Word: antitrusters
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Meanwhile, Microsoft has been flexing its political muscle in new ways to help its cause. It recently asked Congress to cut the Clinton Administration's proposed budget for the Antitrust Division about $9 million. Klein is in no danger of running out of paper to write his appellate briefs, but it showed that Microsoft was ready to play hardball. Microsoft has also formed the so-called Freedom to Innovate network, a "nonpartisan, grass-roots network of citizens and businesses" that happens to reside on the company's website. And it has undertaken an aggressive state-level lobbying campaign--mindful, perhaps...
There was much conjecture on Friday that Jackson's tough-minded ruling could be the cudgel the parties need to get them back to the negotiating table. Settlement is always a possibility. Intel staved off an antitrust suit of its own earlier this year by striking a quiet deal with the Federal Trade Commission in which it agreed to share more information about its processors with other companies. But despite a few stabs at working it out--including a round of quiet talks during the trial--Microsoft and Justice haven't been able to get started. The sharpness of last...
...Microsoft does have an ideology behind it. At some level, it's a return to the good old days of trust busting, something scarcely seen in the U.S. since the government's case against IBM sputtered out in the early 1980s. Emboldened by Judge Jackson's ruling, the Antitrust Division could soon be prowling for more high-profile, high-tech targets...
Supporters of antitrust law argue that decisions like Judge Jackson's actually strengthen the free market. The new economy--and America's unprecedented run of growth and prosperity--has been fueled to a significant degree by small start-ups founded by entrepreneurs with big dreams. These are precisely the sort of companies that can be crushed most easily by a brutal monopolist. When antitrust law works right, it can give these enterprising small firms room to grow. "There are a lot of companies that have for years operated in absolute terror of Microsoft," says Sun's Morris. The ruling...
Well-executed antitrust lawsuits can energize broad areas of the economy. That's the lesson of the AT&T case. The Justice Department's suit against Ma Bell concluded in 1982 with a consent decree forcing it to spin off the seven regional Baby Bells. It wasn't a panacea, but it kicked off a process that dramatically increased competition and improved service. And the Baby Bells have carried their competition into new areas like cellular telephones and Internet access...