Reaction to U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson 's findings last Friday that Microsoft is a monopoly ranged this week from speculation about what punishment Jackson will impose to how many times the software giant is going to be sued by competitors alleging they were damaged by the company's practices. At Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting this week, Bill Gates said the company is open to a settlement of the case, but only if the agreement doesn't stifle the software maker's ability to innovate. A small New York advertising firm sued Microsoft this week, alleging the software superpower abused its monopoly power by overcharging for its Windows 98 operating system.
Observers expect the case to be the first of many in the wake of last week's findings.
But security experts worry about similar viruses spreading in the future. Some businesses that thought they'd fixed their Y2K problems discovered this week they may be in for a millennial shock of a different kind. Companies that use the most popular technique for eradicating the Year 2000 bug are getting an unexpected bill for thousands, even millions of dollars in licensing fees. Bruce Dickens, who works at McDonnell Douglas Corp., says he developed and patented windowing. Now, he wants to be paid for it.