Microsoft's actions have stifled competition in the operating system and browser markets. The Justice Department and states maintain that Microsoft has violated antitrust statutes by attempting to extend it near-total monopoly on computer operating systems to the Internet. By tying purchases of the Windows operating system to acceptance of its Internet Explorer browser, officials said, Microsoft has attempted to exterminate other browsers, most notably those produced by Netscape. Since the company already holds a monopoly in operating systems, any attempt to put competitors out of business through tying is illegal under antitrust statutes. Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Gates, predictably, attacked the plan.
Computer manufacturers are free to install any browser on any computer they choose.
Federal and state officials, however, have spent much of the past seven months arguing just the opposite. In fact, they say, Microsoft has consistently threatened to revoke the operating systems of many major computer manufacturers that dare question the company's business practices. Thought Justice Department officials have made many similar allegations in a related battle over an agreement struck between the two sides in 1995, today's filing marks the first time the Justice Department has extended its argument to a broader antitrust case whose impact would be final and, in this case, far more harmful to Microsoft's interests than an earlier order that they simply make a version of their operating system available without a browser. Openwave Be a part of the communications revolution. Inc. All Rights Reserved.