The ayes have it. We will create a documents collection for the Novell v. Microsoft antitrust lawsuit. How much more we can do will depend on other events, but at a minimum, we'll collect all the public documents here. We are setting things up now, and I'll keep you posted. A Novell-Microsoft Timeline page has already been opened. Meanwhile, here's the Novell complaint, thanks to Scott Lazar, who did the OCR for us and marbux, who helped me plan out how to code it. I did the coding a little differently this time, as an experiment, because marbux pointed out that in long legal documents it's helpful to paginate, so in the future, lawyers will find our text versions easier to use. Perhaps some of you will know a less visually intrusive way to paginate? [Update: we have an elegant solution, thanks to gleef, which I have implemented.] I also tried making the line breaks exactly where they are in the document original. It was a lot of extra work, and unless everyone just adores the line breaks this way, I don't think I'd like to do that again, unless there is some way to make it automatic. I did the HTML myself to find out how horrible a task it would be, because I don't like to ask people to do something I'd hate to do myself. And it was not something I'd ask someone to do again, unless it seems really important. The Novell Antitrust Complaint I don't know about you, but I can't read this document without my consumer blood pressure rising. When I read the section beginning at paragraph 92, for example, about Microsoft deliberately making Word incompatible with WordPerfect, so users would find it hard to work on documents written in WordPerfect in a Word environment, all I could think of was a night some years back, when I was working on a document in a domain name dispute to file in the ICANN dispute resolution procedure. My boss and I were sending the document back and forth electronically, but he was in WordPerfect and I was in Word.
We had a serious deadline to meet to answer the other side in the ICANN dispute resolution procedure, and it's a very demanding process. You have to stay within fairly strict rules about how many pages you can have, and there are formatting regulations too, even font size spelled out. It was a really complex document, with footnotes galore -- yes, to save cram more info in -- and lots of last-minute changes to make in the body of the reply, as well as in the footnotes and in the affidavits attached as exhibits. Attached exhibits is another way you get around the length requirements, by the way. And it all has to be just so. Deadlines are something you have all the time in legal work, and when the bell rings, you have to stand up and be ready to fight, so to speak, no excuses. There's no "my dog ate my homework" or a note from your Mom to save you. I was working from home at night, struggling with formatting, because the draft from my boss was in WordPerfect and I had Word at home. I was up all night that night, and I still have a visual memory of me printing it out in the wee hours of the morning, my bleary, rosy-red eyes glancing out the window as the sun jauntily came up over the horizon, telling me it would soon be time for the messenger to pick it up. Learning that it was probably all a totally unnecessary, artificially manufactured struggle, the result of a deliberate trick for competitive use in the marketplace, is so deeply infuriating as a consumer, I have no words to express my feelings. Microsoft didn't think about me as a customer at all, I gather from this document. I was using their software, paid for and all, and I couldn't get a simple interoperability task done without pulling my hair out, all in an artificially induced struggle over who got to be a monopoly on the desktop. But you know what? They couldn't pull those tricks if customers refused to reward them with business. I'm talking to myself. I should have paid the money and bought WordPerfect. WordPerfect for Linux, that is, not that I knew much about Linux then. I know. WordPerfect for Linux was free. But I like to pay for software, because I like to show appreciation for the creative work. My point is, it wasn't until I discovered Linux that I escaped such struggles. For any business, I think this document is a warning. And it's valid to ask: do I really need to do business with a company that treats its customers like that, now that there is a choice? In the FOSS world, thanks to the GPL, you are never stuck, with no way out. No wonder Microsoft hates the GPL. It can't raise the Jolly Roger, stick a knife in its teeth, and sail off to rape and pillage the competition. The GPL stands in the way of dirty tricks. And when I read the part about coopting standards, of course I thought of the Sender ID controversy, and I am certainly grateful to the Apache guys for standing up to be counted on behalf of the GPL. How can we possibly be so foolish as to let Microsoft control everything? Anything? After this history? We toss the GPL overboard at our peril. Standards Writing and Antitrust Liability - a New Law
There is a new law that may interest you, because it has to do with standards writing and antitrust law, discussed in "Consulting-Specifying Engineer" by attorney Kenneth M. Elovitz. Groklaw member wolflans gets the credit for spotting this. First Elovitz discusses a case the new law somewhat modifies, Allied Tube v. Indian Head, 108 S.Ct. 1931 (1988), which involved a deliberate subversion of the standards process by the steel tubing industry, who opposed a proposed amendment to the National Electrical Code because it would cost them business. So they had 200 employees join the NFPA and vote down the proposed amendment. They were then sued and lost, and the case "established the principle that the writing of codes and standards is subject to antitrust laws," and that attempts to bias a standard for your own commercial advantage can result in significant liability. Elovitz says the message for engineers who write codes and standards was that they need to be "based on the merits of objective expert judgments" and adopted "through procedures that prevent the standard-setting process from being biased by members with economic interests in stifling product competition," (Allied, 486 U.S. at 501). Congress lets industries regulate themselves, he says, but only if they actually do: "It should be no surprise that Congress stepped in with the Standards Development Organization Advancement Act of 2004 (H.R. 1086). President Bush signed this act into law on June 22, 2004 (Public Law 108–237). This law amends the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993 (15 USC 4301 et. seq.) by extending selected antitrust protections to standards development organizations while those organizations are engaged in standards development activity. The law limits the core holding of Hydrolevel that standards development organizations have the same antitrust liability as anyone else." That means that there is less liability threat hanging over standards writers now than before, but there is still potential liability, and the limited protection covers the standards writers, not parties trying to bias the results for their own gain. Elovitz:
"As Congressman Forbes pointed out, the act is not a completely free ride for standards-developing organizations. Under section 3, the antitrust protection does not apply to activity that involves: (1) the exchange of cost, sales or pricing information not reasonably required for the purpose of developing a voluntary consensus standard; or (2) any anti-competitive activity for a for-profit entity that stands to financially benefit from participating in any standards development activity.
"Although standards-developing organizations are the nominal authors, codes and standards are actually written by individual technical committee members. Section 8 of the new law makes it clear that antitrust protection applies only to the standards-developing organizations. It does not extend to parties (individual committee members or their employers) who participate in standards development activities. Therefore, individual engineers who attempt to use their positions on standards writing committees for personal financial or competitive gain still face potential antitrust liability." [emphasis added] The simple truth is that Linux is released under the GPL. Microsoft's license on Sender ID would exclude the GPL from the standard because the license is not compatible with the GPL. Linux is Microsoft's primary competition. Excluding Linux from a standard would be, um, anticompetitive, do you think? See where I'm heading? And just in case you think I'm picking on Microsoft, read this complaint, and accept only the parts already proven and established in a court of law. Then ask yourself: should Microsoft be allowed to control a standard that would in effect exile Linux from the rest of the commercial world?
*******************************
Max D. Wheeler (3439)
Stanley J. Preston (4119)
SNOW, CHRISTENSEN & MARTINEAU
[address, phone, fax]
R. Bruce Holcomb (pro hac vice pending)
JeffreyM. Johnson (pro hac vice pending)
Milton A. Marquis (pro hac vice pending)
David L. Engelhardt (pro hac vice pending)
DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO MORIN & OSHINSKY LLP
[address, phone, fax]
Attorneys for Plaintiff
______________________________
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION
_____________________________
NOVELL, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
MICROSOFT CORPORATION,
Defendant.
___________________________
COMPLAINT
JURY DEMANDED
Judge Ted Stewart
DECK TYPE: Civil
DATE 11/12/2004 @ 10:20:40
CASE 2:04CV01045 TS
____________________________
Plaintiff Novell, Inc. ("Novell") hereby states its claims for relief against Defendant
Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft") and alleges on knowledge regarding itself, and
otherwise on information and belief, as follows:
I. NATURE OF THIS ACTION
1. This is an action under Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 15, for
damages suffered by Novell by reason of the anticompetitive conduct of Microsoft in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1, 2. "Novell" also refers to the WordPerfect Corporation, which merged with Novell in June 1994.
2. Until March 1996, Novell owned the rights to develop and distribute the
WordPerfect word processing application, which historically had been by far the
most popular word processing application in the global market, as well as other
office productivity applications, including the Quattro Pro spreadsheet.
3. At all pertinent times Microsoft possessed monopoly power in the relevant market
for personal computer ("PC") operating systems, which control PCs and provide the
basic "platform" for developing applications such as WordPerfect.
4. To protect its valuable Windows monopoly and to extend its operating systems monopoly
into other software markets, including word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases,
email, office suite, and other office productivity applications, Microsoft engaged in a series of anticompetitive activities, including integrating other Microsoft software products, such as its
browser technologies, into Microsoft's Windows operating system in an exclusionary manner, and entering into exclusionary agreements precluding companies, such as Original Equipment Manufacturers ("OEMs"), from distributing, promoting, buying, or using products of,
2
or providing services or resources to, Microsoft's software competitors. like Novell. See
United States v. Microsoft Corp., Government Complaint ("Gov't Compl.") ¶ 5.
5. Microsoft abused its monopoly power in the PC operating systems market
to suppress the sales of WordPerfect and Novell's related office productivity
applications. Microsoft targeted these applications because of their potential to provide
Microsoft's competitors with a way across the barriers to entry that protected
Microsoft's existing operating systems monopoly. In addition, and just as importantly,
WordPerfect and Novell's other applications were leaders in the additional markets that
Microsoft sought to monopolize.
6. Microsoft thus attacked Novell with some of the same anticompetitive acts for
which Microsoft was held liable in United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30
(D.D.C. 2000), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 952 (2001) (the
"Government Suit"). Those anticompetitive acts include integrating browsing
functions into the Windows operating system in an exclusionary manner, entering
agreements in restraint of trade, and otherwise using the Windows monopoly to
exclude competing applications from important channels of distribution.
7. Bill Gates, Microsoft's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, targeted
Novell's applications by name in documents recording Microsoft's anticompetitive
schemes, in which he explained that the integration of browsing functions into
Windows, coupled with Microsoft's refusal to publish certain of these functions,
was a primary strategy for excluding Novell's applications from the markets. He
candidly admitted that Microsoft's own products could not compete without the
benefit of these anticompetitive acts.
3
8. By reason of Microsoft's anticompetitive acts, WordPerfect's
share of the word processing market, which was nearly 50 percent in 1990, fell
to approximately 30 percent in 1994, and to less than 10 percent by the time
Novell sold WordPerfect and the related applications in 1996. Over the same
period of time, and due to the same anticompetitive acts, Microsoft Word's share
of the word processing market rose from less than 20 percent prior to 1990 to a
monopoly share of approximately 90 percent by 1996. As a result, Novell suffered
lost profits and goodwill during the period in which it owned the rights to
and related office productivity applications, and the value of these assets
declined by approximately $1 billion between May 1994 and their sale in March
1996.
II. PARTIES
9.
Plaintiff Novell is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the
State of Delaware, with its principal place of business at 1800 South Novell
Place, Provo, Utah. During times pertinent to this Complaint, Novell licensed
and sold office productivity applications, including the WordPerfect word
processing application, throughout the United States and the world.
10.
Defendant Microsoft is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of
the State of Washington, with its principal place of business at One Microsoft
Way, Redmond, Washington. Microsoft licenses its operating systems and
applications software throughout the United States and the world.
III. JURISDICTION, VENUE, AND COMMERCE
11. This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to Sections 4 and 16
of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 15, 26 and 28 U.S.C. §§
1331, 1337.
4
12. Venue is proper in this judicial district under Section 12 of the Clayton
Act, 15 U.S.C. § 22, and 28 U.S.C. §
1391 because Microsoft transacts business and is found within this district.
13. Microsoft sells and licenses PC and workgroup server operating systems and
applications throughout the United States and the world and delivers copies of
them across state lines and international borders. Microsoft is engaged in, and
its activities substantially affect, interstate and foreign commerce.
IV. LIMITATIONS: UNITED STATES V. MICROSOFT CORP.
14. The United States brought an antitrust action against Microsoft on May
18, 1998 under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§
1, 2, alleging, inter alia, that
[t]o protect its valuable Windows monopoly against such potential competitive
threats [from alternative platforms], and to extend its operating system
monopoly into other
software markets, Microsoft has engaged in a series of anticompetitive activities.
Microsoft's conduct includes agreements tying other Microsoft software products
[such as those providing browsing functions] to Microsoft's Windows operating
system; exclusionary agreements precluding companies from distributing
promoting, buying, or using products of Microsoft's competitors or potential
competitors; and exclusionary agreements restricting the right of companies to
provide services or resources to
Microsoft's software
competitors or potential competitors." Gov't Compl. ¶ 5 (emphasis
added).
15. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered
judgment substantially in favor of the United States, and the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit largely affirmed the District
Court's findings and
5
conclusions regarding Microsoft's liability under Section 2 of the Sherman Act,
15
U.S.C. § 2. A final judgment (to which Microsoft consented) was entered against Microsoft
on November 12, 2002 and is no longer subject to appellate review.
16. Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §
16(i), the running of the statute of limitations for the present action was
tolled between May 18, 1998 and November 12, 2003, because the present action is
based in part on matters complained of in the Government Suit. See, e.g., Gov't
Compl. ¶¶ 2-5, 7-8, 13, 24-25, 27, 37, 42-44, 54-55, 57-59,
66-68, 93, 95, 97, 99, 131. This Complaint alleges the same operating systems
monopolization count as alleged and proved in the Government Suit; the
anticompetitive schemes employed by Microsoft that are alleged herein and in the
Government Suit are similar and have the same objectives; and the word
processing, spreadsheet, and other applications markets alleged herein fall
within the broad software product markets alleged in the Government Suit.
17. In fact, the Government Suit applied to the whole spectrum of non- operating
system software, like WordPerfect, that competed against Microsoft products.
For example, as contemplated by the allegations in the Government Suit and as
found by the District Court, Microsoft's anticompetitive conduct targeted
competing office productivity applications during the relevant period alleged
herein. For example, Microsoft threatened to withhold from IBM a license for
Windows 95 in retaliation for IBM's decision to distribute its SmartSuite office
productivity suite on IBM computers sold in the United States. See United
v. Microsoft Corp., 84 F. Supp.2d 9 (D.D.C. 1999) ("Findings of Fact") ¶¶
115-132. Similar Findings of Fact were made with respect to Microsoft's dealings
with other software products that Microsoft perceived as
6
competitive threats, including Native Signal Processing (Intel Corporation),
QuickTime (Apple Computer, Inc.), and Real Networks Corporation's streaming
software. See id. ¶¶
93-114.
18. In addition, the Government Suit demonstrates how Microsoft's monopolization
of the office productivity applications markets is critical to Microsoft's
maintenance of its monopoly in the operating systems market. According to
the Declaration of Rebecca M. Henderson, filed on behalf of the United States in
the remedies phase, Microsoft Office, in its own right, has the potential to
become cross- platform middleware. Like Navigator, Microsoft Office exposes
application programming interfaces ("APIs"), which are a set of routines,
protocols, and tools for
building software applications, and many applications are already written
directly to Office. "Office could also provide a valuable distribution channel
for complementary middleware." United States v. Microsoft
Corp., Declaration of Rebecca M. Henderson ¶ 23, at 8-9.
19. Thus, "Microsoft's strong position in applications also gives it a potent
weapon in its attempt to thwart any potential middleware threat .. . [and its]
control of its applications gives it a number of powerful tools that taken
together greatly reduce the likelihood that any competing middleware, including
Office, might emerge as an attractive PC applications development platform." Id. ¶¶ 65-66,
at 22. For example, Microsoft "can keep Office unavailable on alternative platforms and can ensure that it does not develop into cross-platform middleware. Microsoft can also ensure that its applications support only Microsoft-controlled or compliant interfaces and can use preferential access to Office as both a carrot and a stick in working with OEMs, other
7
distributors, and ISVs." ¶ 66,
at 22-23. Indeed, Microsoft used this weapon to force Office users to use
Internet Explorer. Id. ¶
68, at 23.
20.
In addition, because Microsoft was successful in monopolizing the markets for
office productivity applications with Microsoft Office and its constituent
applications (such as Microsoft Word and Excel, Microsoft's spreadsheet
application), Microsoft was able to use that monopoly in order to exclude
Netscape from the market for browsers, maintain and indeed strengthen the
applications barrier to entry against other operating systems, and thereby
protect the Microsoft operating systems monopoly. For example, the District
Court in the Government Suit found that Microsoft threatened to cancel Mac
Office, the Microsoft Office product for Apple, Inc.'s Macintosh operating
system ("Mac OS"), unless Apple agreed to bundle Internet Explorer with Mac OS
and to make Internet Explorer the default browser. Because Apple's business was
in steep decline in 1997 and many ISVs questioned the wisdom of continuing to
develop applications for Mac OS, Apple knew that if Microsoft stopped
development of Mac Office, that would signal the death knell for Apple. Within a
month of Microsoft's threat, the two companies entered into an exclusive
agreement in which Apple agreed to these terms, among others, and Microsoft
agreed to continue releasing up-to-date versions of Mac Office for at least five
years. Findings of Fact
¶ 350.
Thus, Microsoft's incentive to monopolize the office productivity applications
markets was the same as its incentive to monopolize the browser market: to
preserve its operating systems monopoly.
21. In the Government Suit, the government alleged and the courts ruled that
Microsoft was liable for integrating certain browsing technologies with the
Windows
8
operating system in an anticompetitive manner. See 253 F.3d at 64-66;
Findings of Fact
¶¶ 155-160; Gov't Compl. ¶¶
5, 22-23, 36-38, 108. Here, Novell alleges that Microsoft integrated these same
technologies into Windows to exclude WordPerfect and other Novell applications
from the relevant markets. Further, preventing applications that threatened
Microsoft's Windows monopoly from running properly on the operating system by
withholding critical technical information concerning Windows was among the
anticompetitive tactics that Microsoft was found to have employed to harm
competitors in the Government Suit. See Findings of Fact ¶¶
90-93. "[I]t is Microsoft's corporate practice to pressure other firms to halt
software development that either shows the potential to weaken the applications
barrier to entry
or competes directly with Microsoft's most cherished software products." Id. 93.
This is precisely one of the anticompetitive tactics Microsoft employed to
destroy WordPerfect. Moreover, the government alleged and the courts ruled that
Microsoft was liable for using its monopoly power in the operating systems
market to prevent OEMs from distributing applications that competed with
own applications. WordPerfect and Novell's other office productivity
applications were among the victims of this anticompetitive conduct. These and
other anticompetitive acts that were the focus of the Government Suit are
described below in the context of the damages they caused to Novell.
22. By agreement, the parties further tolled the running of the statute of
limitations as of November 7, 2003 through the time this action was filed.
Novell's claims are also tolled because Microsoft's entire course of conduct
constitutes a continuing violation in pursuit of a single anticompetitive
objective, namely the
9
destruction of Novell and its office productivity
applications in order to eliminate competition in the office productivity
applications markets and to maintain its monopoly in the PC operating systems
market. Microsoft's avowed campaign to "slaughter" Novell dates to at least the
early 1990s and each pattern, practice, and overt act by Microsoft alleged
herein took place as part of that single continuous campaign. Novell has
suffered harm within the applicable limitations period from every act that
Microsoft has undertaken in furtherance of that campaign prior to the
limitations period.
23. Among others, the following findings and conclusions of the District Court
in the Government Suit are binding on Microsoft in the present action under
principles of collateral estoppel, having become final on their affirmance by
the Court of Appeals:
(a)
At all pertinent times (continuing at least until the date of the Court of
Appeals' decision of August 2, 2001), Microsoft has held a monopoly in the market
for Intel-compatible PC operating systems, which is a relevant market for
antitrust purposes, including Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Findings of Fact ¶¶ 18-67.
(b)
Microsoft's integration of browsing functionality with Windows prevented
Netscape Navigator and other middleware products from weakening the applications
barrier to entry, rather than serving any procompetitive purpose. Id. ¶¶
155-160.
(c)
Microsoft lacked any technical justification for refusing to license Windows 95
to OEMs without such browser functionality. Id. ¶¶ 175-176. 10
(d)
By inducing, threatening, and/or forcing OEMs to take Microsoft's browser
functionality with Windows and imposing additional technical restrictions on
them, Microsoft increased the OEMs' cost of pre-installing and promoting Netscape
Navigator. This foreclosed Navigator from one of the distribution channels that
leads most efficiently to the use of browsing software. Id. ¶ 241.
(e)
To protect the applications barrier to entry, Microsoft, through inducements and
restrictive agreements, also foreclosed Navigator from other distribution
channels, hampering consumers' ability to choose browser products based on their
features, and forcing content providers to focus on Microsoft's browsing
technologies to the exclusion of Netscape. Id. ¶¶ 247, 307-308, 311-312.
(f)
To further protect the applications barrier to entry, Microsoft targeted and
encouraged individual developers and independent software vendors ("ISVs") to
rely on specific browsing technologies found only in Windows for their Web-centric applications. Id. ¶¶ 337, 340.
(g)
An "applications barrier to entry" protected Microsoft's monopoly power in the
operating systems market. Id. ¶¶
36-52.
(h)
Microsoft launched a campaign of anticompetitive acts targeting competitors and
aspiring competitors that developed or threatened to develop products "that
either show[ed] the potential to weaken the applications barrier to entry or
compete[d] directly with Microsoft's most cherished software products." Id. ¶¶
93-94.
(i)
Microsoft chose to forego the short term benefits of having more applications
available to run on Windows and, instead, chose to create incompatibilities that
obstructed the development of certain applications that otherwise might run on
11
both Windows and other platforms, because such applications threatened the
applications barrier to entry. Id. ¶ 407.
(j)
Through its conduct toward competitors and OEMs, "Microsoft has demonstrated
that it will use its prodigious market power and immense profits to harm any
firm that insists on pursuing initiatives that could intensify competition
against one of Microsoft's core products," such as Windows, Office, Word, and
Excel. Id. ¶ 412.
(k)
"[Microsoft] charges different OEMs different prices for Windows, depending on
the degree to which the individual OEMs comply with Microsoft's wishes." Id.
¶ 64.
(1)
OEMs lack a commercially viable alternative to licensing Windows for
pre-installation on their PCs. Id. ¶¶ 53-55.
(m)
Microsoft used inducements such as reductions in the royalty price of Windows to
entice OEMs not to pre-install competitors' applications.
Id. ¶¶
230-234.
(n) Microsoft punished OEMs that pre-installed office productivity applications
competing with Microsoft's applications, by charging them higher prices for
Windows and withholding technical and marketing support. Id. ¶¶ 115-132.
(o)
"Because of the importance of 'time-to-market' in the software industry, ISVs
developing software to run on Windows products seek to obtain beta releases and
other technical information relating to Windows as early and as consistently as
possible. Since Microsoft decides which ISVs receive betas and other technical
support and when they will receive it, the ability of an ISV to compete in the
12
marketplace for software running on Windows products is highly dependent on
Microsoft's cooperation." Id. ¶ 338.
(p) Microsoft withheld crucial information regarding Windows as part of its
strategy to injure firms that threatened to weaken the "applications barrier to
entry." Id. ¶¶
90-93.
(q)
Microsoft employed a strategy of giving away its software products for free. Id. ¶¶ 136-142.
(r)
Microsoft entered into anticompetitive arrangements with OEMs that foreclosed
competing products from the OEM distribution channel. Id. ¶¶ 144-241.
(s)
Microsoft used Microsoft Office to maintain the applications barrier to entry
that protected its operating systems monopoly. Id. ¶¶ 341-356.
V.
THE RELEVANT MARKETS
24. Three markets are relevant to this action: the market for Intel-compatible
PC operating systems, the market for word processing applications, and the
market for spreadsheet applications. Word processing and spreadsheet
applications are sometimes referred to herein as "office productivity
applications." The word processing and spreadsheet markets are sometimes
referred to herein as the "office productivity applications markets."
A. The
Intel-compatible PC Operating Systems Market
25. An Intel-compatible PC operating system is software that controls the PC's
resources, such as the processor, memory chip, and storage devices, and manages
the execution of software applications, such as word processors and
spreadsheets. The operating systems at issue here are designed to control PCs
that feature
13
microprocessors designed and manufactured by Intel Corporation
("Intel") or other companies whose
processors are compatible with Intel's. Computers featuring such processors are
referred to as "Intel-compatible PCs," and are intended for use by one person at
a time. Intel-compatible PCs account for over 90 percent of all PCs sold
worldwide. Because an operating system for non-Intel-compatible PCs will
typically not run on Intel-compatible PCs, such an operating system is not a
substitute for one that runs on Intel-compatible PCs. There are no practical
substitutes for Intel- compatible PC operating systems. The geographic market for
Intel-compatible PC operating systems is worldwide. The courts held in the
Government Suit that the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems is a
relevant market for antitrust purposes. 253 F.3d at 51-54; Findings of Fact ¶¶
18-67.
26. Microsoft has possessed monopoly power in the market for Intel-
compatible PC
operating systems at all times relevant to this Complaint.
B. The Word Processing And Spreadsheet Markets
27.
Word processing applications are software that creates, edits, prints, and
stores text-based documents. There are no practical substitutes for word
processing applications. The geographic market for word processing applications
is worldwide.
