Texas Suit Says Microsoft Tried to ‘Chill’ Probe
The Texas attorney general Friday sued Microsoft Corp., charging that the software giant has tried to “chill” the state’s investigation of its business practices.
In a state district court filing, Atty. Gen. Dan Morales contended that Microsoft “improperly binds” companies that license its software by requiring them to inform Microsoft “before providing information to state and federal antitrust investigators.” That clause means that some people and organizations that the state wants to interview have become “apprehensive about fully cooperating” with the investigation, according to the suit.
Investigators in Texas are not alone in complaining about Microsoft’s requirement that those who license the company’s software sign nondisclosure agreements.
On Oct. 20, the Department of Justice filed suit against Microsoft, charging that it has violated a 1995 consent decree in which it pledged to change certain business practices that the government had said inhibited competition. As part of the remedy for such practices, the government asked the court to strike down portions of Microsoft’s nondisclosure agreements.
Microsoft representatives contend that such agreements are standard in the industry. Last week at a Senate Judiciary committee hearing on the software maker’s business practices, Microsoft supplied copies of other companies’ nondisclosure agreements to support its point. And in a statement Friday, William H. Neukom, Microsoft’s senior vice president for law, denied wrongdoing.
