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Under the deal, Microsoft will pay $460 million in cash to RealNetworks to settle antitrust claims. It will also pay $301 million in cash to support Real's music and game efforts, and Microsoft will promote Real's Rhapsody subscription music service on its MSN Web business. Microsoft can earn credits toward that $301 million by signing up subscribers via MSN.
Microsoft, Real to work together
"Today, we're closing one chapter and opening a new one in our relationship with Microsoft," RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser said in a statement. "The legal chapter is being closed with an appropriate and fair outcome that sets the stage for a very productive and collaborative relationship between our companies."
RealNetworks had alleged in its December 2003 lawsuit that Microsoft had abused its "monopoly power to restrict how PC makers install competing media players while forcing every Windows user to take Microsoft's media player, whether they want it or not." Real originally sought $1 billion in damages.
As part of the deal, Real will also end its direct involvement in antitrust investigations across the globe, including probes in Europe and Korea.
Tuesday's move resolves yet another legal matter for Microsoft, which has already settled with rivals AOL Time Warner, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Novell and Be, among others.
RealNetworks had been one of the key companies still pushing for antitrust action against Microsoft and had been a major player in the European Commission's action.
European antitrust regulators said the settlement will have no impact on efforts to monitor Microsoft.
"It has no effect. The Commission will continue to work to ensure Microsoft's full compliance with the March 2004 decision. The Commission's role is to ensure respect for EU competition rules to the benefit of all consumers and companies in Europe--not to apply the rules to benefit any one individual company," said Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for the European Commission.
Microsoft's co-founder, meanwhile, addressed the benefits of the deal.
"This agreement will provide MSN's millions of customers with easier access to subscription services for the music and games they love," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said in a statement. "Digital music is one of the fastest-growing segments of the online-entertainment industry, and by promoting Rhapsody's subscription music services from within MSN, we will provide a better experience for our users."
Some analysts said the deal would allow both companies to draw their attention away from battles that had largely already been fought and focus on the more pressing matters of the present.
"It's one of those good deals for both companies," JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg said. "For Microsoft, it frees them up to focus on the competitors of the 21st century, like Google, or Apple (Computer) in the music space."
additional coverage
One of the big unanswered questions is whether the agreement will help both companies as they try to take on Apple, which has grabbed the lion's share of the legal online-music market with its iTunes Music Store and its iPod players.
Both Gates and Glaser said the deal should help their companies compete against Apple.
"Apple does great products and has done a number of them in the music (realm)," Glaser said. "At the end of the day, we think consumers want choice. We think consumers want openness...Over time--it won't happen overnight--I think 'open' will beat 'closed.'"
In the MSN part of the agreement, people using Microsoft's MSN Messenger instant-messaging service will be able to share and play music while chatting using Rhapsody's library. MSN Search will also be added into RealPlayer, and Microsoft will feature Rhapsody links from within music-related search queries on MSN.
In settling the antitrust disputes, Microsoft is providing a "variety of assurances" on the design of the Windows operating
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Since I am a firm believer in having a choice I am prepared to hang in there with REAL for now, and perhaps they will become less "shifty" in the future, and I am hoping this arrangement with MS will be a good thing for users everywhere.
Since I am a firm believer in having a choice I am prepared to hang in there with REAL for now, and perhaps they will become less "shifty" in the future, and I am hoping this arrangement with MS will be a good thing for users everywhere.
The tables have turned have they not??? Openness... Ya you say that now that your crippled and slowly dying turn back the clock 5 years before iTunes music store was around I seem to recall Real being the jackasses.
The tables have turned have they not??? Openness... Ya you say that now that your crippled and slowly dying turn back the clock 5 years before iTunes music store was around I seem to recall Real being the jackasses.
chest comes into action to buy off the plaintiff. It does seem to
work, right from the first when Bill got caught promising DOS to
IBM when he didn't have anything like that available. Allen saved
Gates' ass by shucking a DOS like item from a local programmer
for like $75,000. A little bit of MS innovating (maybe from CFM)
and IBM DOS was born. The war chest was begun, and it has
been very useful over the years.
