I’m in awe of the counterspin techniques at the U.S. Department of Justice or in the offices of the state attorneys general who are part of the Microsoft antitrust case. Someone is floating a trial balloon (SiliconValley.com) about breaking up Microsoft.
These leaks to the press, which began with USA Today on Wednesday, came just after the AOL deal to buy Time Warner — a deal Microsoft apologists said proved there was no need to do anything serious in the way of antitrust remedies in the Microsoft case. Of course, the arrival of a new bully on the block has never meant that the old bully is free to do his nasty thing, but the DOJ folks brought the Microsoft debate squarely back where it belonged, reminding people that Microsoft’s behavior problem hasn’t been cured.