As the list of Microsoft adversaries receiving multimillion-dollar legal settlements grows, eyes are now turning to streaming media pioneer RealNetworks as a potential buy-off candidate.
Following deals this week with Novell and a computer industry trade group, Microsoft's top lawyer called RealNetworks the last company standing in the software giant's "litigation path" as it seeks to overturn a seminal European antitrust ruling that could force it to break out applications bundled in its Windows operating system.
RealNetworks has been a key participant in Europe's antitrust actions against Microsoft, and last December filed its own lawsuit charging Microsoft with illegally using its monopoly in desktop computer operating systems to thwart competition in the market for digital-media players. A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on settlement talks between the two companies, saying only that the RealNetworks case was still developing, with nothing new to report at this time.
News source: C|Net News.com
