William Kovacs Quotations

We need common-sense solutions to this problem that won't destroy our economy. Any measures that fail to address long-term economic impact and the emergence of technological innovation will miss the mark and ultimately cause more harm than good.

I would be surprised if there are no discussions. But the intensity and fruitfulness of the talks will depend on how Jackson writes his findings of fact. He would have to give each side something to worry about.

I think in many ways, Microsoft has planted some seeds of doubt about the government's hypotheses,

It creates somewhat of a more positive environment for negotiations, because the government has made this a personal case.

Microsoft has already changed its behavior, ... They've backed off some of the contested practices. Their competitors have been emboldened to do things they may not have done before the trial. The government has gotten a lot of what they wanted. The company is not swinging away like they used to.

Microsoft succeeded in taking the initiative on the appeal, ... I don't think the government really thought through all of the possible scenarios, and Microsoft ended up outmaneuvering them.

You can count on one hand the big monopolization success stories; you can count on more than one hand the failures,

Today's action makes it likely that during the period that the Supreme Court is considering the case, there will likely be a suspension of the interim remedies.

The government said Gates personifies everything wrong with the company, ... I infer from that if Gates has a smaller role in the company and Ballmer has a bigger role, that is a somewhat more suitable environment for achieving an agreement.

What this means is the suit will not go on for 20 years,

The thing the dealmakers tend to look at is: 'what did the guy ahead of me in line have to pay to get through?'

Norris, more than anyone else, showed how difference in royalty terms reinforced Microsoft's control over equipment suppliers,

This is the first time going back to 1890 in which the key assets of the company to be broken up consist of human beings and ideas. Who can predict what these people will do, and how effective the entities will be?

It shows the ruling is basically going to be the government's proposed order, consisting of a two-way split and interim remedies.

Each side will be describing a different planet.

In the modern era, these cases have been very hard to win and the government's track record is very mixed,

His antipathy toward the defendant is apparent, ... Jackson was careless in the order last fall when he issued the injunction without a hearing. He can't do that again here.

I do think a restructuring of Microsoft would be more complex. That could be a new challenge.

The great psychic fear in the Justice Department is that it will achieve a hollow victory, ... There will be this declaration of a violation of the law, but they will not have effective solutions to restore competition.

The case is important because it will define the rules of the game for the coming decades, ... The Microsoft case will define the rules for the new information economy.

The company has to abide by the mandate that the court issues. That is, the court says, 'You must do the following, but I am going to give you the burden of finding the best way of accomplish that.'

A more likely scenario, ... is that the Justice Department will let Windows 98 ship but ask the court to schedule a hearing on whether Microsoft should change its behavior.