Translated material
Microsoft satisfied IBM's claims
Bill Gates agreed to pay $775 million
Last Friday, Microsoft agreed to pay $775 million to avoid prosecution from another well-known American corporation, IBM. The dispute between the two titans of the IT industry goes back to the 90s, when a US federal court found Microsoft guilty of using its exclusive market position, thanks to which the monopolist forced computer manufacturers to equip their devices with its programs. In addition to the multimillion-dollar sum, Microsoft will provide IBM with a loan of $75 million to purchase its programs. IBM, in turn, promises not to sue Microsoft in similar cases for at least two years (we are talking about other IBM lawsuits, according to which Microsoft is ruining its divisions specializing in the production of servers and software). “With antitrust issues behind them, both Microsoft and IBM can now move forward, sometimes collaborating, sometimes competing, to bring better products and services to consumers. This is a significant step towards resolving these issues with other companies,” said Microsoft General Counsel and Senior Vice President Brad Smith on the agreement with IBM. "IBM is pleased that we have amicably resolved issues that have been of concern to us for a long time," said IBM Senior Vice President and General Counsel Edy Lainin.With the wave of antitrust claims, covering claims has become business as usual for Microsoft. Last year alone, the corporation managed to enrich Sun Microsystems Inc. by $2 billion, the Internet site Burst.com by $60 million, and computer manufacturer Gateway Inc. by $150 million. and by $536 million - Novell Inc. A year earlier, the media corporation AOL Time Warner Inc. received $750 million. (now Time Warner Inc.). In addition, the European Commission slapped Microsoft with a $597 million bill and ordered it to release a “cut-down” version of Windows XP without the multimedia application. But the problems of the computer industry titan do not end there: a major lawsuit from RealNetworks Inc. has not been settled. and several similar lawsuits from other companies.