Microsoft is now facing a new anti-trust probe launched by the attorneys general of Connecticut, New York, and California. These states join Texas and Massachusetts, which began a joint investigation of Microsoft's plans to bundle IE 4.0 with Windows late last year. Connecticut attorneys general Richard Blumenthal says his investigation will center around Microsoft's monopoly of the software industry. Blumenthal will try and determine whether Microsoft is using its position to force PC manufacturers to bundle IE 4.0, not competing browsers such as Netscape's.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader will hold a two-day conference in Washington to examine Microsoft's business practices, on November 13 and 14. The conference will include Sun's Scott McNealy and attorney Gary Reback, who is fighting Microsoft on behalf of Netscape.
"Recently, people in many different kinds of businesses have been expressing fear and criticism about \[Microsoft's\] business practices and strategies," Nader wrote in a letter directed to Bill Gates. "At first, we were prone to dismissing such complaints as reflecting envy toward the dominant company."
For more information about Nader's conference, please visit Nader's site
