Microsoft ruling cheers home team

Jim Christie

ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS: In this brand new Microsoft bedroom community, it was

three cheers for the home team on Thursday after a federal court scrapped an

order, which could have split the software giant into two.

On Issaquah Highland's streets and in its new cafes, there was scarcely

concealed glee that Microsoft Corp. - depicted by government prosecutors as a

predatory monopolist - would keep dishing out the good life for Washington

state's high-tech workforce.

"A lot of people have come in and said they were very happy," said

Dawn Remington, who runs Remmy's Cafe in this new, planned community 15 miles

east of Seattle. "We've had some people smiling ear to ear."

In its decision on Thursday, a US Appeals Court in Washington D.C. agreed

with a lower court that Microsoft holds a monopoly in personal computer

operating systems with its Windows software and that some of its competitive

practices amounted to illegal use of that monopoly.

But the appellate court overturned trial Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's

order to split the company in two and rebuked him for the appearance of

partiality in the case.

Good news for Washington



That was good news for Washington state, which has been hit by a number of blows
recently ranging from Boeing Co.'s decision to relocate its headquarters to

Chicago to a major 6.9 earthquake that struck the region on Feb. 28.

Gov. Gary Locke called the decision "a victory not only for Microsoft,

but for consumers as well." "We are proud that Microsoft calls

Washington state home. We hope that the company continues to grow and thrive in

our state and we will do everything in our power to ensure that it does."

Issaquah Highlands is a showcase for the benefits of that policy. Nestled in

the foothills leading to the Cascade Mountains, Issaquah Highlands is one of a

number of gleaming new suburbs that have sprung up to absorb Microsoft's

largess.

When Remmy's Cafe opened in 1999, the town consisted of a scant 25

residences. Now, it boasts more than 600 homes, townhouses and condominiums,

with prices ranging from $225,000 for the most modest apartments to $735,000 for

the grandest houses.

More importantly, the town abuts the site of a new satellite campus for the

Microsoft corporate empire, where workers are preparing ground for what local

residents expect will be a new hub of activity for the region's software

designers, marketing experts, and engineers.

Sarah Bowman, a leasing consultant at the newly built Issaquah Ridge complex

above Lake Sammamish, said Microsoft's legal battle in the courts was being

closely followed in the town.

"All of our ears are perked up because (Microsoft) is building a new

campus up the road," she said. Issaquah Highlands is very much a work in

progress, and as such has particular interest in Microsoft's continued economic

health.

Many of the homes and apartments lining the community's carefully planned

streets are empty and awaiting sale, and the site of the new Microsoft campus is

now little more than a vast cleared field dotted with construction equipment and

pipes.

Frankee Banaga, a worker at Remmy's Cafe who is married to a Microsoft

account manager, said she was still hedging her bets pending a final resolution

of the Microsoft case.

"I still feel like it's wait-and-see," Banaga said. But she quickly

added that her faith in Microsoft was unwavering, and her glee at Judge

Jackson's comeuppance unalloyed.

"We never felt the company was in real danger...if it got split, it was

ready for it," Banaga said. "We had always felt like the judge was out

to get the company, and going after Bill Gates personally. I'm glad someone

finally recognized this."

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.