Microsoft to pay AOL $750M
Tech titans settle Netscape lawsuit, set seven-year licensing pact for AOL to use Internet Explorer.
Microsoft will pay $750 million to AOL Time Warner to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by AOL on behalf of its subsidiary Netscape last year, the companies said Thursday.
The two companies also set a seven-year licensing agreement that allows AOL Time Warner to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer browsing technology in its flagship Internet service provider service without having to pay royalties. AOL Time Warner is the parent of CNN/Money...more [CNN/Money]
It's cool what 46 billion dollars of monopoly money can buy you. Once again Microsoft gets to buy their way out, and secure their monopoly. This agreement pretty much means the death of Netscape. What becomes of the Mozilla project remains to be seen.
This is a brilliant move by both companies. AOL Time Warner gets a huge infusion of cash to deal with debt issues, and secure a royalty free use of Explorer for seven years. Microsoft get rid of the biggest of the antitrust cases it faced. They get to pay it off with cash reserves earned from their monopoly, and ensure both AOLs use of Explorer, and the final death of Netscape.
If I was in the Netscape division right now, I would be spiffing up my resume...mj
3:27:16 PM 
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