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suits and signalled that it wants to do the same for the case brought against it by the European Commission. (41) .
Yet recent events suggest that it will not be that easy for Microsoft to shrug off its legal woes. For a start, the nine state attorneys-general opposing the federal settlement have asked the trial judge to impose tougher remedies. (42) . And this week, a Senate committee hearing was dominated by criticism of the federal settlement.
The least of Microsoft\'s problems are the class-action suits, filed on behalf of consumers who say they were harmed by the company\'s behaviour. Giving money to schools is a good idea. But half of the gift would be in the form of free Microsoft software, costing the company almost nothing, and hurting competitors in the education market, mainly Apple. So worried is Steve Jobs, Apple\'s boss, that he has publicly criticised the deal--after having kept quiet during the entire antitrust trial. (43) .
The proposal of the dissenting states is more serious. (44) . Central to the plan are remedies concerning Microsoft\'s browser software and the Java programming language: the company would be forced to license the source code to its browser, and to make sure that Java programs can run on Windows. Microsoft would also be required to offer a stripped-down version of Windows so that PC makers could choose add- ons other than its own.
Parallel tracks
Microsoft says that the proposed remedies are "extreme and not commensurate with what is left of the case". Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, the trial judge, will decide next spring. She has put the case on two parallel tracks. One is a review of the existing Justice Department settlement (under the Tunney act) to determine if it is in the public interest. The other is litigation over the newly proposed remedies.
The European Commission, for its part, will probably wait and see what transpires in America before proceeding. It is unlikely simply to rubber-stamp the outcome, as Microsoft has suggested. For one thing, European regulators have disagreements of their own with the company, chiefly that it is trying to extend its monopoly into the server and media-player markets.
But competitors and critics of the software giant, who have heavily lobbied both the states and Brussels, should not get their hopes up. Given the economic and political environment, it is still unlikely that Microsoft will get more than a slap on the wrist, even if it hurts more than the company would like. (45) .
To some extent this is already happening. The "Liberty Alliance", for example, is gaining momentum. American Express and AOL Time Warner recently joined this coalition, whose goal is to provide an alternative to Microsoft\'s online authentication service, called Passport. Similarly, if the entertainment industry got its act together, it might be able to stop Microsoft defining the standard for digital copy-protection. Perhaps this time around, such alliances will prove a better match for Microsoft\'s determination.
[A] Businesses and consumers want benefits of being connected anytime, anyplace - without compromising security or control of personal information. Its rivals would perhaps do better to concentrate their energies on forming alliances that could help to keep Microsoft in check.
[C]About 12,500 schools--many of which are among the nation\'s poorest--would be eligible to receive software from Microsoft under the proposal. [D] Another judge supervising the class-action suits has questioned Microsoft\'s plan to settle all of the cases by donating $1 billion to poor schools. [E] As if to underline this new approach, Microsoft recently announced that William Neukom, its long- serving general counsel, will soon be replaced by Brad Smith, his more convivial deputy. [F] Their suggested remedies do more than just plug the loopholes in the main settlement and provide for tougher enforcement. They would take back much of what Microsoft has won by abusing its monopoly power. [G] The judge\'s remarks suggest that Microsoft will have to pay cash in full if it wants him to approve the agreement.
[b]Part C
Directions:
Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10points)
Has a possible terrorist target in Maine become any less easy to hit?
WISCASSET prides itself on being "the prettiest village in Maine". Six miles from the centre of town, just around a bend in Birch Point Road, the dome of Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Station looms into view. Maine Yankee was once a welcome asset. It contributed $12m a year to Wiscasset in property taxes alone, cutting everybody else\'s bills by 90%. (46)But in 1997 the plant was decommissioned, 11 years before the projected end of its useful life. Some 3,300 "maintenance infractions" were reported, 300 of which were deemed hazardous to public safety.
Maine Yankee is now officially closed, and is being dismantled. More than 900 tons of radioactive spent fuel, more than at any other decommissioned nuclear power station in America, are still stored there. (47)A federal report posted on the website of the National Council on Radiation Protection estimates that if a tenth of 1% of the spent fuel\'s radiation were released into the air it would produce lethal doses over 1,000 square miles. The stuff is dangerous for 10,000 years. Much of it is covered only by a metal shed. According to the Department of Energy, it will be removed in 2020, at the earliest. Others say it will not go until 2038.
The station\'s officials used to say the spent fuel was so safe that armed guards were unnecessary. (48.)After September 11th they stepped up security measures, declaring "a heightened state of alert". In October, Stanley Lane, from neighbouring Westport Island, decided to put that claim to the test. Unchallenged, he drove his car around the grounds and past the spent fuel. There are now a few more guards in evidence and a few road barriers; but it is some way from Fort Knox.
Eric Howes, a company spokesman, says that Maine Yankee will comply with any new federal regulations and would not oppose having the National Guard at the site. Ray Shadis, of Friends of the Coast Opposed to Nuclear Pollution, doubts it. (49)He claims that the company asked for waivers against having to apply stricter security not only before September 11th, but afterwards too.
The people of Wiscasset are petitioning the federal government to remove the spent fuel. (50)In a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Maine\'s governor, Angus King, has agreed that cuts in security are "entirely unacceptable", though he has not called in the National Guard.
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