Word: antitrusters
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Although it still claims its innocence on antitrust charges, the software giant Microsoft on May 10 presented Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson with an alternative remedy to counter the government's proposed breakup. Unsurprisingly, the company's solution placed unacceptably weak restrictions on Microsoft's future conduct and left open a number of loopholes that are likely to be closed by the government's plan. A remedy as narrow as Microsoft's will not do enough to dissuade the company from continuing its abuse of monopoly power--a stronger resolution to the case must be employed...
Microsoft's proposal would prevent only some of the misconduct in which the company has been shown to have engaged. Most of the proposal deals with Microsoft's Internet Explorer software, which was at the center of the antitrust case. However, Microsoft has been found guilty of using its monopoly power in a wide range of areas, browsing being only the most prominent. Only three elements of Microsoft's proposal would restrict the company's actions in general ways: Microsoft would offer other software vendors timely access to technical information, would not withhold already-written software for other operating systems...
...putting free-music clearinghouse mp3.com on the legal ropes Wednesday. But there's another good reason for these guys to play nice with the feds. "This is a time when there are not only a lot of big corporate mergers, but also a reemergence of an aggressive application of antitrust law in Washington," says TIME legal correspondent Adam Cohen. "This case, just like Microsoft, probably wouldn't have been brought five years ago." And with Time Warner not only looking to merge its music division with that of EMI but also hoping the FTC will approve its swallowing...
...appearance of Microsoft's counteroffer in Sunday's Washington Post, apparently "leaked" to the press days before it was meant to be released. The plan, couched in the company's most conciliatory language to date, seemed designed to placate government tempers while simultaneously maintaining the company's innocence against antitrust charges. That attempt has apparently failed; Thursday's reports indicate that DOJ officials are unswayed by Microsoft's advances, and believe U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will share their point of view...
While the Microsoft antitrust case attracts big headlines, a proposed law with potentially huge adverse consequences for competition and consumer welfare is quietly making headway in a few states, promoted by none other than Microsoft, along with some other software and on-line service companies...