The government had charged, and Jackson agreed, that Microsoft used its monopoly in operating systems to put competitors at a disadvantage and stifle innovation. Microsoft said it would appeal the case to the Court of Appeals while the government plans to seek an immediate review by the Supreme Court. The high-stakes court action comes as the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are also more closely scrutinizing corporate mergers that may restrict competition. With a record wave of mergers, some people are cheering the more aggressive policy, and some want the government to do even more, but others say the government should let the marketplace alone. Once known mainly for chat rooms, e-mail and pornography, the Internet is rapidly being transformed into a powerful commercial selling tool.
Companies increasingly go online to order parts, schedule shipments and obtain business services.
Consumers are clicking on Web sites that sell books, recordings and high-tech equipment. But all of the activity is posing difficult questions for regulators, who must set rules for the thriving marketplace. Among the chief issues are taxing sales in cyberspace, defining appropriate commercial speech used on Web sites and applying antitrust laws to an industry often likened to the Wild West. Without the Soviet threat, the rationale for a large, standing army and a vast, nuclear arsenal seemed to evaporate. Instead, the perceived threat to American security fragmented into a number of hostile regional powers.