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Now their lawyer claims the teens did not "fully understand what they were doing." How can you purposely write a virus program that is a follow on to a virus that caused over a billion dollars in damages, knowingly release the thing, and not know what you are doing? Hopefully, two and half years of quiet time will give these clowns enough time to figure it all out.

Not a Done Deal

Microsoft recently settled not one, but two, major antitrust cases. The big one was with the government, which under the new Bush administration has decided to slap the company on the wrist rather than on the face.

The other case was really a series of private complaints that Microsoft used its monopoly to overcharge for Windows (although given the wealth of features and low cost of today's PCs, this argument is clearly still debatable). To avoid another lengthy court tangle and more bad publicity, Microsoft decided to settle and offered to give a billion dollars worth of software and computers to American schools. The problem is that the computers would all be running Microsoft Windows, not MacOS or Linux.

Apple, which pocketed a cool $150 million investment from Microsoft a few years ago, finally got up enough nerve to question the school deal. You see, most Mac zealots learned to love their machines in school. Without that training ground, the Mac is as good as dead.

Now the judge overseeing the suits has come to his senses and is wondering if the deal makes sense -- as if that wasn't obvious from the beginning). Microsoft is trying to make modifications, but that doesn't change the basic nature of the settlement. Here's hoping U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz can start this whole thing over from scratch.

Like a Broken Clock

Bill Gates may always have his own company's interests foremost in mind, but that doesn't mean he can't ever be right. In a recent speech, Gates blamed the collapse of Internet advertising on a lack of broadband connectivity. He also suggested that building high-speed connections to the home become a top government priority. Bill is absolutely correct. The next wave of technology is based upon the speed of our connections.