No Break up for Microsoft - *Victory*
C|Net | at | by Mike
Handing Microsoft a major victory in its antitrust case, a federal appeals court has vacated a lower court's ruling calling for the breakup of the software titan. The decision comes almost exactly a year after a federal judge ruled that Microsoft violated antitrust laws by exploiting its monopoly in the market for operating systems to capture the market for Web browsers. As a remedy, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson had said the company should be split into two pieces: One would focus on operating systems, and the other would develop applications and other products. In Thursday's unanimous decision, a federal appeals court vacated that order and sent the decision back to the lower court. In addition, the court determined that the case should be heard by a new judge rather than by Jackson. News of the ruling sent Microsoft shares up $3.82 to $74.69 in early trading.