Microsoft to pay $761M to RealNetworks
Microsoft Corp. Tuesday said it will pay RealNetworks Inc. $761 million to resolve their disputes, including a lawsuit that accused the world's largest software maker of using its dominance in operating systems to promote its rival media software.
The settlement caps years of backbiting between Microsoft and RealNetworks, whose chief executive Rob Glaser is a former Microsoft executive.
RealNetworks (up $1.92 to $7.66, Research) stock soared after the announcement, jumping about 36 percent in active Nasdaq trading.
RealNetworks, the Internet media software company known for its Real software, has said Microsoft's decision to bundle Windows Media Player for free within the Windows operating system was to blame for slower sales at the RealNetworks' business division.