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Class-Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft Set For Court

In yet another US consumer class-action lawsuit filed against Microsoft Software Corporation in a state court is set to go to trial in November 2006, and the Microsoft's founder & chairperson is on the court's witness list to testify. That doesn't neccessarily mean that William Gates will really end upon the witness stand in State District Court defending his company's business plans, but it's a remote possibility.

The lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation has made its way to the Iowa Supreme Courts 3 times before and unlike those in most other states, which have been either settled or dismissed, it is scheduled for trial on November thirteenth. Lawyers expect the trial to last at least seven months or longer.

Des Moines, Iowa attorney Rhonda Colinsburg said earlier this week that her experts have estimated that consumers and businesses have been overcharged by as much as $500 million for Microsoft Software products in the last twelve years because a lack of open competition and has has inflated the cost of the company's digital products.

In the state of Iowa, at least five million licenses for Microsoft's Windows opperating system have been issued, two million for Office software, half a million for Word for Windows and about twenty two thousand for Exce spreadsheetl.The average customer overcharge ranges in price from $10.50 for purchases of Word for Windows to as much as $56.99 for those individuals who purchased Excel spreadsheet, Conklin said. Many of the customers might have purchased more than one version in the 12 years, Conklin said, so they could be eligible for more than one settlement check.

Conklin said that class-action members include all those peoplke that purchased the following in Iowa from May 20, 1994, thru June 29, 2006: Microsoft Windows opperating System, MS-DOS application, Word for Windows , Excel spreadsheet , or Office Suite software packs, or a personal computer that had this type of software already installed when purchased.

Consumers in Microsoft Corporation's database have been given notification by U.S. mail or by receiving an e-mail to let them know that they are part of the lawsuit, Conklin said in an erlier statemenmt. Microsoft Corporate denied that customers were in any way hurt and said that PC and laptop users have always benefited from the Microsoft's efforts to help improve its product line.The main reason that the Iowa State Attorney General continues to fight the Microsoft Corporation in a court of law is that Conklin has declined to accept any settlements in which Microsoft Company would offer coupons or vouchers for related computer products." I don't think Iowainians want coupons," she said. "I think that if they were charged way too much money and that's what the jury ends up deciding, then they should get the real cash money back, not a voucher for a product." The court case claims Microsoft corporation violated Iowa State anti-trust law and hurt the consumer by illegally over-charging for its various software products, by denying the class-action members free choices in buying software products and the benefits of software innovation, and by making computers increasingly susceptible to security breaches.

California Microsoft lawsuit

California software consumers and business are to soon receive over $1.1 billion in delayed payouts from Microsoft to settle anti-trust lawsuits against the World's largest maker of sotware products, attorneysin the court case said recently. Beginning sometime in August, Californians who have filed claims will receive vouchers that can be redeemed for money during the next four years, said Rich Grossmann, whose law firms represented plaintiff in the class action cases.

A California court had approved the settlement in July, 2004, but a single-class member had held up distribution of the money over his objection that the agreement called for unclaimed benefits to go to the state's public schools.

But lawyers said the California payouts got back on track after the man objecting to the settlement lost his appeals and missed a deadline last week to further argue his case.Most of the other agreements also call for unclaimed benefits to go to public schools, and some states have already begun distributing the settlement money.Most California consumer claims total under $100, but many could exceed that amount depending on how much software was purchased, Grossman said. The claims for businesses typically range from tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars, he said.

Microsoft has settled similar lawsuits with about 16 states plus the District of Columbia which charged the company with using its Windows monopoly to thwart competition and overcharge customers for its software products.The California agreement, which marked the biggest between the software maker and U.S. states, covers anyone in the state who bought certain Microsoft software between February 18, 1995 and December 15, 2001."

SEATTLE - In a simmering legal tussle, Google Inc. is asking a judge to reject Microsoft's bid to keep a prized research engineer from taking a job at the Internet search company, saying the software titan filed its lawsuit to frighten other workers from defecting.

• Microsoft Corp. sued Kai-Fu Lee, one of its former executives, and Google last week, claiming that by taking the Google job, Lee was violating an agreement he signed in 2000 barring him from working for a direct competitor in an area that overlapped with his role at Microsoft.

  "This lawsuit is a charade," Google said in court documents filed before a Wednesday hearing in Seattle. "Indeed, Microsoft executives admitted to Lee that their real intent was to scare other Microsoft employees into remaining at the company."

  Google countersued last week, seeking to override Microsoft's noncompete provision so it can retain Lee.

  "In truth, Kai-Fu Lee's work for Microsoft had only the most tangential connection to search and no connection whatsoever to Google's work in this space," the Mountain View, Calif.based company said in court documents.

  Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez heard arguments in the case in Seattle on Wednesday, and said he expects to issue a ruling Thursday.

  Google's filings include details about a conversation Lee had with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, suggesting that the software company is becoming increasingly concerned about Google siphoning away talent — and perhaps intellectual property.

  In a July 15 meeting, Lee said, Gates told him, "Kai-Fu, (CEO) Steve (Ballmer) is definitely going to sue you and Google over this. He has been looking for something like this, someone at a VP level to go to Google. We need to do this to stop Google."

  Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake declined to comment on Gates' statement directly. "Our concern here is the fact that Dr. Lee has knowledge of highly sensitive information both of our search business and our strategy in China," she said.

  Lee claims that Google didn't recruit him and has not encouraged him to violate any agreement he had with Microsoft.Microsoft counters that Lee's job with Google gives him ample opportunity to leak sensitive technical and strategic business secrets. Microsoft noted that Lee attended a confidential, executive-only briefing in March, dubbed "The Google Challenge."

  Lee joined Microsoft in August 2000, after he helped establish the company's research center in China. At one point, Microsoft said, he was in charge of the company's work on MSN Search.Microsoft and Google, along with Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), are locked in a fierce battle to dominate search, both online and through desktop search programs. Google has begun offering new services, including e-mail, that compete with Microsoft offerings.

  Microsoft said it paid Lee well in exchange for his promises to honor confidentiality and noncompete agreements. The company said Lee made more than $3 million during nearly five years in Redmond, and that he earned more than $1 million last year.Microsoft claims there is "an extremely close nexus" between the work Lee did at Microsoft and what he will be doing at Google.Google argued otherwise, insisting that Lee is not a search expert and noting that his most recent work at Microsoft was in speech recognition.

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