Judge OK's Microsoft lawsuit

Fla. users accuse software giant of unfair trade practices

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. users in Florida can band together in a single class-action lawsuit to pursue antitrust claims against the software company, a judge has ruled.

The lawsuit claims Microsoft violated a state law against unfair trade practices with an anticompetitive approach to sales of its operating system and applications software. It seeks monetary damages, but the amount does not have to be specified until the end of the trial

Circuit Judge Bernard Shapiro of Miami rejected Microsoft challenges to the ability to quantify alleged overcharges, the adequacy of named plaintiffs and whether they share common issues.

He concluded in a 31-page order last week that the issue of Microsoft's monopoly position, market definition and the alleged violation of state law "are ideally suited for class-wide determination."

Robert Parks, an attorney for Florida Microsoft users, said all were hurt "by the same anticompetitive actions that Microsoft took to maintain monopolies."

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Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the company expects to win the Florida case.

"We believe we will ultimately prevail because the facts are very clear," he said Tuesday. "We offer a product that provides great benefits to consumers at a very low price."

The lawsuit covers anyone in Florida who bought a personal computer with MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel after November 15, 1995.

The federal government and nine other states have settled their antitrust cases against Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft.

Other class-action suits are being pursued against Microsoft in California, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. A case in Michigan was rejected last week.

Earlier this year, Microsoft lost its bid to settle dozens of private antitrust lawsuits by donating $1 billion worth of computers and software to the nation's poorest public schools. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz in Baltimore ruled that the proposal was unacceptable because it would give the software giant an unfair advantage over rival Apple Computer, a major player in the education market.

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