TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AFX) - Florida's most impoverished schools will get more than $80 million to buy computers, software and other services as part of the settlement of antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft Corp., Education Commissioner John Winn said Thursday.
As part of the 2003 settlement, Microsoft agreed to donate half of any unclaimed benefits to Florida schools in which at least half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
The qualifying schools will get vouchers that can be used to receive reimbursements for purchases of any manufacturer's computers running any operating system and software used with those products.
'These funds give Florida a unique opportunity to bolster and expand technology use for students,' said Winn, who made the announcement at Tallahassee's Griffin Middle School.
State education officials estimate 1,790 schools with more than 1.1 million students will be eligible. Half the money must be used for software and the other half for hardware and other services including curriculum development, training and supplemental services for school administrators.
Microsoft was accused in class-action lawsuits of violating Florida antitrust laws through anticompetitive practices that increased the prices of its products purchased from Nov. 16, 1995, through Dec. 31, 2002.
Those products included licenses for Microsoft's MS-DOS, Windows, Word, Excel and Office software.
Microsoft denied the allegations but agreed to settle for a maximum of $202 million. Florida consumers and businesses received vouchers to purchase computer hardware and software regardless of brand if they had purchased Microsoft items covered by the agreement. Those vouchers were worth $5 or $12 depending on the license purchased.
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