Unfortunately, MS's technique of buying off the plaintiff
sometimes also puts the plaintiff into the MS fold. Real seems to
have been sucked in that way, and based on what I have seen of
Real, Gates would be better off sticking with WMP. And having
both Real and WMP is likely to cause MS interbreeding with very
defective results.
Time will tell, and in the meantime, I go on with iTunes, and my
IiPod Mega audio and video player. Someday I may go back and
see what happened to Real, or to WMP.
On that day......I celebrate - a M$ that enables others, takes the licencing money & does NOT stifle competition......and it COULD happen.
chest comes into action to buy off the plaintiff. It does seem to
work, right from the first when Bill got caught promising DOS to
IBM when he didn't have anything like that available. Allen saved
Gates' ass by shucking a DOS like item from a local programmer
for like $75,000. A little bit of MS innovating (maybe from CFM)
and IBM DOS was born. The war chest was begun, and it has
been very useful over the years.
Unfortunately, MS's technique of buying off the plaintiff
sometimes also puts the plaintiff into the MS fold. Real seems to
have been sucked in that way, and based on what I have seen of
Real, Gates would be better off sticking with WMP. And having
both Real and WMP is likely to cause MS interbreeding with very
defective results.
Time will tell, and in the meantime, I go on with iTunes, and my
IiPod Mega audio and video player. Someday I may go back and
see what happened to Real, or to WMP.
On that day......I celebrate - a M$ that enables others, takes the licencing money & does NOT stifle competition......and it COULD happen.
Real didn't get crushed because of Windows Media Player and Microsoft it go crushed because they had crap software. I have never seen any program that installs for advertising crap the Real's products.
Real needs to get real and realize that their stuff sucks, it isn't worth money and it isn't worth downloading for free with all of the adware crap.
Microsoft shouldn't pay them a cent. But, I guess these days this is a businesses servive. They don't do it because they have a good product, a product that consumers like and want, they do it by law suites.
Robert
Real didn't get crushed because of Windows Media Player and Microsoft it go crushed because they had crap software. I have never seen any program that installs for advertising crap the Real's products.
Real needs to get real and realize that their stuff sucks, it isn't worth money and it isn't worth downloading for free with all of the adware crap.
Microsoft shouldn't pay them a cent. But, I guess these days this is a businesses servive. They don't do it because they have a good product, a product that consumers like and want, they do it by law suites.
Robert
Microsoft needs friends to make up marketshare against Apple. This is nothing more than a financial life-raft for Real, since Real and all the other "Play's for Sure" companies are failing financially.
Rio is down, Real was close, Napster is already so far in the red it's just a matter of time before that plug gets pulled.
tic tic tic...
Microsoft needs friends to make up marketshare against Apple. This is nothing more than a financial life-raft for Real, since Real and all the other "Play's for Sure" companies are failing financially.
Rio is down, Real was close, Napster is already so far in the red it's just a matter of time before that plug gets pulled.
tic tic tic...
since Real was one of the primary plaintiffs. Sneaky litte bunch of
lawyers at MS = perfect match for Ballmer
Sorry for my flair for the obvious........
since Real was one of the primary plaintiffs. Sneaky litte bunch of
lawyers at MS = perfect match for Ballmer
Sorry for my flair for the obvious........
Meanwhile, Real is like the Woolworths of Tech. They sell nothing but junk and are soon to be out of business.
Meanwhile, Real is like the Woolworths of Tech. They sell nothing but junk and are soon to be out of business.
- Meanwhile, in other news
-
by
October 12, 2005 9:45 AM PDT
- Glaser may be happy now, but let's see what Apple has in store at their "special event." My guess is that is will be something that Glaser will absolutely despise.
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