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Microsoft Antitrust Case
Microsoft A Monopoly? Contd...
Some analysts argued that the overwhelming market share that Microsoft held was a major impediment to innovations in the software industry.2 Microsoft was not only a leading player, but also the standards provider for the industry. By controlling the standards, the company was in a position to curb innovations. Microsoft, however, maintained that its dominance of the market was due to its superior products and not because of any unfair market practices. In 2000, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) ruled that Microsoft be split into two smaller companies to prevent it from indulging in anti competitive practices. |
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The Trial Begins
In October 1997, the DOJ began antitrust investigations to determine whether Microsoft was violating a 1994 consent decree4 by compelling PC makers to ship its Internet browser free with Windows 95. Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General for the antitrust division, remarked, "This kind of product-forcing is an abuse of monopoly power--and we will seek to put an end to it."...
