Microsoft ruling: 'Break it up'
A U.S. judge has ordered that software giant Microsoft be split in two, accepting the key recommendation of the U.S. government.
- TIMELINE: Microsoft antitrust trial timeline
In his ruling, District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered Microsoft broken up into two companies.
One would market and produce its popular Windows operating platform, while the second company would handle Microsoft Office and other applications, including its Internet Explorer Web browser.
The break-up order lasts 10 years.
As expected, Microsoft founder and chair Bill Gates immediately said an appeal will be filed.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said it would send the appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, Jackson ruled that no breakup of the company can take place until all appeals are exhausted.
Jackson has also ordered Microsoft to submit a plan to comply with his breakup ruling within four months. He's also ordered that restrictions on its business conduct start in 90 days.
Jackson said Microsoft showed throughout the trial it was "unwilling to accept" that it broke the law, and called the company "untrustworthy."
The final ruling from Jackson was widely expected. At a hearing in May, Jackson had suggested only minor changes to the government's proposal to break up the company.
In April, Jackson used similarly harsh language in ruling that Microsoft had engaged in anti-competitive conduct in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.
At one point during the remedy phase, he even appeared to entertain the possibility of breaking Microsoft into three companies.
The case against Microsoft was brought by the U.S. Justice Department and a number of states in May 1998. They accused the software giant of using its monopoly in the Windows personal computer operating system to illegally leverage market share for its Internet browser software.
- TIMELINE: A brief history of Microsoft
The U.S. Justice Department called the judge's breakup order the right remedy for Microsoft's behaviour. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said a breakup would boost competititon in the software sector.
If the breakup is upheld, it would be the biggest antitrust action taken against a U.S. company since AT&T agreed to spin off its regional phone companies in 1982.