Microsoft files response to govt. Early this year, AOL purchased Netscape, the maker of the Internet browser at the center of the government's antitrust case against Microsoft. AOL was seen as a potential big winner when Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his blistering opinion last week against Microsoft. I'm not going to speculate on what the effect might be,'' he said after delivering a speech to journalists, public relations executives and others in the communications industry. Asked if AOL might sue Microsoft, Case was noncommittal.
Analysts expect a wave of lawsuits in the wake of the findings.
It's hard to speculate,'' Case said. Nor would he talk about whether AOL might use the threat of a lawsuit as leverage in negotiations with Microsoft. In the government's case, Microsoft denied it ever misused its influence to crush technology rivals it believed posed a threat to its lucrative Windows software, such as the Netscape browser. Case said he was not surprised at the judge's finding. He called ''premature'' any talk of a breakup of Microsoft.