Is it California dreamin or California nightmare?
Microsoft lawyers are trying to decide as they prepare to combat a stinging defeat in a California court yesterday. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stuart R. Pollak cleared the first group of the more than 130 private lawsuits pending against Microsoft to go to trial. Pollak’s decision to certify 27 cases as “class action” raises the stakes substantially, with several million people now open to collect damages against Microsoft for allegedly overcharging as much as $40 for every copy of Windows 95 and 98 sold in the state. “It certainly ups the stakes in the federal matter, because it means the outcome in the federal case goes beyond whatever remedies the federal plaintiffs get,” said Bill Kovacic, a law professor with George Washington University School of Law. “It increases the urgency for Microsoft to get a significant reversal in their antitrust trial.” So far, Microsoft has knocked off cases in seven states–Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island and Texas–using