28.
Spreadsheet applications are software that electronically organizes, displays,
and manipulates numerical and other data. There are no practical substitutes for
spreadsheet applications. The geographic market for spreadsheet applications is
worldwide.
14
VI. BRIEF HISTORY OF OPERATING SYSTEMS AND OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY APPLICATIONS
29.
Microsoft introduced the Microsoft Disk Operating System ("MS-DOS") in 1981
(having reportedly purchased its rights a year earlier for less than $100,000).
MS-DOS was a command-driven system that required users to type specific
instructions
at a command prompt. MS-DOS became the exclusive operating system
for Intel-
compatible PCs and came to be the dominant platform for personal
computers as the
market share of competing alternatives (such as Apple's)
shrank.
30.
In 1985, borrowing substantially from Apple's operating system
technology,
Microsoft introduced Windows 1.0, which laid "graphical user interfaces"
over
MS-DOS. When run on top of MS-DOS, Windows provided personal computer
users with
the ability to invoke many operating system functions, like starting other
programs or organizing files, by selecting elements on a graphical display or
using a
pointing device, such as a mouse. Windows also had its own programming
interfaces
that became very popular for writing graphical applications, like
word processors and
spreadsheets. In 1987, Microsoft released Windows 2.0 and,
along with a development
partner, IBM, co-introduced the first version of an
alternative operating system known
as "OS/2."
Neither of these products met with much market success, and MS-DOS
continued to
be the dominant PC operating system.
31. While Microsoft thereafter purported to be working with IBM to repIace
both
Windows and MS-DOS with an improved version of OS/2,
in fact, Microsoft was
secretly devoting considerably more resources to
developing a much-improved version
of Windows. In 1990, Microsoft ceased any
pretext of support for OS/2
and introduced
Windows 3.0, which met with considerable market acceptance, as
did its immediate
15
successor, Windows 3.1. During the next several years, Windows
displaced MS-DOS
and achieved monopoly power in the PC operating systems market, as found by the
District Court in the Government Suit. OS/2 never emerged as a viable
alternative, even though IBM continued to develop and market the system after
Microsoft abandoned the effort.
32.
WordPerfect Corporation introduced the WordPerfect word processing application
for the MS-DOS platform in 1981. By 1986, WordPerfect had achieved 18 percent of
the word processing market, which included several competing products with
smaller market shares (including Microsoft Word for MS-DOS, with 8 percent
market share). By 1990, WordPerfect possessed a 47 percent market share and was
by far the most popular word processing application. Microsoft did not have
significant office productivity applications of its own for MS-DOS, and, to
attract customers to the platform, cooperated with WordPerfect Corporation to
ensure that the superior WordPerfect applications would run on the platform.
33.
WordPerfect for OS/2 was also introduced in 1990, because WordPerfect
Corporation, like many other ISVs, relied on Microsoft's assurances that it was
still developing OS/2 as the principal PC operating system and successor to MS-
DOS.
34.
Microsoft's change in position with regard to Windows and OS/2, known in the
industry as the "head fake," delayed
introduction of a version of its applications for the Windows platform until
1991. Shortly after its introduction, WordPerfect for Windows captured a
significant portion of sales of word processors for the new platform, with
approximately 35 percent of such sales by 1993, notwithstanding
16
the handicap
that it suffered as a result of the "head fake" and other obstacles created by
Microsoft.
35.
During the same 1990-1991 time period, Microsoft introduced its first "office
suite," known as Microsoft Office, initially consisting only of Microsoft Word
and Excel, which were bundled in a single marketing package. Sales of Office
increased substantially after Microsoft released version 4.0 in 1993, which
integrated the functionality of the separate applications by making use of
Microsoft's simultaneously released Object Linking and Embedding ("OLE)
standards, which are discussed below.
36.
In 1993, WordPerfect Corporation introduced a comparable office suite in
cooperation with Borland International Inc. ("Borland"); the new suite included
WordPerfect and Borland's Quattro Pro spreadsheet. An improved version of
WordPerfect for Windows was also introduced in 1993.
37.
On June 24, 1994, Novell purchased the rights to Quattro Pro from Borland for
$120 million and acquired WordPerfect Corporation for 51 million Novell shares
valued at $740 million (not including the value of Novell options issued to
WordPerfect employees). At this time, WordPerfect's share of the word processing
market was approximately 30 percent.
38.
Netscape Corporation's ("Netscape") Navigator application was also introduced in
1994.
39.
In August 1995, Microsoft introduced Windows 95, which integrated certain new
browsing functions that were a primary focus of the Government Suit. The United
States alleged and the Court held that Microsoft perpetrated the integration of
the browsing functions in an anticompetitive manner and committed other
17
anticompetitive acts to exclude competitors from the markets at issue here. The
resulting damage to Novell and its applications is the primary focus of this
case.
VII. MICROSOFT'S ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTS AGAINST WORDPERFECT AND OTHER NOVELL
OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY APPLICATIONS
40. Microsoft intentionally excluded Novell's office productivity applications
from the markets by means of the anticompetitive acts described below, for at
least two reasons.
41. First, as the United States alleged in the Government Suit,
Microsoft sought to extend its monopoly in the operating systems market into the
large and growing markets for applications. Using many of the same
anticompetitive acts alleged and condemned in the government case, Microsoft
finally attained its long-sought monopolies in the office productivity
applications markets and in the process destroyed Novell's office productivity
applications business.
42.
Second, as the government alleged and the courts found, Microsoft sought to
protect the "applications barrier to entry," which protected Microsoft's
monopoly in the Intel-compatible PC operating systems market, by excluding
applications that could threaten the barrier by supporting alternative operating
systems.
43.
As found by the courts in the Government Suit, an end-use application written
for one operating system typically cannot run on another operating system, and
applications developers generally will not incur the expense of modifying their
products for an additional operating system that does not already have a
significant number of users. Because an operating system, in turn, cannot
attract a significant number of users unless desirable applications are already
available to run on it, the
18
applications barrier to entry protects the dominant operating system. Thus,
Microsoft's monopoly share of the Intel-compatible PC operating systems market
is protected by a barrier to entry arising out of the much greater number of
applications that operate only with Windows personal computer operating systems.
44. As the
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held in affirming the
district court's essential findings, Microsoft's Windows monopoly was threatened
by "middleware" such as Netscape's Navigator, which is a browser application,
and Sun Microsystems' implementation of the "Java" technologies, both of which
were not only able to function on multiple operating systems, but were
potentially able to provide platforms for end-use applications, which made them
a threat to replace Windows itself as such a platform. Once written to Navigator
and/or Java, end-use applications could function on any operating systems on
which Navigator or Java functioned, thereby "erod[ing]
the applications barrier to entry." 253 F.3d at 55. Microsoft engaged in
anticompetitive conduct designed to exclude such middleware from installation on
PCs using the dominant Windows operating system, on which any middleware would
depend for survival until sufficient competing operating systems could emerge.
Microsoft thereby violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act "by preventing the
effective distribution and use of products that might threaten [its] monopoly."
Id. at 58.
45. For related reasons, Novell's Wordperfect and other office productivity applications posed a significant
threat to the applications barrier to entry that protected the Windows monopoly.
As discussed in Section VII.A.1. below, Microsoft excluded from the markets the
"OpenDoc" technology for sharing information among
19
applications, by using its
monopoly power to force a different standard upon the industry. Microsoft thus
suppressed a vigorous, ongoing competition between its own proprietary OLE
technology and the more widely admired OpenDoc technology developed by Novell
and others. These competing technologies allowed a user, for instance, to embed
and edit a portion of a spreadsheet inside a word processing document.
46. Novell was instrumental in initiating this competition when, in 1993, Novell,
Borland, and other Microsoft competitors established a consortium called the
Component Integration Laboratories ("CIL") to create OpenDoc as an "open-source"
standard for cross-platform linking and embedding. The computer code of open
source standards such as OpenDoc is freely available for use and modification by
numerous developers who compete to maximize its potential. OpenDoc was widely
considered to be both easier to use and more robust than OLE. One reviewer
stated that "[c]omparing OpenDoc with [OLE] is like comparing a modem human with a
Neanderthal." Cliff Reeves, Open Doc v. OLE/COM, Computerworld (Jan. 30, 1995).
47.
Novell's efforts to develop OpenDoc were part of Novell's strategy to provide
cross-platform functionality to applications (including its office productivity
applications). In combination with the popularity and functionality of
WordPerfect, this strategy posed a viable threat to Microsoft's operating
systems monopoly that was similar to the Netscape and Java threat discussed
extensively in the Government Suit. Indeed, at the time of the merger, Novell
intended to further develop and market WordPerfect as a "network application"
that would ultimately be independent of the desktop operating system.
20
48.
The District Court defined middleware as software that "relies on the interfaces
provided by the underlying operating system while simultaneously exposing its
own APIs to developers." Findings of Fact ¶
28.
In the Government Suit, Netscape, when coupled with Java, is described as having
"the potential" to become a middleware platform on which applications could be
written to run on multiple operating systems. Such cross-platform functionality
undermines the applications barrier to entry that helps protect Microsoft's
operating system dominance.
49.
OpenDoc allows users to view and edit information across applications, directly
in competition with Microsoft's OLE standard. Particularly during the period at
issue, OpenDoc was viewed as superior to OLE because it permitted sharing
information across multiple operating systems, among other reasons. As CIL wrote
in its marketing plan: "If OpenDoc is adopted by the Internet, it will become a
de facto standard on all major OS platforms, and execute a brilliant end-run
around Microsoft's stronghold on Windows." CIL, Marketing Plan 3 (Feb. 9, 1995).
50.
AppWare, like OpenDoc, was another technology developed by Novell for cross-platform use. AppWare was Novell's high-level software development tool for
rapid application development using pre-written, reusable software components.
While AppWare had several attractive features, the most important was providing
a new set of APIs. Programmers could write programs using these APIs that could
function on any AppWare installation regardless of the operating system. Thus,
AppWare presented a serious threat to Microsoft. Writing to the AppWare APIs and
not to the Windows APIs would enable applications to run not only on Windows,
but also on Macintosh and other operating systems at no additional cost.
21
51.
This Novell portfolio of OpenDoc, AppWare, and WordPerfect software posed a
competitive threat to Microsoft's operating systems monopoly similar to that
described in the Government Suit. In the Government Suit, the United States
claimed that Microsoft's operating systems monopoly was threatened by a popular
application, Netscape, supporting a system-neutral programming language, Java.
Like the Netscape-Java combination, the combination of WordPerfect, a popular
application, with the system-neutral OpenDoc-protocol and AppWare development
environment, threatened Microsoft's operating systems monopoly. Microsoft
employed an array of tactics to minimize that threat, including preventing
OpenDoc's compatibility with Windows 95 and requiring OLE-compatibility as a
condition of Windows 95 certification. It pursued these and other tactics
directly and indirectly, through its campaign to minimize
market share. See 87 F. Supp. 2d at 43. Furthermore, by monopolizing office
productivity application markets and removing WordPerfect as a viable
competitor, Microsoft also eliminated the potential cross- platform threat to
Microsoft's operating systems monopoly posed by AppWare: AppWare's success in
the market depended upon the availability of applications, such as WordPerfect,
that were compatible with the AppWare development environment.
52. In other ways, Novell's WordPerfect and other office productivity
applications also posed a significant threat to the applications barrier to
entry that protected the Windows monopoly. The principal use of PCs during the
relevant period was word processing. To become a viable alternative to Windows,
another operating system would need compatibility with a popular word processing
application. Because WordPerfect historically was the most popular word
processing application, a new
22
operating system could attract a significant
number of users upon entering the market if WordPerfect was available to run on
it. "If application programs could be written to run on multiple operating
systems, competition in the market for operating systems could be revitalized."
Gov't Compl. ¶
7. WordPerfect was historically available on many different operating systems,
and Novell was a likely ally of potential competitors to Microsoft's operating
systems monopoly. WordPerfect, like Navigator and Java, was thus a "product[]
that might threaten [the Windows] monopoly" by "erod[ing] the applications
barrier to entry." 253 F.3d at 55, 58. As the District Court found, Microsoft
pursued a strategy of injuring firms whose technologies threatened the
applications barrier to entry, by perpetrating anti-competitive acts such as
withholding information that was needed to develop applications to run on
Windows. Findings of Fact ¶¶
90-93.
