Microsoft Rivals Cheer For Judge

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November 05, 1999 (12:00 AM EST)

Reactions from rivals of Microsoft to Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's finding of fact in the government's antitrust suit were quick on Friday afternoon.

Caldera Systems, in Orem, Utah, is happy with theoutcome, said a company spokeswoman. She said the company feels the findings will help Caldera's own suit against Microsoft.

Nobody wants to see Microsoft go under, the spokeswoman said. Instead, she said, the industry just wants to see Microsoft play fair.

Caldera is suing Microsoft over the latter's tactics in forcing DR-DOS, a competitor to Microsoft DOS, out of the market several years ago.

Sun Microsystems, in Mountain View, Calif., said it is important to take steps to ensure that one company cannot stifle "true competition" in the industry, company officials said in a statement issued Friday afternoon in reaction to the finding.

Microsoft should be prohibited from buying distribution channels, such as cable and wireless companies, as well as from buying technology instead of creating it, said Sun officials.

The government should also get involved, according to the Sun officials, by assuring that Microsoft products' technical interfaces are open, forbidding the company from entering into exclusive or preclusive agreements, and requiring the company makes it pricing policies nondiscriminatory and public.

Officials at Oracle, in Redwood Shores, Calif., said they had no comment at this time.