Economy Paper Week 3

Antitrust

We have in first two weeks briefly mentioned the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in regards to monopolizing the computer industry and the software available for the machines produced. I must admit at first I had a brief idea on what all of this meant and because of pure curiosity I decided to write this paper on the said lawsuit because as I read more and more I find out how complicated a decision was to be made.

Based on the Sherman Antitrust Act established in July 1890, an inquiry was made in 1991 whether or not Microsoft was monopolizing the PC market. The inquiry was started by the Federal trade Commission as a result of mounting dismay with the fact that Microsoft was attempting to bundle Internet Explorer within the Microsoft Windows operating system. This would allow Microsoft complete monopole over similar products that could be used with Windows and restrict access for other producers of web browsers. The inquiry ended in 1993 when the FTC commissioners closed the investigation without being able to reach a resolution.

On August 23, 1993 the Department Of Justice opened their own investigation in the matter which lasted until 1994 when Microsoft agreed not to offer IE as a bundle with the operating system but to merely offer it as an option. This allowed other software companies to develop products based on programing offered by Microsoft and provide new products that could easily be integrated with the purchase of a new PC. Microsoft reserved the right to integrate new features into the operating system but had to leave the option for everybody else to develop similar products.

The battle however continued through 2002 and even today many questions still are left unanswered. Restriction imposed by the government on Microsoft allowed many more software manufacturers to have an option of developing software compatible with operating systems developed by Microsoft. The trial itself in the antitrust issue started in 1998 and many...