53. The District Court's original remedy, subsequently reversed on procedural
grounds, also recognized that the availability of a widely-used word processing
application on alternative operating systems was critical to the viability of potential operating system competitors. This remedy was designed to eliminate
Microsoft's control over word processing and other office productivity
applications that protected the Windows monopoly by splitting Microsoft into two
separate Applications and Operating Systems Companies. Microsoft's word
processing application, Microsoft Word, would have been the principal product of
the Applications Company. As Dr. Carl Shapiro, a leading antitrust economist who
served as the Government's expert in the original remedies phase, explained:
"The improved availability of the Application Company's products as complements
to rival platforms will thus help those actual and potential rivals to Windows
overcome the applications barrier to entry that currently
23
protects the Windows
monopoly." United States v. Microsoft Corp.,
Declaration of Carl Shapiro, at 9.
54.
Microsoft's effort to exclude the WordPerfect applications from the markets
increased dramatically upon Novell's merger with WordPerfect Corporation, which
occurred during the crucial period of Microsoft's development of Windows 95.
Upon Novell's merger with WordPerfect, Microsoft's executives decided to
intensify the anticompetitive campaign of withholding technical information that
Novell needed to develop WordPerfect and other applications for Windows 95.
55.
A top Microsoft executive wrote that Microsoft should "smile" at Novell, falsely
signifying Microsoft's willingness to help the two companies' common customers
integrate their various products, while actuaIly "pulling the trigger" and
killing Novell. Indeed, Microsoft's Chairman and CEO, Bill Gates, instructed his
executives to develop plans to retaliate against Novell for its cooperation with
the government authorities investigating Microsoft.
As explained below, Microsoft fulfilled these instructions by withholding
technical information about the ever-changing functions of Windows, including
the integrated browsing functions in Windows 95, and by excluding Novell's
office productivity applications from the major channels of distribution and
other potential platforms.
A. Microsoft's Scheme To Injure Novell By Withholding Technical Information
About
Its Windows Platform
56. Microsoft periodically introduced changes to its Windows operating system
that repeatedly degraded the functionality of Novell's office productivity
applications, including WordPerfect and Quattro Pro. As explained below,
Microsoft then withheld the information that was necessary for Novell to restore
the degraded
24
functionality, causing Novell's applications to fail to reach the markets in the
timely manner that was necessary to compete with Microsoft's own applications.
57.
For an application to run, it must invoke certain core functions provided by the
operating system, such as ways to find, open, close, and save documents.
Applications invoke these functions by communicating with the operating system's
exposed APIs or "extensions." For instance, an ISV wishing to develop a word
processing application with the basic ability to find, open, close, and save
documents would write its software code to "call" the relevant extensions into
service on behalf of the application.
58.
Windows contains thousands of different APIs providing numerous functions, and
ISVs need documentation published by Microsoft to know how to make the necessary
calls to the APIs. Without the documentation, an ISV must expend a tremendous
amount of resources to recreate functions that are already built into Windows;
indeed, without the documentation, an ISV might never be able to recreate the
functions at all. As the District Court found
in the Government Suit, the ability of an ISV to compete in the marketplace for
software running on Windows is highly dependent on Microsoft's cooperation.
Findings of Fact ¶
338.
59. Microsoft's top executives testified in the Government Suit that an
important purpose of documenting programming interfaces or extensions is to free
ISVs from "re-inventing the wheel," so they can devote their resources to
innovating new features that will work in addition to, instead of merely in
place of, extensions. Microsoft "evangelized" the use of its extensions because,
among other reasons, it
25
wanted Windows to have a consistent "look and feel," no
matter what ISV's application might have been running on top of Windows.
60. In the absence of anticompetitive motives, Microsoft had powerful economic
incentives to cooperate with third-party software and hardware vendors such as
Novell during the development of upgrades to the operating system, such as
Windows 95, and to inform these vendors of recent innovations in the programming
interfaces or extensions. Microsoft benefits from this cooperation by ensuring
that a large number of compatible applications will be available in new versions
that will call new Windows APIs into service, so users will experience the value
of the Windows upgrade. Indeed, Microsoft has devoted substantial resources to
facilitating the efforts of others to develop products that complement its own.
Microsoft employs large organizations devoted to providing technical information
and support to third-party software and hardware vendors. These organizations
create and supply documentation about programming interfaces and other features
of Microsoft operating system products, and can assist third-party vendors with
technical support questions that arise during development of their products.
Microsoft makes these resources generally available to third-party developers on
a subscription basis. Accordingly, as its witnesses testified in the Government
Suit, Microsoft has routinely cooperated with thousands of ISVs --
with almost any ISV in the world, in fact, except major competitors such as
Novell. Indeed, as noted, Microsoft cooperated with WordPerfect with respect to
Microsoft's prior MS-DOS platform, precisely because at that time Microsoft did
not have strong office productivity applications of its own for that platform.
26
61. ISVs also benefit from this cooperation, when they can obtain it, by
having compatible applications ready for sale in conjunction with their
customers' decisions to upgrade to the newest version of Windows. "[B]ecause
of the importance of 'time-to-market' in the software industry, ISVs .. . seek
to obtain beta releases and
other technical information relating to Windows as early and as consistently as
possible." Findings of Fact ¶
338. A beta release of an operating system is a version that is still under
development and has not been released for sale to the general public. An
operating systems developer such as Microsoft will release beta versions to
certain individual users, who volunteer as "beta testers," and to ISVs, who use
betas to begin developing their own applications to
run
on the forthcoming version of the operating system. Because Microsoft decides
when and which ISVs will receive betas, an ISV's ability to compete in the
applications markets depends on Microsoft's cooperation. Id.
62. Although Microsoft's efforts to promote third-party support for its
operating system products have been pervasive, they have not been universal. On
repeated occasions, and even at the cost of diminishing the immediate consumer
appeal of its own products, Microsoft has acted to prevent rather than promote
development of complementary products, like WordPerfect,
that threaten the applications and other compatibility-related barriers to entry
that protect Microsoft's operating system dominance. Microsoft's Jeff Raikes
would later articulate this strategy in a 1997 e-mail to investor Warren Buffet:
"If we own the key 'franchises' built on top of the operating system, we
dramatically widen the 'moat' that protects the operating system business."
63. Novell was one of the most important of the independent developers of
applications for Microsoft's operating systems. Microsoft was willing to
sacrifice the 27
short-term benefits of having compatible Novell applications
running on Windows, however, for the sake of achieving the longer-term benefits
of excluding WordPerfect from competition. These benefits included monopolizing
the markets for office productivity applications and protecting the applications
barrier to entry into the operating systems market. Microsoft thus refused to
continue the parties' long- standing, mutually profitable practice of exchanging
technical information. Microsoft's real and only purpose in pursuing these ends
was to widen the "moat" protecting its monopoly in the PC operating systems
market by extending that monopoly into the markets for word processing and
spreadsheet applications.
64. Microsoft's own applications developers always had complete access to the
technical information that was necessary to develop applications to run on
Windows. They could and did simply talk to Microsoft's operating systems
engineers to obtain information
about the operating system's proprietary code, whenever necessary to expedite
their work. This discriminatory access and other anticompetitive acts gave
Microsoft applications significant "time-to-market" leads over Novell.
1. Microsoft's Anticompetitive Withholding of Technical Information
Concerning Windows 95
65. Although WordPerfect had previously suffered a decline in market share
as a result of Microsoft's prior but similar anticompetitive acts, WordPerfect remained a
popular and highly regarded word processing application during the period when
Windows 95 was under development.
66. Windows 95 was a significant improvement over earlier versions of Windows.
Microsoft announced with much fanfare that this platform would be "the first
operating system for Intel-compatible PCs that exhibited the same sort of
28
integrated features as [Apple's Macintosh operating system] running PCs
manufactured by [Apple]." Findings of Fact ¶ 8. Consumers and ISVs eagerly
awaited the increased functionality that Microsoft promised to provide through
new APIs, including extensions for the newly integrated browsing functions that
would control an entirely new file management system and enable a user to find
and access information in the user's computer, on the network, or even on the
Internet. "Browsing" relates both to this navigational functionality and to the
graphical shell used for presenting the information to the user. Access to the
newly integrated browsing functions would be necessary, for instance, to allow
an application to find, open and save documents created on the application, such
as a legal brief written on Wordperfect, because these functions essentially act
as a navigational bridge for the user to access various files, storage devices,
printers, and network resources, among other directories.
67. This newly integrated browsing technology is the same browsing technology at
issue in the Government Suit. As James Allchin, then Senior Vice President in
charge of Microsoft's Personal and Business Group, testified in the Government
Suit: "The Internet Explorer technologies in Windows enable customers to view
information on the Internet -- as well as on other networks, hard drives, floppy
disks, and other information sources. Accessing and viewing information on the
Internet is widely referred to as 'Web browsing,' but it is the same in
principle as accessing and viewing information stored anyplace else. In short,
treating information stored on the Internet in a radically different way than
other kinds of information makes no sense as a matter of software engineering
and is potentially confusing to
29
customers." United States v. Microsoft Corp.,
Direct Testimony of James Allchin ¶ 73, at
30. As Allchin further testified: -
"We want to unify the browsing of all types of infomation --
regardless of whether
that information is stored on the Internet (or the Web) or someplace else." Id. ¶
3, at 3.
-
"I would like to be very clear on the following point: The very same
software
code in Windows 98 that provides Web browsing functionality also provides (i) platform support to developers, (ii) user interface software (for Windows itself and other software
products) and (iii) access to information stored in locations other than the Internet.
That software code is called Internet Explorer." Id. ¶ 9, at 6-7 (emphasis in original).
-
"Browsing generally connotes the process of accessing and viewing
(or managing)
information in a common way, such as having a single program that can let you
view file folders, text files, drawings, spreadsheets, and so on. Web browsing
generally connotes accessing and viewing information in display formats such as
HTML that has been transferred over the Internet using protocols such as TCP/IP
and HTTP. There is no definitive line, however, between Web browsing and the
more general concept of browsing." Id. ¶
28, at 14. -
"[Microsoft made a] decision in early 1994 -- before Netscape was
incorporated -- to
include comprehensive support for the Internet, including Web browsing
functionality, in Windows." Id. ¶
79, at
32. -
"Microsoft developed a new approach in which the various functions
performed by
Internet Explorer technologies could be used by Windows itself or by other
software programs designed to run on Windows. And Microsoft had to design
Windows to unify the inconsistent ways in which customers would otherwise have
had to interact with information depending on where that information was found."
Id. ¶
84, at 33. -
"Thus, Microsoft set about the task in early 1995, before the first
version of
Windows 95 was even released, of tearing apart and then rebuilding Internet
Explorer as a series of software components. Microsoft then 'exposed' the
functionality performed by these components in the form of hundreds of APIs.
This is a very important point. Today the entire developer community benefits
from Microsoft's inclusion of Internet support in Windows because
30
all developers
can call upon this built-in functionality in creating their own products." Id. ¶
85, at 33-34 (emphasis in original). -
"Internet Explorer is the name for a set of technologies in Windows
that
provides essential functionality both to Windows and to other software
developers. Our vision of deeper levels of technical integration is highly
efficient and provides substantial benefits to customers and developers." Id. ¶
94, at 36.
-
"Certain files . . . form the core of Internet Explorer technologies in
Windows
98 (and Windows 95 starting with the OSR 2.0 version). Here is a very brief
overview of the functions performed by these six important files, the first four
of which listed below are collectively known as the 'Web browser control.' . . .
-
SHDOCVWDLL is a powerful system service that allows any
software publisher to embed browsing functionality deep in its
own programs without showing the Internet Explorer user
interface. This file provides basic functionality associated with
browsing, such as 'Back' and 'Forward' buttons, for use
throughout Windows (whether or not browsing Web pages)
and in third party software products. It also provides the user
interface for a Windows 98 browser window (whether called
'Internet Explorer' or 'Windows Explorer') as well as the
Windows 98 'Start' menu. This is true whether or not the
customer is viewing information on the Internet, on a local area
network or on the hard drive of the computer, and whether or
not the customer is viewing information presented in HTML. -
MSHTML.DLL 'parses' and 'renders' information in the HTML
display format -- both within Windows and in third party
software products. This file provides functionality that is
similar to the 'Rich Text Control,' another part of Windows 95
that provides display functionality.
-
URLMON.DLL enables Windows and third party software
programs to work effectively
with URLs (addresses on the Web). URLMON extends the functionality of a file
called WINSOCK (short for 'Windows Sockets'), which provides a variety of
networking functions within Windows and to third party software developers.
-
WININET.DLL (short for 'Windows Internet') provides the
capability to Windows and third party software programs of
retrieving data from the Internet or other locations (such as a
local area network) using various Internet protocols, such as
HTTP. WININET also extends the functionality of WINSOCK.
31
-
SHLWAPI.DLL reads and processes Internet addresses and
links. -
COMCTL32.DLL performs a wide range of functions that are
central to the
operation of the operating system. To the extent relevant here, this file
provides toolbars, the 'Favorites' menu, and related features in Windows 98
browsing windows." Id.¶100, at 38-39.
