The New York Times is reporting attorneys saying they'll file a class-action suit against Microsoft on behalf of millions of Californians - and legal experts, the paper says, think this could be the beginning of a flood of litigation coming from the Justice Department's anti-trust action against the software kings.
The Times says three class-action lawyers will file the suit accusing Microsoft of using monopoly power to overcharge Windows 95 and 98 buyers, without estimating the financial effect on Microsoft users. But the paper says the lawyers will go for triple damages if the suit leads to any eventual finding of financial harm - the Times speculates as high as $10 million.
"This is the start of the race to get to the courthouse," Stephen Axinn, an antitrust lawyer with Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider, tells the Times. "It could be like the tobacco litigation, in the sense that you have lots of plaintiffs lawyers in different states sharing information."
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft a monopoly whose practices stifled innovation and harmed consumers - and analysts said almost at once the ruling would leave Microsoft prone to private litigation, though the company downplays the risk.
"That litigation is something we're prepared to defend and defend aggressively, if necessary," Microsoft lawyer Tom Burt tells the Times.
