Microsoft, Be Settle Antitrust Suit

Microsoft admits no wrongdoing under the settlement. The company did not disclose further details.

The lawsuit, filed in February 2002, is one of four private antitrust suits brought against Microsoft after a federal judge's ruling that Microsoft had acted as an illegal monopoly based on its dominance in desktop operating systems.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft resolved one of the private cases in May, agreeing to pay AOL Time Warner $750 million to settle its private antitrust lawsuit on behalf of AOL's Netscape division. The other two, filed by Sun Microsystems and Burst.com, remain in pretrial proceedings in federal court in Maryland.

Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler declined to say whether the company is in settlement discussions with either party.

Microsoft also faces another 12 state class-action antitrust lawsuits filed on behalf of consumers.

Be, based in Mountain View, Calif., contended that Microsoft violated California and federal antitrust laws by negotiating deals with computer manufacturers to use Microsoft's operating system exclusively, cutting out Be's competing operating system. Be is in the process of shutting down its business under a dissolution plan approved by its shareholders in 2001.

Microsoft contended that Be failed for reasons unrelated to Microsoft.

'While we believe we would have ultimately prevailed in this case, Microsoft is very pleased to settle this lawsuit,' Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.

Be's president, Dan Johnston, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday evening.

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