"Two other files, IEXPLORE.EXE and EXPLORER.EXE, are of particular note. One or the other of
these two files is invoked when a customer invokes the Web browsing
functionality in Windows 98." Id. ¶
101, at 39.
68. Many internal Microsoft documents written in 1994 and 1995 were cited
as support for Allchin's testimony. According to Allchin, these documents
describe
Microsoft's vision "to lead the market by unifying the mechanisms for finding,
viewing
and managing information of all types. This was simply the next step in
Microsoft's
efforts to make it easier to access and use information without regard to where
it is
stored, a key element of Microsoft's advocacy of the concept of Information at
Your
Fingertips that started in 1990." Id. ¶
213, at 79. For example: -
A January 25, 1994 memorandum entitled 'Windows: The Next
Killer Application on
the Internet,' discussed the benefits of making Windows an "Internet navigation
tool" and advocated a strategy in which "[d]istributed information on the
Internet . . . [could be] browsed using the [Windows] Explorer across thousands
of information servers worldwide .. . . Windows becomes the global infostructure
explorer." According to Allchin, this is the strategy Microsoft adopted. Id.¶¶
221-222, at 82 (emphasis in original). -
Also, in "a
June 2, 1995 slide presentation used at a meeting of
senior Microsoft executives
...where Microsoft's Internet strategy and goals were discussed, Internet
Explorer was defined to be a 'Win95 integrated web browser' that was focused 'on
making the Internet easy to use.' . . . Internet Explorer was also described as the
[f]oundation for [a] universal viewing client' and the '[b]asis for
future Windows shell direction.'
Thus, two months before the commercial release of Windows 95, Microsoft
anticipated that Internet Explorer technologies would be more tightly integrated
32
into future versions of the operating system, providing a new user interface."
Id. ¶
245, at 92. -
Allchin also cited an October 23,1995 memorandum entitled "Web-
like Shell," in
which "Chris Brown described the primary goal for what became the Windows 98
user interface as 'enhanc[ing] navigation and file management in the shell by
adopting the best aspects of the World Wide Web.' .. . He stated that the focus
would be on making 'the shell both easier to use (via new web-like navigation
commands and single-click interaction) and more visually appealing (by
implementing rich, graphical document views for any folder).' Among the list of
benefits he enumerated were 'easier browsing,' 'more engaging visuals,' and
'unified browsing for the Shell, Internet and Office.' As to this last benefit,
he stated that '[i]ncorporating
the Microsoft Internet Explorer into the Windows Explorer bridges the gap
between local containers and URLs. Users benefit because interaction will be
identical, and simplified (thus minimizing retraining costs).' The word
"container" in this context refers to an information source, such as a folder or
file stored on the hard drive of a personal computer or a page stored on the
Web.'' Id. ¶
253, at 96. -
"In a memorandum written in September 1995 and updated in
November 1995,
entitled 'Web-like Shell: Architecture,' Satoshi Nakajima referred to Chris
Brown's Web-like shell concept and stated that Microsoft 'will improve the Shell
Explorer by making it very easy to 'navigate' -- with the navigation toolbar and
the single- click page-view. We will also integrate the Shell Explorer and the
Internet Explorer, so that the user can navigate documents on local volumes,
[local area networks] and [World Wide Web] as seamless as possible.' . . . In
general the seamless navigation he was discussing was achieved in Internet
Explorer 4.0, which provides the Windows 98 user interface." Id.¶
254, at 96-97. -
Finally, "[i]n
an e-mail dated December 6, 1995, Brad Silverberg
stated that the 'new Windows
shell unifies folders (file system directories) with the web and document-navigation metaphor.' . . . He described this new user interface as a 'very
friendly way to view and navigate your local [personal computer] and your
corp[orate] net, as well as the [I]nternet.'"
Id. ¶
256, at 97.
69. As the United States alleged in the Government Suit, Bill Gates
recognized that "the development of competing Internet browsers -- specialized
software programs that allow PC users to locate, access, display, and manipulate 33
content and applications located on the [web] -- posed a serious potential threat
to Microsoft's Windows operating system monopoly." Gov't Compl. ¶ 6. To respond
to this competitive threat, Microsoft embarked on an extensive campaign to
market, distribute, and integrate Microsoft's own browsing functions into the
operating system. See id.
¶10.
70.
For these and other reasons, some applications written for earlier versions of
Windows, and WordPerfect in particular, would not be compatible with Windows
95.
As a consequence, it was critical for Novell and other ISVs to have access to
technical information regarding the browsing functions and other new features,
so the development of applications could proceed simultaneously with Microsoft's
development of Windows 95. Otherwise, ISVs' applications could not reach the
market at the same time as Windows 95, and would surrender time-to-market leads
to Microsoft's own applications. Both parties knew that consumers quickly would
replace their existing operating systems with Windows 95 and almost
simultaneously switch to applications designed to take advantage of its new
extensions.
71. During the development of Windows 95, Microsoft's executives schemed to
integrate the browsing functions into Windows 95 in a manner designed to cause
the maximum possible damage to competitors. Microsoft's executives specifically
targeted WordPerfect by name in the documents that recorded the scheme.
Microsoft decided to proceed with the scheme even at the risk of negatively
impacting its corporate image and alienating its important ISVs. For instance,
Microsoft intentionally made the use of any browsing technology other than
Microsoft's browser a "jolting experience" for its own Windows customers, solely
to create the false impression that other browsers were
34
not effective. The
purpose and effect of this conduct was to maintain its operating systems
monopoly and "to preclude potential competition with Microsoft's operating
system from competing browsers and from other companies and software whose use
is facilitated by these browsers." Id. ¶
38.
72.
As a result of Microsoft's integration of the browsing functions into Windows,
ISVs needed documentation of the browsing extensions to design their
applications to perform the most basic file management functions. Microsoft
initially documented the browsing extensions in the beta releases of Windows 95
and otherwise appeared to cooperate with ISVs in developing applications for
release with Windows
95.
73. Microsoft "evangelized" the benefits of using the browsing extensions. In
the early stages of developing WordPerfect for Windows 95, Novell thus devoted
significant resources to ensuring compatibility with and otherwise exploiting
the benefits of Windows' integrated browsing functions. Further, as encouraged
by Microsoft, Novell expended additional resources to expand upon the
extensions, providing still greater functionality for its own customers and
potentially for other ISVs and their customers. For example, Novell designed its
software programs and products to utilize the programming interfaces in
Microsoft's main file management utility (called the Explorer)
to display rich directory information about Novell-managed network resources.
74. In an e-mail dated October 3, 1994, however, Bill Gates ordered his top
executives to retract the documentation of the browsing extensions, but only
until Microsoft's own developers of the Office suite of applications had
sufficient time to 35
work with the hidden extensions to build an insurmountable
advantage over competitors such as WordPerfect. Gates further explained that
without this advantage, Office could not compete with the major ISVs.
75. In public test versions of Windows 95 released a few months before the final
product shipped to consumers,
ripped out these programming interfaces without warning to Novell. After
Microsoft withdrew the documentation of the browsing extensions, Novell was
suddenly unable to provide basic file management functions in WordPerfect; in
many instances, a user literally could not open a document he previously created
and saved. Indeed, WordPerfect could no longer use the functions that Novell had
innovated atop the extensions, while Microsoft Word could still take advantage
of such innovations.
76. When Novell asked Microsoft why it removed the Explorer interfaces and
browsing extensions, Microsoft claimed that it did not have the time and
resources to complete their development. But in fact, the Explorer interfaces
and browsing extensions had been complete and functional before Microsoft
removed them. Microsoft's real reasons for pulling the interfaces and browsing
extensions were twofold: to delay the development of Novell's software programs
and products, including WordPerfect, which had to be reworked to function
through a different set of interfaces designed for Microsoft's software programs
and products; and to hide the more advanced capabilities of Novell's office
productivity applications from users of Windows 95. Novell had no choice but to
spend more than a year recreating the functionality of Windows' integrated
browsing functions. As Gates knew and intended, withdrawing the documentation of
the browsing APIs caused Novell, in 36
Microsoft's own words, to re-invent the
wheel and divert resources from innovations on behalf of consumers. Microsoft's
applications developers, by contrast, had unfettered access to the integrated
browsing extensions all along.
77.
Thereafter, when Microsoft released Windows 95 and Office 95, at virtually the
same time, Microsoft suddenly reversed course and documented the programming
interfaces. Doing so voided the alternatives that Microsoft previously forced
Novell to expend an entire year developing and, at the precise moment when
WordPerfect needed to enter the market, forced Novell to spend additional time
designing basic functions of WordPerfect all over again.
78.
Microsoft's anti-competitive integration of browsing functions into Windows
delayed the release of Novell's office productivity applications for Windows
95.
These acts also degraded the functionality of Novell's applications, which never
were able to provide Novell's customers with as robust an implementation of the
browsing extensions as they otherwise could have provided. In short,
"Microsoft's conduct with respect to browsers is a prominent and immediate
example of the pattern of anticompetitive practices undertaken by Microsoft with
the purpose and effect of maintaining its PC operating system monopoly and
extending that monopoly to other related markets," including the office
productivity applications markets alleged herein. Gov't Compl. ¶ 13. By virtue
of Microsoft's anti-competitive integration of browsing functions into Windows
95, for which Microsoft was held liable in the Government Suit, Novell's
applications were delayed in reaching the markets and provided consumers with
less value.
37
79.
In addition to documentation of the crucial browsing extensions, Microsoft
withheld other technical specifications concerning Windows 95, and in some
instances affirmatively misrepresented the specifications, further delaying
Novell's delivery of WordPerfect and related applications for the Windows 95
platform.
80.
Microsoft refused to publish the APIs that were used to place items on the
Windows Clipboard, although its own developers had the documentation. The
Clipboard provided a location for storing information until it was "pasted" into
another application. Novell ultimately had to forgo this functionality in its
applications because the expenditure of time and resources required to duplicate
the hidden APIs was prohibitive, so Novell could not provide the same richness
of data integration that Microsoft's applications could provide.
81.
Further, Microsoft misrepresented that Windows 95 would operate as an
exclusively "32-bit" system, meaning it would process 32 bits of data at once. A
bit -- short for binary digit -- is the smallest unit of information a computer can
hold. The beta versions of Windows 95 indicated that it would be an entirely 32-
bit system, rather than a 16-bit system, as all previous versions of Windows
were. This representation was critical, because applications written for a 32-
bit operating system would not function properly on a 16-bit
system. Novell relied upon Microsoft's representations and developed its
applications to run on an entirely 32-bit system. After Novell completed its
PerfectOffice
3.0 suite of office productivity applications, including WordPerfect and Quattro
Pro, Microsoft disclosed that Windows 95 would not be a purely 32-bit system.
Microsoft's deception forced Novell to expend considerable time and resources to
redesign its applications, significantly delaying their release.
38
Microsoft's own applications developers knew that Windows 95 would not be an
entirely 32-bit operating system and, as a consequence, Microsoft was able to
release its office productivity applications almost immediately upon the release
of Windows 95.
82.
Through these and other anticompetitive acts, Microsoft put Novell "on a
treadmill," forcing Novell's developers to expend significant time obtaining
information and creating functionalities that Microsoft gave to its own
applications developers through secret documentation of hidden APIs.
83.
In addition to withholding technical information, Microsoft created and
controlled new "industry" standards and established unjustified certification
requirements to delay the release of Novell's applications and to impair their
performance for Novell's customers.
84.
First, as discussed above, Microsoft excluded from the markets the "OpenDoc"
technology for sharing information among applications, by using its monopoly
power to force a different standard upon the industry. Because CIL
was designing OpenDoc to run across multiple platforms, including MS-DOS, DR-DOS,
Windows, OS/2, and Macintosh, OpenDoc threatened the applications barrier to
entry that protected Microsoft's Windows monopoly.
85. Microsoft responded to this competitive threat by preventing CIL from making
OpenDoc compatible with Windows 95. For example, Microsoft routinely required
all ISVs to execute nondisclosure agreements as a condition of receiving the
information they needed to develop their applications. These agreements,
however, contained terms that uniquely targeted ISVs who were members of CIL,
by preventing their employees who worked on OpenDoc from receiving Windows 95
betas or 39
specifications, which effectively prevented CIL from initially developing
OpenDoc for Windows 95. In addition, Microsoft required ISVs working with a
Windows 95 beta to
agree that they would not work on OpenDoc for two years. While Microsoft
eventually
dropped this requirement, its impact had immediate anticompetitive effects on
OpenDoc's development.
86.
