Essay about The Antitrust Case Against Microsoft

Words: 1891
Pages: 8
Open Document
The U.S. government charged that Microsoft had violated antitrust law. Microsoft disagreed. Do you agree with the U.S. government, or with Microsoft? In answering this question, you may wish to address two issues. Was Microsoft a monopoly? Did it use its monopoly to compete unfairly against other companies?

Commencing in 1990, Microsoft was investigated and then charged with violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act which governs United States businesses. The company was determined to be a monopoly, and one which used anti-competitive practices to keep its leading edge on the market. As would most any organization on the receiving end of the allegations, Microsoft did not agree with the charges and sought to defend its business …show more content…
Further options were to sell the Windows source code to bidders, or just have the company publish its code for any to see. Each option brought its own negative repercussions. Breaking the organization up either horizontally (two separate companies with differing products) or vertically (multiple equal companies) would cause serious financial impacts to the organization and potentially to the community, by way of job loss or increase in product prices. The best break up option was a combination approach, which would have the organization break up into several smaller companies that would be competitors, but allow one separate company to retain the major assets.

The options revolving around the intellectual property rights were challenged in that there were no interested parties who would consider purchasing the Windows source code. Further, there was the very real probability that anyone who purchased the code would find themselves unable to decipher or use it to create their own competitive software without having to engage Microsoft for technical support. This technical challenge would present itself to software developers, regardless of how they obtained the code – whether by purchase or by viewing the published version.

In 2000, the Judge Jackson, who was presiding over the Antitrust violation case concluded
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about The Antitrust Case Against Microsoft

Essay on The Use Of AntiTrust Laws

is the presence of antitrust laws. These laws regulate certain engagements of individuals, trusts, corps, and combinations of corps in an effort to thwart or forcibly end a monopoly. Since 1989, Microsoft has been repetitively accused of violating antitrust laws. More than once, these allegations have led to an antitrust case being filed against Microsoft as a company. These antitrust laws and law suits are tremendously significant. Despite the outcomes of the cases, antitrust laws served their purpose-…

Words 2875 - Pages 12

ECON312 HW Essay

Antitrust Practice and Market Power Lamiya Marsh DeVry University: ECON 312 Professor Tucker Antitrust is a law that prevents anticompetitive behavior between firms. November of 1999, Microsoft was investigated for conducting antitrust behavior. Microsoft tried to form a monopoly in which they would gain control over the software industry. Their strategy was to implement their current market power and use their profits to shut down any other company that showed or could show a potential…

Words 508 - Pages 3

The Microsoft Antitrust Case Essay

The Microsoft Antitrust Case The Microsoft Antitrust Case In 1998 the Microsoft Corporation was at the center of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) which alleged the company of violating the Sherman Act. The Sherman Act is considered the foundation of federal antitrust litigation, and is used to “combat anticompetitive practices, reduce market domination by individual corporations, and preserve unfettered competition as the rule of trade” (www.law.cornell.edu). The DOJ…

Words 1354 - Pages 6

The Microsoft Antitrust Case Essay

The Microsoft Antitrust Case A Case Study For MBA Students by Nicholas Economides* Revised April 2003 Abstract This case study discusses briefly the economic and legal issues pertaining to the antitrust case of the United States and a number of States against Microsoft. * Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, NY 10012, (212) 9980864, fax (212) 995-4218, http://www.stern.nyu.edu/networks/, neconomi@stern.nyu.edu Copyright ©, N. Economides 2 Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5…

Words 11233 - Pages 45

Essay Cp223 1

The antitrust cases against Microsoft in the United States and Europe have been the most high profile implementation of competition law in the last 20 years. Christos Genakos, Kai Uwe Kühn and John Van Reenen look at the key economic issues, notably what they imply for the conduct of competition policy in high-tech industries dominated by rapid innovation. CentrePiece Summer 2007 The European Commission versus Microsoft: competition policy in high-tech industries I n the various Microsoft cases…

Words 3662 - Pages 15

Internet Explorer and Market Share Essay

Microsoft’s Search Write-up 1. How has Microsoft responded to competitive threats and opportunities in the past? What patterns do you see? There are four skirmishes that illustrate how Microsoft had responded to competitive threats and opportunities in the past – 1) Application Software (Word perfect and Lotus 1-2-3) – Microsoft typically entered markets when it realized potential of control. The second time IBM asked Gates to build them an OS, Gates saw potential, believing that the…

Words 1635 - Pages 7

Keith Redfern Negative Impact Paper

physical health, and environment continue to weaken. An Unknown Author (n.d.) exclaims “On October 11, 2005, Microsoft and Real Networks, Inc. announced three agreements valued at $761 million to Real Networks to settle their antitrust case and create a new partnership to innovate and promote consumer choices in digital music and games.” These agreements included to resolve all the companies’ antitrust disputes worldwide; an agreement for wide ranging digital music collaboration between the parties, including…

Words 731 - Pages 3

Current Events Journal

have linked 13 deaths to this defect. 3) Article # 3 April 3rd, 2014 4:05 P.M Court Overturns $920 Million Award to DuPont in Kevlar Case http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/04/03/court-overturns-920-million-award-to-dupont-in-kevlar-case/ In 2011, Dupont, a chemical and agricultural company sued, Kolon, a South Korean, and won 920 million dollars regarding a Kevlar case. Kolon used former Dupont employees to help make their product better. On Thursday, April 3rd the U.S court of appeals vacated the judgment…

Words 3595 - Pages 15

Essay on Intel Pestel and Five Forces Analysis

Recently the European Union formally lodged antitrust charges against Intel, accusing the CPU maker of using illegal methods to compete against its main rival AMD. This action represents the culmination of years of antitrust investigation by the EU—and is likely the beginning of a very unpleasant experience for Intel. EU charges that Intel used illegal methods to coerce OEM computer…

Words 3061 - Pages 13

Essay on Sun Microsystems Strategic Positioning

SUN MICROSYSTEMS: STRATEGIC POSITIONING Susan L. Elvins National American University History, Strategy, International Abstract This thesis will discuss the corporate strategy of Sun Microsystems and the multiple issues they have faced both domestic and internationally. Sun Microsystems provides open source software applications and different types of hardware for business consumers. A benefit Sun Microsystems provides with new technology to customers is offering them the ability to trade…

Words 5065 - Pages 21