Want to make an anti-trust lawsuit go away? Just shell out a little cash. Microsoft is doing just that, shelling out $761 million (Bill’s lunch money) to RealNetworks to settle long-standing feud over digital media. What’s most interesting about the deal aside from the numbers is the fact Microsoft will be promoting Rhapsody as essentially the default music service on MSN and Real will be promoting the use of the Windows Meda format. It’s cats and dogs sleeping together.
Do the math and that seems to leave the RealNetworks media format out in the cold. It now leaves Microsoft (with Real’s assistance) to battle Apple in the world of digital media formats, particularly in the lucrative music business. Our guess: the RealMedia format will eventually be sent to the scrap heap with Real concentrating solely on music and gaming downloads, which will make the company far more money than selling a media platform.
Michael is a senior editor with Network World focused on deciphering the strategies of many core high-tech vendors such as Cisco, Arista, Juniper, HPE and IBM. Michael has been writing about the industry for more than 33 years and has won coverage awards from ASBPE and FOLIO. He has a BA in Journalism and Technical Writing Certificate from The Pennsylvania State University.