Further, Microsoft unilaterally announced that OLE would be incorporated
directly into Windows, instead of existing independently of the operating system
as a technology to be adopted or rejected by ISVs, depending on their
assessments of its technical merit. Microsoft then required OLE-compatibility as
a condition of Microsoft's certification of an application's compatibility with
Windows 95. This certification requirement was a significant barrier to entry
into the applications markets, because Microsoft represented to the industry
that any application lacking the certification could not be trusted to run on
Windows 95. By exploiting this barrier to entry, Microsoft forced ISVs to make
their applications OLE-compatible. Furthermore, Microsoft ensured that only
applications using its tools, and not those of its competitors, would reach
customers. This anticompetitive behavior by Microsoft is similar to the behavior
described in the Government Suit with respect to Microsoft's efforts to force
ISVs to use Microsoft's implementation of Java. "Specifically, in the First Wave
agreements that it signed with dozens of ISVs in 1997 and 1998, Microsoft
conditioned early Windows 98 and Windows NT betas, other technical information,
and the right to use certain Microsoft seals of approval on the agreement of
those ISVs to use Microsoft's version of the Windows [Java virtual machines] as
the 'default.'" Findings of Fact ¶401.
40
87.
There was no valid technical or business reason for requiring OLE- compatibility
as a condition of the Windows 95 certification; OpenDoc was even more capable of
providing the same linking and embedding functions, and in the absence of the
certification requirement and other anticompetitive acts, OpenDoc and OLE would
have continued to compete on their technical merits. Indeed, Microsoft initially
announced that applications using OpenDoc would be deemed OLE-compatible, and
would receive Microsoft's certification for Windows 95, because OpenDoc was a
"superset" of OLE, meaning it provided every function of OLE, and more. Later,
after Novell, other ISVs and CIL were far advanced in their efforts to develop
and use OpenDoc, Microsoft announced that applications using OpenDoc would not
receive automatic certification, and might not receive certification at all.
88. Seeing that Microsoft's anticompetitive acts would ensure the demise of OpenDoc,
ISVs were left with no choice but to adopt Microsoft's proprietary OLE protocol
as the de facto industry standard for linking and embedding. Even after making
OLE the industry standard, however, Microsoft still withheld specifications and
final, debugged versions of OLE until after Microsoft released its competing
applications. Microsoft's anticompetitive acts concerning OLE further increased
the "time-to-market" lead that Microsoft's office productivity applications
unlawfully achieved over Novell's applications.
89. Second, Microsoft required office productivity applications seeking Windows
95 certification to be compatible with the very different Windows NT, which is
an operating system for larger and more powerful computers that are used as
"servers" to link numerous PCs (and peripherals) across an organization into a
41
network. There was no justification for this requirement. Further, Windows 95
and Windows NT were so dissimilar that an application running on one system
could not run on the other without substantial modification. Novell expended
significant development resources to make its applications compatible with
Windows NT, resulting in further delay in the release of Novell's applications
for Windows 95.
90.
Third, Microsoft unilaterally made the proprietary Rich Text Format ("RTF") of
Microsoft Word the standard file format for text-based documents in applications
developed for Windows. Upon capturing the standard, Microsoft strategically
withheld the specification to injure competitors, including Novell.
91.
As Microsoft knew, a truly standard file format that was open to all ISVs would
have enhanced competition in the market for word processing applications,
because such a standard allows the exchange of text files between different word
processing applications used by different customers. A user wishing to exchange
a text file with a second user running a different word processing application
could simply convert his file to the standard format, and the second user then
could convert the file from the standard format into his own word processor's
format. Thus, a law firm, for instance, could continue to use WordPerfect (which
was the favorite word processor of the legal profession), so long as it could
convert and edit client documents created in Microsoft Word, if that is what
clients happened to use. Microsoft knew that if it controlled the convertibility
of documents through its control of the RTF standard, then Microsoft would be
able to exclude competing word processing applications from the market and force
customers to adopt Microsoft Word, as it soon did.
42
92.
The specifications for RTF were readily available to Microsoft's applications
developers, because RTF was the format they themselves developed for Microsoft's
office productivity applications. Microsoft withheld the RTF specifications from
Novell, however, forcing Novell to engage in a perpetual, costly effort to
comply with a critical "industry standard that was, in reality, nothing more
than the preference of its chief competitor, Word. Indeed, whenever Word changed
its own file format, Microsoft unilaterally and identically changed the RTF
standard for Windows, forcing Novell and other ISVs constantly to redevelop
their applications. In this manner, Microsoft gave Word a permanent,
insurmountable
lead in time-to-market, and made document conversions difficult for users
otherwise interested in running non-Microsoft applications. Many WordPerfect
users were thus forced to switch to Microsoft Word, which predictably
monopolized the word processing market.
93. Fourth, Microsoft unilaterally announced that other features of Word were to
be considered Windows standards. One important example is the "tool bar," which
typically runs across the top of the PC's screen in applications operating on
Windows. Microsoft's tool bar originated in the Microsoft Office applications,
such as Word and Excel, while ISVs such as Novell developed competing features,
such as WordPerfect's
more widely admired "button bar." Unable to design a better feature than
WordPerfect's, Microsoft simply declared its toolbar to be the Windows standard,
supplanting WordPerfect's button bar and other competitors' offerings. As in the
case of RTF, Microsoft forced Novell to delay its time-to-market while
redeveloping its applications to an inferior standard. Because these standards
were lifted directly from
43
Microsoft's own applications, those applications, by
definition, were always "compatible" with the standards.
94. Fifth, Microsoft made other inferior features de facto
industry standards, by preventing Novell and other competitors from presenting
certain of their own features, such as Novell's QuickFinder, on the desktop. The
government alleged and the Court held in the Government Suit that Microsoft was
liable for excluding the features of certain other ISVs from the desktop in the
same manner. See 253 F.3d at 62, 64; Findings of Fact ¶¶
212-214; Gov't Compl. ¶¶
24-25.
95.
QuickFinder, Novell's search technology, was faster and more advanced than
Microsoft's own "find" capability. QuickFinder enabled users to create search
criteria across the computer's different storage devices and to search files by
name, text, and date. Because Microsoft prevented Novell from presenting
QuickFinder on the desktop, QuickFinder could only be used when running
WordPerfect; Microsoft's own finder technology, with exclusive display on the
desktop, could be used anywhere in the computing environment, gaining an unfair
advantage over Novell's otherwise superior technology.
2. Microsoft's Anticompetitive Withholding of Technical Information
Concerning; Earlier Versions of Windows
96.
Microsoft withheld critical information concerning earlier versions of the
Windows operating system, thereby giving itself a time-to-market lead in the
applications markets. Microsoft held and extended this lead following Novell's
merger with WordPerfect by virtue of the anticompetitive acts alleged above.
Microsoft's anticompetitive acts, both pre- and post-dating Novell's merger with
WordPerfect, were committed as part of a continuing violation designed to
maintain Microsoft's monopoly
44
in the operating systems market and to achieve and maintain monopolies in the
office productivity applications markets. Independent, overt acts during the
period in which Novell owned the rights to WordPerfect inflicted new and
accumulating harm on Novell.
97.
Microsoft refused to disclose technical specifications that were required to
overcome an operating system flaw known as the "64k (meaning 64,000 bytes of)
memory limitation,'' which adversely affected critical features of WordPerfect.
Specifically, the menu feature in WordPerfect consumed well in excess of 70
percent of the operating system's limited memory. Using such an inordinate
amount of memory could cause a PC to crash.
98.
Microsoft's API documentation did not disclose sufficient information to cure
this limitation. In addition, the Microsoft support personnel, who were assigned
to help Novell solve such problems pursuant to a paid subscription to
Microsoft's support program, simply refused to provide the information. The
denial of this crucial information forced Novell to develop a costly and
difficult solution, delaying the shipment of WordPerfect for Windows, just when
Windows was replacing the MS-DOS platform, on which WordPerfect was the dominant
word processing application. Microsoft's denial of information also increased
the risk of performance problems with Novell's products, and it created
programming difficulties for ISVs who wished to develop applications compatible
with WordPerfect, thereby diminishing the commercial appeal of WordPerfect.
99.
By contrast, because Microsoft's own applications developers had access to
complete specifications for the operating system, comparable features of
Microsoft
45
Word consumed only a small percentage of the limited memory, and Microsoft
experienced no delay in reaching the market.
100. The 64k memory limitation also caused degrading functionality in
WordPerfect's dialog boxes, which guide the user through the execution of
certain functions, such as the "save as" function. Opening multiple dialog boxes
in WordPerfect consumed a significant amount of memory, which could cause the PC
to crash. Microsoft was aware of the problem, and incorporated into Windows a
solution called Dialog Box Manager ("DBM). Microsoft refused to document this
feature of Windows to competing ISVs, however, making it available exclusively
to Microsoft's own applications developers.
101. As a consequence, Novell had to reduce the functionality of its application
and split its more complex dialogs into several boxes, making WordPerfect more
difficult to use. As always, the effort to overcome the lack of information cost
WordPerfect crucial time-to-market.
102. Microsoft Word's developers had access to the required information all
along. They "solved" the problem by making undocumented calls to the secret DBM
in Windows. Indeed, when WordPerfect's developers first encountered the problem,
they observed Word in operation, to see if it was consuming the same amount of
memory; using developers' tools that monitor the interactions between
applications and operating systems, the WordPerfect developers saw Word making
calls to the undocumented DBM. Even when confronted with this information,
Microsoft's ISV "support" personnel would not tell the WordPerfect's developers
how to call the DBM.
46
103. Microsoft also harmed Novell by hiding the computer-based training ("CBT")
"hooks," or interfaces, in Windows, which Microsoft Word and Excel employed to
train their users. Novell's developers requested information regarding these
undocumented hooks, but they were advised that no information was available to
ISVs. Microsoft's ISV support personnel acknowledged, however, that Microsoft's
own applications developers were using the hooks.
104. Microsoft's refusal to document the CBT hooks made Novell's applications
more difficult to use, thereby providing less value to consumers and increasing
Novell's customer support costs, further impairing Novell's sales efforts and
delaying the release of Novell's applications.
105. Microsoft also refused to resolve Windows-related bugs affecting Novell's
WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, and related applications as aggressively as it
resolved bugs affecting its own applications. This discriminatory treatment
adversely affected the performance of Novell's applications, causing consumers
to believe that Novell's applications were inferior to Microsoft's competing
applications.
106. Further, Microsoft excluded WordPerfect and Quattro Pro developers from
technical conferences and porting labs, which are opportunities for developers
to "debug" their Windows applications and otherwise ensure integration with
Windows. As a result of Novell's exclusion from these conferences, its
applications suffered a greater incidence of malfunctions, which were often
caused by Windows itself, prolonged development efforts, increased customer
frustration, and reduced sales. In contrast, Microsoft's applications developers
routinely had access to the developers of
47
Windows, whenever convenient to resolve
technical problems or incorporate new functions into their applications.
107. Microsoft also refused to provide a simple remedy for a phenomenon referred
to as "DLL Hell," which adversely affected non-Microsoft applications running on
the Windows platform. "Dynamic Link Libraries" ("DLLs") are files containing
specific lines of code that must be present in specific places on the PC if
applications are to operate properly on Windows. Microsoft often changed the
functions of the DLLs from one version of Windows to the next, without changing
the documentation provided to ISVs. As a result, Novell was forced to implement
elaborate procedures, which degraded the performance of WordPerfect and
sometimes required WordPerfect's users to "double reboot" their computers.
This phenomenon is commonly referred to as "DLL Hell."
108. Since Microsoft Office developers had timely access to information
concerning the changing DLLs, installing their software did not result in "DLL
Hell." Because of this advantage, OEMs had additional incentive to distribute
Word and not
to avoid the technical support issues "DLL Hell" raised.
109. To prevent "DLL Hell," Microsoft needed merely to document "version"
information whenever it changed a DLL. Microsoft was fully aware of the problem
and this simple solution, but refused to implement it.
110. The above-described anticompetitive acts during the development of
successive versions of Windows, including Windows 95 and its integrated browsing
functions, unlawfully hindered the efforts of Novell to develop word processing
and other office productivity applications to compete against applications
developed by
48
Microsoft. They lacked any legitimate business justification. The
only purpose of this conduct was to maintain and/or achieve monopolies in the
operating systems and office productivity applications markets.
111. The above-described anticompetitive acts had their intended effect. Hidden
features of each successive version of Windows, including Windows 95 and its
integrated browsing functions, substantially delayed the release of Novell's
office productivity applications, giving Microsoft's own applications a
significant time-to- market lead. It was the perpetual nature of this lead, and
Microsoft's exercise of its unilateral power to protect its lead by
strategically withholding information and otherwise abusing its operating system
monopoly during development of Windows 95, that ultimately forced Novell to sell
the WordPerfect assets at a staggering loss.
