IBM Wins $850M From Microsoft
(AP) IBM Corp. will receive $775 million in cash and $75 million in credit for software from Microsoft Corp. to settle claims that resulted from the federal government's antitrust case against Microsoft in the 1990s, the companies announced Friday.
The payout is one of the largest that Microsoft has made since U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled in 2000 that Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive practices. Jackson's ruling cited IBM as a company that Microsoft had forced to "desist from certain technological innovations and business initiatives."
For example, Microsoft didn't charge all computer makers the same amount for its Windows operating system, allegedly using higher prices as a cudgel against PC companies that didn't comply with Microsoft's wishes.
IBM had irked Microsoft in the '90s by pushing its own OS/2 operating system as a Windows alternative and putting its SmartSuite productivity software on IBM PCs, cutting into the market for Microsoft Office programs. IBM also was an early supporter of Java, a programming language that doesn't need Windows to run.
IBM hadn't sued Microsoft, but still pressed for retribution for the behavior cited by Jackson. Microsoft reached a similar deal with Gateway Computer Corp. for $150 million in April.
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