. v. Radford Cmty. Hosp., 910 F.2d 139, 148 (4th Cir. 1990); Gen. Indus. Corp.
v. Hartz Mountain Corp., 810 F.2d 795, 803 (8th Cir. 1987).
70. See 17 U.S.C. 101; Woods v. Bourne Co., 60 F.3d 978, 990 (2d Cir. 1995); Gracen v. Bradford
Exch., 698 F.2d 300, 305 (7th Cir. 1983) (Posner, J.); Lee v. A.R.T. Co., 125 F.3d 580, 582 (7th Cir.
1997); see also Atari Games Corp. v. Oman, 888 F.2d 878, 884 (D.C. Cir. 1989).
71. See MS Br. 106 & n.4, citing United States v. Studiengesellschaft Kohle, 670 F.2d 1122 (D.C. Cir.
1981); SCM Corp. v. Xerox Corp., 645 F.2d 1195 (2d Cir. 1981); Simpson v. Union Oil Co. of Cal.,
377 U.S. 13 (1964); United States v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 648 F.2d 642 (9th Cir. 1981).
72. See MS Br. 106 & n.4, citing Montgomery County Ass'n of Realtors, Inc. v. Realty Photo Master
Corp., 878 F. Supp. 804, 816-17 (D. Md. 1995), aff'd, 91 F.3d 132 (4th Cir. 1996); Advanced
Computer Servs. of Mich., Inc. v. MAI Sys. Corp., 845 F. Supp. 356, 368-70 (E.D. Va. 1994);
Cardinal Films, Inc. v. Republic Pictures Corp., 148 F. Supp. 156, 157-59 (S.D.N.Y. 1957); BMI
v. CBS, 441 U.S. 1, 19 (1979); LucasArts Entm't Co. v. Humongous Entm't Co., 870 F. Supp. 285,
289-90 (N.D. Cal. 1993).
73. GX 27, 536, 540 at MS98 0010341, 535 at MS98 0010220 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 571:9-14,
594:3-5 (Jones Dep.) (JA ____); Rosen ¶ 1 (JA ____).
74. FF 299-302, 380-82 (JA ____); Tr. 6/22/99 am at 6-8, 16-19 (JA ____); GX 2240 (JA ____); DX
2445 (sealed), 2087, 2518 (sealed), 2810 (JA ____).
75. Accord GX 164, 165, 166, 170, 172 (JA ____); Tr. 1/13/99 at 395:7-396:6 (Cole Dep.) , Allchin
Tr. 2/2/99 pm at 4:21-24 (JA ___); see also Tr. 12/16/98 am at 9:7-24 (Kies Dep.) (JA ____).
76. Schedl'g Order at 2, 3 (Aug. 20, 1998) (changing trial date from Sept. 8 to Sept. 23), Am.
Schedl'g Order at 1, 2 (Sept. 14, 1998) (changing trial date to Oct. 15), Second Am. Schedl'g Order
at 1, 3 (Oct. 9, 1998) (changing trial date to Oct. 19) (JA ____).
77. Order (Jan. 22, 1999) (JA ____); Currie Dep. (Apr. 28, 1999), Popov Dep. (Apr. 30, 1999),
Schuler Dep. (May 5, 1999), Case Dep. (May 21, 1999) (JA ____); Notice of Third Party Subpoenas
& Attached Subpoenas (Feb. 15, 1999) (document subpoenas of Netscape, AOL, and Sun), Notice
of Third Party Subpoenas & Attached Subpoenas (Feb. 19, 1999) (document subpoenas of
Goldman, Sachs & Co., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.)
(JA ____).
78. See US Compl. ¶¶ 7, 8, 15, 68, 122 (JA ____); PI Memo at 20 n.13, 62 & n.57 (citing exhibits)
(JA ____); Croll Dep. (July 14, 1998), Sasaki Dep. (July 14, 1998), Kannegaard Dep. (Oct. 16,
1998), Gosling Dep. (Oct. 30, 1998 & Nov. 6, 1998) (JA ____); Order (Oct. 14, 1998) (JA ____).
79. See Ltr. from K. Guilianelli to S. Holley (June 2, 1998) (including MS CID 00077 (GX 279)), Ltr.
from K. Guilianelli to S. Wheeler (June 6, 1998) (JA ____); McGeady Dep. (Aug. 10, 1998), Barck
Dep. (Aug. 25, 1998), Sullivan Dep. (Aug. 25, 1998), Whittier Dep. (Aug. 25, 1998) (JA ____);
Notice Of Third Party Subpoena (Aug. 13, 1998), Notice Of Third Party Subpoena, Attach. C (Sept.
8, 1998) (JA ____); McGeady Dep. (Oct. 8, 1998) (JA ____).
80. See Ltr. from K. Guilianelli to S. Wheeler (June 6, 1998), Ltr. from S. Roth to S. Wheeler (June
19, 1998) (JA ____); Tevanian Dep. at 136-46, 180 (July 17, 1998) (JA ____); Notices of Third
Party Subpoenas to Tim Schaaff & Phil Schiller (July 31, 1998) (JA ____); Ltr. from J. Cove to S.
