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Microsoft, Caldera Settle Antitrust Suit

Caldera gets undisclosed sum, says suit made a difference in Microsoft tactics.

By James Niccolai, IDG News   

Caldera filed its antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in 1996, claiming Microsoft illegally used its dominance in the desktop operating system market to squelch competition from DR-DOS. Caldera had purchased the alternative operating system in 1996 from Novell, which acquired it from PC pioneer Digital Research. Microsoft denies the allegations.

Terms of the settlement, which the companies call "mutually agreeable," are still under wraps. Caldera sought $1.6 billion in damages in the case, which was scheduled to go to a jury trial on February 1.

Microsoft says only that it will take a one-time charge against earnings for the current quarter, with a hit of about 3 cents per share.

"We are pleased with the result of this lawsuit. We now look forward to vigorous competition in the marketplace with our Linux products and strategies both from Caldera Systems and Lineo," says Brian Sparks, Caldera's chief executive officer.

Microsoft doesn't expect today's settlement to have an impact on the U.S. government's ongoing antitrust case, or on a handful of similar private class-action lawsuits, says Jim Cullinan, a Microsoft spokesperson.

"We'd always stated that we would prefer to reach a fair agreement out of court rather than go through a costly litigation process," Cullinan says. "We're pleased to put this behind us."

Caldera officials play down the company's decision to settle in a statement they posted on its Web site. They claim they helped expose "many new facts regarding Microsoft's business conduct" during the lengthy pretrial process.

"We stood up against them," the statement reads. "We believe that our actions will have a deterring effect against future misconduct. We have demonstrated that it is possible to successfully file a lawsuit against Microsoft and have a positive result."