An MIT professor on Wednesday criticized antitrust sanctions sought by nine states against Microsoft, telling a federal judge they would cripple the Windows operating system and give away the company's technology to competitors.
Stuart Madnick, professor of information technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the states' demand for a version of Windows that can be customized by computer makers and other software makers would be difficult to achieve and sap resources devoted to improving the operating system.
Madnick was appearing for Microsoft before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is considering the demands of the states that have rejected a proposed settlement of the landmark case.
"The beneficiaries of implementation of the non-settling states' proposal would be the same companies that are its most vocal advocates, Microsoft's competitors," Madnick said in written testimony.
"Their most immediate advantage would come from degrading the performance of Windows," Madnick said.
News source: Cnet
