CA Court Ruling Refuses to Let Microsoft Hide Identity: FutureLink Online, Inc., Cross-Complainant vs. Microsoft, Inc., Cross-Defendant

CHATSWORTH, Calif. and NEWARK, N.J., March 1  /PRNewswire/ -- California Superior Court Judge, the Hon. Barbara M. Scheper, has scheduled the multi- million dollar court case that pits computer giant Microsoft against FutureLink Online, Inc. to be heard April 16, 2007 and denied Microsoft's request to exclude any reference of its name from court proceedings.
"Microsoft will not be allowed to hide and after a decade of Microsoft's stall tactics, we will finally have our day in court," says FutureLink Online, Inc. co-founder Dave Durko.
Not listed on Microsoft's website as current litigation, the case (FutureLink Online, Inc., cross-complainant vs. Microsoft, Inc., cross- defendant, case no. PC019071) was brought in 1997, when the internet boom was in full swing and computer companies were locked in a race to get subscribers, or as the industry calls them "eyeballs," who then became captive advertising audiences.
At the time, FutureLink Online, Inc. (FutureLink) was one of the fastest growing ISPs that provided internet access to customers across the country via a national infrastructure.  In a 1997 report from FutureLink's CPA, the company's estimated future worth, before the alleged interference, was $86 million, according to court documents.
The case involves Microsoft's $503 million purchase of WebTV (now MSN TV) and stems from Microsoft's alleged "tortious interference" with a FutureLink contract and theft of FutureLink's internet subscriber base -- two actions which wiped out the ISP founded by NJ entrepreneur Emilio Farina.
"In 1997, FutureLink's future looked bright.  We were working to create advertising partnerships with major corporations, had created strategic partnerships that allowed us to handle our growing subscriber base, and were starting the process to bring our company public.  We were the American Dream come true," explains Farina.
"Microsoft's self-proclaimed goal to act with 'integrity in all interactions' is very different than the actions they took.  Not only did they steal our company, they tried to bury us in mountains of legal briefs in attempts to hide from the truth and obscure the facts," adds Farina.
For copies of the case and court documents -- which include two successful appeals on behalf of FutureLink, to set-up interviews, or more information, please contact Lonni Miller (973) 686-3660.
FutureLink Online, Inc.