ZDNet: Tech Update: It's high noon for US v. MS, and the stakes are enormous

If you ask the proverbial "man-on-the-street," casual industry observers, or even those who claim to be industry pundits about what's happening in the case of the United States v. Microsoft, most will say the case is pretty much over--the Department of Justice settled and the outcome will be generally favorable to Microsoft. But that could not be further from the truth.
The case is far from over. The U.S. Appellate Court's June 2001 opinion variously upheld, remanded, and overturned a long list of Sherman Act violations, and then went on to vacate the District Court's restructuring remedy. In that opinion's wake, we have reached a defining moment for both U.S. business and information technology. Not only could this case determine the future ability of governments to regulate "technopolies" (technology-oriented monopolies), but it will impact businesses that continually reconsider their strategic IT plans in the context of which technologies and technology providers they think will prevail. The severity of the final remedy could determine, for some time to come, how many choices are available to business technologists, and how much innovation will flourish.