Less than three weeks after reaching a deal in its antitrust
battle, Microsoft has signed a $700m (£493m) settlement agreement
for the private law suits that allege the company overcharged for
its software.
In what analysts are already calling a public relations victory
rather than a punishment, Microsoft's deal will supply computers
and software to more than 14,000 of the US's poorest schools over
the next five years as settlement of the remaining private suits
against it.
Plaintiffs in the private antitrust lawsuits claim that Microsoft
used a desktop operating system monopoly to force them to pay
inflated prices for its software. The proposed deal would settle a
majority of these suits.
The settlement has yet to be approved by the Federal District Court
of Maryland, which is overseeing the class action suits. A hearing
is scheduled 27 November.
"We have reached a settlement in over 100 private class action
suits that avoids long and costly litigation for the company," said
Microsoft chief-executive Steve Ballmer.
The school-software proposal was introduced when plaintiffs
realised that, with at least 65 million individual cases,
settlements could be reduced to some $10 apiece.
Under the deal, Microsoft will provide software to all schools
where at least 70% of the students qualify for free or
reduced-price lunch programmes. The company will also provide some
200,000 "Pentium-class" PCs and Macintosh computers each year
during the five-year settlement period, and contribute $90m (£63m)
to teacher training.
Microsoft said that the estimated value of the software donations
would far exceed $500m.
Microsoft would also be responsible for creating a national
foundation that gives grants to local and community organisations
for purchasing computers and software.
The agreement could end years of legal wrangling for Microsoft, but
few saw the deal as punishment for the software maker. The company
could be given unprecedented access to millions of new computer
users.
"It's a publicity coup for Microsoft," said Jupiter MMR director
Ross Rubin. "It doesn't smack of any punishment."