Holley (Aug. 14, 1998), Ltr. from S. Roth to S. Holley (Aug. 14, 1998) (JA ____); Pls.' Third Joint
Req. For Produc. Of Docs. at 5 (Aug. 14, 1998) (JA ____); Ltrs. from J. Cove to S. Holley (Aug.
17 & 24, 1998) (JA ____); Schaaff Dep. (Aug. 28 & Sept. 16, 1998), Schiller Dep. (Sept. 11 & Oct.
13, 1998), Tevanian Dep. (Oct. 19, 1998), Engstrom Dep. (Sept. 28, 1998), Phillips Dep. (Oct. 14,
1998) (JA ____).
81. See Ltr. from W. Enloe to S. Holley (Sept. 11, 1998), Ltr. from J. Wilson to S. Holley (Sept. 12,
1998) (JA ____); Pls.' Joint Resp. To MS's Mot. For Summ. J. & Reply In Supp. Of Mots. For
Prelim. Inj. at 8 (Aug. 31, 1998) (JA ____); Gates Dep. at 490-96 (Aug. 28, 1998), Engstrom Dep.
at 99-158, 186-204 (Sept. 28, 1998), Barrett Dep. (Oct. 7, 1998), Jacobsen Dep. (Oct. 7, 1998) (JA
____).
82. See Pls.' Joint Rebuttal Witness List, Ex. 3 (JA ____); MS Subpoena to IBM & Norris (May 4,
1999) (JA ____); Norris Dep. (May 27, 1999) (JA ____).
83. See, e.g., Tr. 6/9/98 at 3:1-7, Tr. 10/20/98 pm at 5:7-14, Tr. 10/27/98 pm at 86:18-88:22, Tr.
12/2/98 am at 11:3-12:8, Tr. 6/14/99 am at 52:22-53:5 (JA ____).
84. See, e.g., Schmalensee Direct Test. (581 pages, including testimonial appendices), Maritz Direct
Test. (160 pages), Allchin Direct Test. (139 pages) (JA ____).
85. Fed. R. Evid. 106; Stip. & Order Regarding Dep. Excerpts at 1-2, 3 (Jan. 13, 1999) (JA ____);
Tr. 1/13/99 pm at 5:9-6:21 (JA ____); Suppl. Direct Test. Of Robert Muglia (Feb. 21, 1999) (sealed)
(JA ____).
86. See, e.g., MS's Mem. In Supp. Of Mot. For Summ. Rejection Of Govt's Breakup Proposal (May
10, 2000) (JA ____); MS's Summ. Resp. To Pls.' Prop. Final J. (May 10, 2000) (Summary
Response) (JA ____); MS's Suppl. Offer Of Proof (May 31, 2000) (JA ____).
87. See, e.g., R. Craig Romaine & Steven C. Salop, Slap Their Wrists? Tie Their Hands? Slice Them
into Pieces? Alternative Remedies for Monopolization in the Microsoft Case, Antitrust, Summer
1999, at 15; John E. Lopatka & William H. Page, A (Cautionary) Note on Remedies in the Microsoft
Case, Antitrust, Summer 1999, at 25.
88. Breakup and Compulsory Licensing: Remedies or Bad Medicine?, Feb. 18, 1999, available at
http://www.actonline.org/pubs/rem-wp.asp (JA ____).
89. See http://www.actonline.org/about/good_company.asp (JA ____).
90. See Microsoft Press Conference Re: Findings of Fact by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, Nov.
5, 1999, at 15, available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/trial/nov99/11-05prconf.asp
(response of William Neukom to question from Steven Levy) (JA ____).
91. See, e.g., Joel Brinkley, A Microsoft Remedy: Antitrust Experts Offer Prescriptions, N.Y. Times,
Nov. 15, 1999, at C1.
92. See Pls.' Rev. Prop. Final J. (May 26, 2000) (JA ____); Mem. In Supp. Of Pls.' Rev. Prop. Final
J. (May 26, 2000) (JA ____); MS's Comments On Pls.' Rev. Prop. Final J. (May 31, 2000) (JA
____); MS's Suppl. Offer Of Proof (May 31, 2000) (JA ____); Pls.' Rev. Prop. Final J. (June 5
Redlined Version) (June 5, 2000) (JA ____); Pls.' Summ. Resp. To MS's Comments On Rev. Prop.
Final J. (June 5, 2000) (JA ____); MS's Reply To Pls.' Resp. To MS's Comments On Their Rev.
Prop. Final J. (June 6, 2000) (JA ____).
93. See Pls.' Prop. Final J. (Apr. 28, 2000) (JA ____); Pls.' Mem. In Supp. Of Prop. Final J. (Apr.
28, 2000) (JA ____).
94. See MS's Mem. In Supp. Of Its Mot. For Summ. Rejection Of The Govt's Breakup Proposal
(May 10, 2000) (JA ____); MS's Summ. Resp. To Pls.' Prop. Final J. (May 10, 2000) (JA ____).
95. See MS's Prop. Final J. (May 10, 2000) (JA ____); MS's Mem. In Supp. Of Its Prop. Final J.
(May 10, 2000) (MS Final Judgment Memo) (JA ____).
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