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Wednesday, October 12, 2005
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Money Talks For Microsoft
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Microsoft agreed to pay RealNetworks $761 million to settle an antitrust suit accusing the world's largest software maker of using its dominance to promote its own media player, the companies said on Tuesday.
The settlement comes close to closing an era of legal battles.
"We're reaching a point where the legal issues from the 1990s are behind us," said Brad Smith,
Microsoft's general counsel.
RealNetWorks had sued its longtime rival nearly two years ago, saying that Microsoft's decision to
bundle Windows Media Player for free within the Windows operating system was to blame for slower
sales at RealNetworks.
RealNetworks, founded by Rob Glaser, a former protege of Bill Gates before he left to start his
own company, built its business on its RealPlayer software for playing video and audio on
computers. Faced with stiff competition from Microsoft's competing Windows Media Player,
RealNetworks has shifted its business toward providing music and games online.
The deal "goes beyond the settlement," Gates said, adding that the agreement to cross-promote
technology and services between the two companies will help them in the music market.
RealNetworks' suit was one of the last remaining major lawsuits against Microsoft stemming from
its landmark antitrust case with the U.S. government, which was settled in 2002. Since then, the
Redmond, Washington, company has reached agreements with several U.S. states and other companies.
In July, Microsoft agreed to pay $775 million to International Business Machines Corp. in a
discriminatory pricing settlement. Last year, it agreed to pay Sun Microsystems Inc. $2 billion.
It reached a $750 million settlement with Time Warner Inc. in 2003.
Microsoft will pay RealNetworks $460 million in cash up front to resolve all damage claims and the
remaining $301 million will used to promote RealNetworks' Rhapsody service on Microsoft's MSN Web
site. RealNetworks will also get licenses and commitments that give it long-term access to Windows
Media technologies to enhance the RealPlayer software.
Asked about the fate of the RealPlayer, which competed against Microsoft and became a key part of
Microsoft's antitrust challenges in the U.S. and Europe, Glaser said: "RealPlayer continues to be
a competing product."
In this deal, Rhapsody effectively becomes MSN's music subscription service, complementing its own
download service. Rhapsody has won kudos from analysts and some fans, but the dominant player in
online music remains Apple's iTunes.
RealNetworks' general counsel Bob Kimball said that the cash payout will give the company a
"granite foundation" and "flexibility" to grow its business, but declined to say whether the money
would be used for potential acquisitions.
In demonstrations at a press conference, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and RealNetworks chief
executive Rob Glaser showed how Rhapsody could be included in Microsoft services such as MSN
Search and MSN Messenger, its instant messenger service.
The deal could also have implications for Google, which bundles its search toolbar with the
RealPlayer.
RealNetworks is also withdrawing from pending antitrust cases against Microsoft in Europe and
South Korea.
Microsoft is challenging a 2004 decision by the European Commission which found that it violated
the law by competing unfairly. |
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