B. Microsoft's Exclusion of Novell's Office Productivity Applications From
The Major Channels of Distribution
112. In addition to delaying development and degrading operation of Novell's
office productivity applications, Microsoft has substantially foreclosed all of
the efficient methods for their distribution as well, including the OEM channel,
independent retailers, independent or loosely-affiliated resellers, direct
sales, and other platform technologies.
1. The OEM Channel
113. Fully aware that the OEM distribution channel was
critical to the continued success of WordPerfect and other competing
applications, Microsoft used a variety of tactics to eliminate the applications
of Novell and other ISVs from this
channel, while "handcuffing" OEMs to Microsoft's operating system and office
productivity applications.
49
114. OEMs manufacture and distribute PCs, typically bundling them with the
latest version of Windows along with applications such as word processors and
spreadsheets. OEMs are a principal distribution channel for this software,
because most individuals and small businesses desire to have both an operating
system and applications pre-installed on their PCs.
115. As the District Court found in the Government Suit, OEMs lack a
commercially viable alternative to licensing Windows for pre-installation on
their PCs. Findings of Fact ¶¶ 53-55. Without a license on favorable terms for the pre-installation of Windows,
an OEM cannot survive. By using its resulting dominance over OEMs to control the
applications that they pre-install, Microsoft directly controls the markets for
applications. Microsoft's executives schemed to use the power of their Windows
monopoly to force OEMs such as IBM to stop supporting applications that competed
with Microsoft's applications. Microsoft's internal correspondence records the
scheme.
116. Microsoft perpetrated numerous anticompetitive acts to destroy its
competitors' access to the OEM channel.
117. Microsoft refused or threatened to refuse to grant OEMs licenses for
Windows if the OEMs distributed non-Microsoft office productivity applications.
Faced with a choice between offering non-Microsoft office productivity
applications and obtaining a Windows license, most OEMs had no alternative but
to carry exclusively Microsoft applications. Microsoft forbade OEMs from pre-installing both Novell and Microsoft products on their machines, and gave OEMs
discounts for refusing to sell other vendors' office productivity suites, such
as Novell's PerfectOffice.
50
118. Microsoft also increased or threatened to increase the price of Windows
and/or took or threatened to take other retaliatory action against OEMs who
distributed non-Microsoft applications. The competitive PC market is
characterized by many competing OEMs earning narrow profit margins, and an
increase in the price of Windows is a direct threat to an OEM's profitability.
In the face of likely retribution by Microsoft, in the form of higher prices for
Windows, most OEMs refused to distribute WordPerfect and other Novell office
productivity applications.
119. Microsoft entered into anticompetitive arrangements with OEMs to foreclose
competing products from the distribution channel, as found in the Government
Suit. "Virtually every new PC that comes with Windows, no matter which OEM has
built it, presents users with the same screens and software specified by
Microsoft." Gov't Compl. ¶25. These restrictions deprive OEMs "of the freedom to make competitive choices
about which browser or other software product should be offered to their
customers," (id.) "substantially reduce OEMs' incentives and abilities to
innovate and differentiate their products in ways that could facilitate
competition between Microsoft products and competing software products, and
enhance Microsoft's ability to use the near-ubiquity of its Windows operating
system monopoly to gain dominance in both the Internet browser market and other
software markets." Id. ¶27.
120. The express terms of Microsoft's "Distributor Licenses" intimidated and
punished distributors who sold competing office productivity applications, such
as WordPerfect, while providing financial rewards to distributors who
exclusively sold Microsoft Office. For instance, Microsoft paid its distributors
a pro-rata "rebate" for each sale of Microsoft Office over a certain minimum
quarterly threshold. Conversely,
51
a distributor would be monetarily penalized for
each sale of a competing application, such as WordPerfect and Novell's other
office productivity applications. Under these licenses, Microsoft literally paid
its distributors to stop doing business with competitors such as Novell.
121. Further, to qualify for the rebate program, the distributor was required to
provide Microsoft with detailed weekly and monthly reports of its sales,
including sales of competing applications, such as WordPerfect. The reporting
requirements for competing applications were different from and well in excess
of the reporting requirements for sales of Microsoft's applications. These
requirements sent an intimidating message concerning Microsoft's intolerance of
competition. Merely by asking how many competing applications a distributor
might sell, Microsoft communicated that "zero' was the only number it would
tolerate. Distributors of competing applications were forced to incur the extra
administrative costs of tracking, accounting for, documenting, and reporting all
competing sales. These burdens were anticompetitive.
122. Microsoft's licenses also forced OEMs to divulge confidential and
proprietary information about Microsoft's competitors, including WordPerfect.
The OEMs' reports were to include total pre-installations of WordPerfect, in
both absolute and percentage terms, the times of the sales, and even the
specific geographic regions of the sales. In many instances, the reported
information would be sufficient to allow Microsoft to identify and target
markets and even specific customers served by Novell through an OEM. Neither the
competitors nor the OEMs would have provided this information absent Microsoft's
monopoly power in the operating systems market.
52
123. Microsoft also engaged in other anticompetitive licensing practices
with OEMs. It provided substantial inducements to license Microsoft Office on a
per- processor basis, rather than a per-copy basis, by setting the price of the
per-copy license significantly above the per-processor price. Under the per-processor licensing scheme, an OEM paid Microsoft for a copy of Microsoft
Office, including Word and Excel, for every PC it sold, regardless of whether
Microsoft Office was actually pre-installed on the PC.
124. Since the OEM was obligated to pay for Microsoft Office whether or not
Office was pre-installed, the marginal cost of shipping Microsoft Office was
effectively zero. The OEM who wished to pre-install Novell's applications,
however, was required to pay a royalty to both Microsoft and Novell. The per-processor licensing scheme effectively levied a tax (the payment for unwanted
Microsoft applications) on OEMs who sold Novell's office productivity
applications. This practice excluded Novell's applications from the OEM
distribution channel.
125. Microsoft's OEM licenses also based payment terms upon minimum sales
commitments. By making minimum commitments, OEMs received volume- discounts, but
were required to make lump sum payments in advance, reflecting the commitments.
If actual units shipped were less than the committed number, the OEM was not
entitled to a refund. Instead, Microsoft accumulated these overpayments in a
"prepaid balance."
126. While Microsoft usually did not refund these balances, it was often willing
to credit portions of the balance against minimum obligations under a renewed
53
license. Thus, Microsoft locked OEMs into successive licenses and made it
prohibitively expensive to sell competing software.
127. Microsoft also withheld or threatened to withhold Market Development Funds
("MDFs") from OEMs that sold applications competing with Microsoft's
applications. MDFs are payments to OEMs that help fund their advertising and
marketing efforts. Because of the competitive nature of the PC market,
Microsoft's threats regarding MDFs had their intended anticompetitive effect.
Faced with the prospect of losing these funds, OEMs refused to distribute
competing office productivity applications, as found in the Government Suit.
128. Microsoft also punished OEMs that pre-installed Novell's applications by
withholding or threatening to withhold technical support concerning Windows.
Customers experiencing technical problems with their PCs are generally
instructed to contact the manufacturer for assistance. Because the operating
system controls the PC, the customers' problems generally involve Windows.
Microsoft's support is therefore critical to OEMs, who compete fiercely on the
basis of their ability to resolve problems caused by Windows.
An
OEM that provides poor support will lose sales quickly. Fearing the denial of
technical support from Microsoft, OEMs refused to distribute competing office
productivity applications, as found in the Government Suit.
129. Further, Microsoft charged smaller OEMs, who were more likely to pre-
install Novell's applications, higher prices for Windows, as compared to the
prices charged to larger OEMs. By charging the smaller OEMs higher prices,
Microsoft increased the prices of their PCs and limited their sales, restricting
this market for Novell's applications.
54
130. Microsoft's control over applications distributed through the OEM channel
is self-perpetuating. Consumers are less likely to consider a competing
application if they are never exposed to it, and tend to continue using the
applications on which they are initially trained and eventually proficient.
Microsoft's control of the OEM channel thus protected Microsoft's monopolies in
the operating systems and office productivity applications markets. Further,
Microsoft's ability to control pre- installations of its applications locked
users into Microsoft's upgrades, which are subsequently purchased through other
channels and have accounted for approximately 40 percent of office productivity
applications revenues.
131. The above-described anticompetitive acts unlawfully hindered the efforts of
Novell to distribute word processing and other office productivity
applications in competition with applications developed by Microsoft.
Collectively, these practices have foreclosed Novell from a large and growing
portion of the distribution channel for office productivity applications. In
foreclosing Novell products from distribution, Microsoft's conduct has harmed
competition, as it has in similar circumstances, by "inhibiting Microsoft's
competitors that nevertheless succeed in developing promising innovations from
effectively marketing their improved products to customers" and "reducing the
incentive and ability of [distributors] to innovate and differentiate their
products in ways that would appeal to customers." Gov't Compl. ¶ 37. These acts lacked any legitimate business justification. Their only purpose
was to maintain and/or achieve monopolies in the operating systems and office
productivity applications markets.
55
2. Other Distribution Channels
132. Other than through OEMs, office productivity
software can be distributed through the following channels: independent
retailers that sell to individuals and small businesses; independent or loosely
affiliated resellers that sell to larger organizations, including government
agencies, larger businesses, professional associations, etc.; and direct sales
to government agencies, large corporations, and other large organizations.
133.
Microsoft engaged in predatory behavior in these channels, as well. As with the
OEM channel, Microsoft engaged in similar anticompetitive tactics designed to
monopolize the office productivity applications markets and strengthen the
barriers to entry into the monopolized operating systems market. These
anticompetitive acts unlawfully hindered the efforts of Novell to distribute
office productivity applications to compete against Microsoft's applications.
They lacked any legitimate business
justification. Their only purpose was to maintain Microsoft's operating systems
and office productivity applications monopolies.
3. Internet Browser and Other Platforms
134. "Java is designed in part to permit applications written in it to be run on
different operating systems," which threatens to reduce or eliminate the
applications barrier to entry. Gov't Compl. ¶ 7. "Netscape's browser was itself
a 'platform' to which many applications were being written -- and to which (if it
thrived) more and more applications would be written. Since Netscape's browser
could be run on any PC operating system, the success of this alternative
platform also threatened to reduce or
56
eliminate" this key barrier to entry protecting Microsoft's operating systems
monopoly. Id. ¶ 9.
135. In 1995, "Microsoft attempted to eliminate competition from
Netscape by seeking an express horizontal agreement not to compete." Id. ¶¶
14, 70-71. Microsoft attempted "to induce Netscape not to compete with Microsoft to divide
the browser market, with Microsoft becoming the sole supplier of browsers for
use with Windows 95 and successor operating systems and with Netscape becoming
the sole supplier of browsers for operating systems other than Windows 95 or its
successors." Id.
136. Upon Netscape's refusal to participate in the alleged scheme, Microsoft set
about to exclude Netscape and other browser rivals from access to the widespread
distribution, promotion, and resources they needed to offer their browser
products to OEMs and PC users. Id. ¶¶ 15, 72-74.
137. "Microsoft invested hundreds of millions of dollars to develop, test, and
promote Internet Explorer, a product which it distributes without separate
charge." Id.
¶16. But Microsoft "did not stop at free distribution. Rather, Microsoft
purposefully set out to do whatever it took to make sure significant market
participants distributed and used Internet Explorer instead of Netscape's
browser -- including paying some customers to take [Internet Explorer] and using
its unique control over Windows to induce others to do so." Id.¶ 17.
138. Microsoft also entered into agreements unlawfully tying its Internet
Explorer software to Windows 95 and Windows 98. It "unlawfully required PC
manufacturers, as a condition of obtaining licenses for the Windows 95 [and
Windows
57
98] operating system[s], to agree to license, preinstall, and distribute Internet
Explorer on every Windows PC such manufacturers shipped. By virtue of the
monopoly position Windows enjoys, it was a commercial necessity for OEMs to
preinstall Windows 95 [and Windows 98] -- and, as a result of Microsoft's illegal tie-in, Internet Explorer -- on
virtually all of the PCs they sold." Id. ¶¶18, 103-123.
139. Microsoft also misused its operating systems
monopoly by requiring "OEMs to agree, as a condition of acquiring a license to
the Windows operating system, to adopt the uniform 'boot-up' sequence and
'desktop' screen specified by Microsoft.... Microsoft's exclusionary
restrictions forbid, among other things, any changes by an OEM that would remove
from the PC any part of Microsoft's Internet Explorer software (or any other
Microsoft-dictated software) or that would add to the PC a competing browser (or
other competing software) in any more prominent or visible way (including by
highlighting as part of the startup sequence or by more prominent placement on
the desktop screen) than the way Microsoft requires Internet Explorer to be
presented." Id. ¶¶ 24, 93-102.
140. Moreover, Microsoft entered into agreements with Internet Service Providers
("ISPs"), which allowed "Microsoft to leverage its operating system monopoly by
conditioning . . . [ISPs] to offer Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser
primarily or exclusively as the browser they distribute; not to promote or even
mention to any of their subscribers the existence, availability, or
compatibility of a competing Internet browser; and to use on their own Internet
sites Microsoft-specific programming extensions and tools that make those sites
look better when viewed through Internet Explorer than when viewed through
competing Internet browsers." Id. ¶¶ 29-30; 75-86.
58
141. Microsoft also entered into anticompetitive agreements with Internet
Content Providers ("ICPs"). Microsoft conditioned the ICPs' placement on one of
the prominent "channel buttons" that provided direct Internet access on the
ICPs' agreement "to not pay or otherwise compensate Microsoft's primary Internet
browser competitors (including by distributing their browsers) for the
distribution, marketing, or promotion of the
content; to not promote any browser produced by any of Microsoft's primary
browser competitors; to not allow any of Microsoft's primary browser competitors
to promote and highlight the ICP's 'channel' content on or for their browsers;
and to design its web sites using Microsoft-specific, proprietary programming
extensions so that those sites look better when viewed with Internet Explorer
than when viewed through a competing browser.'' Id. ¶¶ 33, 87-92.
142. Microsoft's contracts with OEMs, ISPs, and ICPs have unreasonably
restrained competition in the market for Internet browsers. "They artificially
increase[d]
the share of the market held by Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and they
threaten[ed] to 'tip' the market permanently to Internet Explorer, not because
OEMs or PC customers ha[d]
freely chosen Microsoft's product in a competitive marketplace, but because of
the illegal exercise of monopoly power by Microsoft." Id. ¶ 35.
143. Microsoft also used its office productivity applications monopoly as an
additional means to foreclose Netscape and other competing browsers from access
to customers by ensuring that PC users with Microsoft Office already had
Internet Explorer installed.
144. Microsoft's suppression of such potential middleware, as alleged and shown
in the Government Suit, of competing and potentially competing operating 59
systems
(such as Novell's own DR-DOS, IBM's OS/2,
Micrografx's Mirrors, and Go's Penpoint), and of other technologies that could
have supported competition in the operating systems market (such as Borland's
development tools and Intel's Native Signal Processing) deprived Novell of
alternative platforms for its office productivity applications, increasing
Novell's reliance upon Windows.
145. Microsoft engaged in numerous anticompetitive acts to achieve this result,
such as causing Microsoft software to display bogus error messages when
detecting competing operating systems on a PC; withholding technical
specifications in the manner alleged above; and locking ISVs into the Windows
APIs and thereby preventing them from developing applications for the APIs in
competing operating systems.
146. Microsoft's office productivity applications benefited from unique,
anticompetitive advantages in the markets for applications running on
Microsoft's monopoly Windows platform, as described above. Microsoft's office
productivity applications had no such advantages on platforms that competed with
Windows, and Microsoft's ability to take market share from Novell's
applications would have been greatly reduced, if not eliminated, on these other
platforms. Thus, Novell's overall market share would have been higher if there
had been a free market for operating systems.
147. Microsoft caused Novell to lose market share by excluding these other
platforms from the operating systems market and forcing Novell increasingly to
limit its applications to the Windows platform, where Microsoft's own
applications unlawfully benefited from the anticompetitive acts described above. 60
148. The above-described anticompetitive acts unlawfully hindered the efforts of
Novell to distribute office productivity applications to compete against
Microsoft's applications. They lacked any legitimate business justification.
Their only purpose was to maintain Microsoft's operating systems and office
productivity applications monopolies.
VIII. THE DEMISE OF WORDPERFECT AND RELATED APPLICATIONS: INJURY TO
COMPETITION AND NOVELL
149. The foregoing conduct has directly and proximately harmed competition by
suppressing innovation and foreclosing choice in the markets for Intel-
compatible personal computer operating systems and for word processing and
spreadsheet applications. The foregoing conduct has caused antitrust injury to
Novell, specifically by, without limitation: delaying and interfering with
Novell's product development and sales efforts; limiting the functionality and
degrading the performance of Novell's products; increasing the costs associated
with Novell's product development, sales and marketing, and customer support;
foreclosing Novell from distributing its products through OEMs; restricting the
development efforts of ISVs in ways that were detrimental to Novell's product
offerings and that favored Microsoft's product offerings; and coercing consumers
who would have otherwise preferred Novell's office productivity applications to
purchase Microsoft's office productivity applications instead.
150. The financial harm to WordPerfect caused by Microsoft's anticompetitive
acts described above is substantial. In 1993, WordPerfect's market share was
approximately 40 percent, with annual sales of approximately $700 million. By
1996, WordPerfect's market share had plummeted to less than10 percent, with 61
annual sales of approximately $200 million -- even though the computer software
and office productivity applications markets had continued to grow substantially
during this period. The financial harm to Novell, however, is not limited to the
amount of profits lost by WordPerfect during the period 1994-1996 because of
Microsoft's anticompetitive actions. As a result of the dramatic decline in
WordPerfect's sales and profits, Novell sold WordPerfect to Corel Corporation in
March 1996 for approximately $170 million -- a precipitous decline in
WordPerfect's value relative to its value of approximately $1.2 billion as of
May 1994. This substantial drop in the value of the WordPerfect business due to
Microsoft's anticompetitive actions is in stark contrast to the continued
increase in the value of other software companies (such as Microsoft) during
this time period and represents additional direct financial harm to Novell.
CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
A. Count I: Monopolization Of The Intel-Compatible Operating Systems Market
151. Novell incorporates the allegations in paragraph 1 through 150 above.
152.
Microsoft possessed monopoly power in the market for Intel-compatible
PC operating systems software.
153. Microsoft willfully
and wrongfully obtained and maintained its monopoly power in the Intel-compatible operating systems market by engaging in anticompetitive conduct to
thwart the development of products that threatened to weaken the applications
barrier to entry, including Novell's WordPerfect word processing application and
its other office productivity applications, in violation of Section 2 of the
Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.§ 2. 62
154. Through this misconduct, Microsoft has harmed consumers and competition by,
without limitation, depriving consumers of the lower prices and more rapid pace
of innovation that competition would have brought.
155. As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Microsoft's misconduct,
Novell was damaged by, without limitation, lost sales of office productivity
applications and a diminution in the value of Novell's assets, reputation, and
goodwill in amounts to be proven at trial. Novell's injury is of the type the
antitrust laws are intended to prohibit and thus constitutes antitrust injury.
B. Count II: Monopolization Of The Market For Word Processing
Applications
156. Novell incorporates the allegations in paragraphs 1
through 155 above.
157. Microsoft unlawfully obtained and possessed monopoly
power in the market for word processing applications.
158. Microsoft willfully and wrongfully obtained and maintained its monopoly
power in the market for word processing applications by engaging in
anticompetitive conduct to thwart the development and distribution of Novell's
word processing applications in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15
U.S.C.
§ 2.
159. Through this misconduct, Microsoft has harmed consumers and competition by,
without limitation, depriving consumers of the lower prices and more rapid pace
of innovation that competition would have brought.
160. As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Microsoft's misconduct,
Novell was damaged by, without limitation, lost sales of its applications and a
diminution in the value orf Novell's assets, reputation, and goodwill in amounts to be 63
proven at trial. Novell's injury is of the type the antitrust laws are intended
to prevent and thus constitutes antitrust injury.
C. Count III: Monopolization Of The Market For Spreadsheet
Applications
161. Novell incorporates the allegations in paragraphs 1 through 160 above.
162.
Microsoft unlawfully obtained and possessed monopoly power in the market for
spreadsheet applications.
163. Microsoft willfully and wrongfully obtained and maintained its monopoly
power in the market for spreadsheet applications by engaging in anticompetitive
conduct to thwart the development and distribution of Novell's spreadsheet
applications in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §2.
164. Through this misconduct, Microsoft has harmed consumers and competition by,
without limitation, depriving consumers of the lower prices and more rapid pace
of innovation that competition would have brought.
165. As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Microsoft's misconduct,
Novell was damaged by, without limitation, lost sales of its applications and a
diminution in the value of Novell's assets, reputation, and goodwill in amounts
to be proven at trial. Novell's injury is of the type the antitrust laws are
intended to prevent and thus constitutes antitrust injury.
D. Count IV: Attempted Monopolization Of The Market For Word
Processing Applications
166. Novell incorporates the allegations in paragraphs 1 through 165 above.
167. Microsoft willfully and wrongfully attempted to obtain and maintain
monopoly power in the word processing applications market by engaging in
64
anticompetitive conduct to thwart the development and distribution of Novell's
word processing applications in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §2.
Microsoft acted with a specific intent to monopolize the word processing
applications market. Microsoft's anti-competitive conduct has had a dangerous
probability of success, and Microsoft has in fact achieved a dominant position
in the market for word processing applications.
168. Through this misconduct, Microsoft has harmed consumers and competition by
depriving consumers of the lower prices and more rapid pace of innovation that
competition would have brought.
169. As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Microsoft's misconduct,
Novell was damaged by, without limitation, lost sales of its applications and a
diminution in the value of Novell's assets, reputation, and goodwill in amounts
to be proven at trial. Novell's injury is of the type the antitrust laws are
intended to prevent and thus constitutes antitrust injury.
E. Count V: Attempted Monopolization Of The Market For
Spreadsheet Applications
170. Novell incorporates the allegations in paragraphs 1 through 169 above.
171. Microsoft willfully and wrongfully attempted to obtain and maintain
monopoly power in the market for spreadsheet applications by engaging in
anticompetitive conduct to thwart the development and distribution of Novell's
spreadsheet applications in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §2.
Microsoft acted with a specific intent to monopolize the spreadsheet
applications market. Microsoft's anti-competitive conduct has had a dangerous
probability of 65
success and Microsoft has in fact achieved a dominant position in
the market for spreadsheet applications.
172. Through this misconduct, Microsoft has harmed consumers and
competition by depriving consumers
of the lower prices and more rapid pace of innovation that competition would
have brought.
173. As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Microsoft's misconduct,
Novell was damaged by, without limitation, lost sales of its applications and a
diminution in the value of Novell's assets, reputation, and goodwill in amounts
to be proven at trial.
Novell's injury is of the type the antitrust laws are intended to prevent and
thus constitutes antitrust injury.
F. Count VI: Exclusionary Agreements In Unreasonable Restraint Of Trade
174. Novell incorporates the allegations in paragraphs 1 through 173 above.
175. Microsoft's agreements with OEMs and others not to license or distribute
Novell's office productivity applications or to do so only on terms that
materially disadvantaged these products unreasonably restrained trade by
restricting the access of Novell's office productivity applications to
significant channels of distribution in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman
Act, 15 U.S.C. §1.
176. Through this misconduct, Microsoft has harmed consumers and competition by
depriving consumers of the lower prices and more rapid pace of innovation that
competition would have brought.
177. As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Microsoft's
misconduct, Novell was damaged by, without limitation, lost sales of its
applications and a diminution in the value of Novell's assets, reputation, and
goodwill in amounts to be
66
proven at trial. Novell's injury is of the type the antitrust laws are intended
to prevent and thus constitutes antitrust injury.
X. JURY DEMAND
178. Novell demands a trial by jury of all its claims.
XI. PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Novell respectfully requests that:
1. The Court adjudge and decree that Microsoft:
(a)
unlawfully obtained and maintained its Intel-compatible PC operating system
software monopoly in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.§ 2;
(b)
unlawfully attempted to and did obtain and maintain a word processing
applications monopoly in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15
U.S.C. §
2;
(c) unlawfully attempted to and did obtain and maintain a spreadsheet
applications monopoly in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15
U.S.C. §
2; and
(d) entered into exclusionary agreements in unreasonable restraint of trade in
violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1.
2. Novell be awarded its actual damages in an amount to be determined at trial,
trebled pursuant to Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. §
15, along with interest on such damages.
3. Novell be awarded its costs, including reasonable attorney fees, as provided
in Section 4 of the Clayton Act 15 U.S.C. §
15.
67
4. Novell be granted such further relief as the Court may deem just and
proper.
DATED this ___12th___
day of November, 2004.
SNOW, CHRISTENSEN & MARTINEAU
By:____[signature]_____
Max D. Wheeler
Stanley J. Preston
DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO MORIN & OSHINSKY LLP
R. Bruce Holcomb
Jeffrey M. Johnson
Milton A. Marquis
David L. Engelhardt
Attorneys for Plaintiff 68
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