Question

Please review (in depth) the court case of United States vs. Microsoft. Please list the facts of the case, results and reasoning. Thank you.

Answer 1

• The Microsoft Corporation violated the nation's antitrust laws through predatory and anticompetitive behavior and kept an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive fortune.
• This case involves a warrant requiring Microsoft to produce the contents of an individual’s email account that it was alleged was being used in furtherance of narcotics trafficking.
• This case expands expression by protecting the freedom of expression of users of electronic communication channels by holding that U.S. authorities can not force service providers to access data stored outside the U.S.
• A central conclusion in the government's case -- and in the judge's findings of fact was that Microsoft tied its Web browser to the Windows operating system to gain market share for its browser and put Netscape at a disadvantage.
• In other words, Judge Jackson found Microsoft guilty of monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, both because it used illegal means to maintain its operating system monopoly and because it used illegal means to attempt to establish a monopoly in the market for Web browsers. He also found Microsoft guilty under Section 1 of the Act for illegally tying the Internet Explorer browser to the Windows operating system. However, he exonerated Microsoft on the charge of exclusive dealing under Section 1.
• As the fight over access to digital data takes places in the country’s courts, Microsoft has changed the way that it stores customers communications. The company’s former policy was to store email content in the data farm closest to the customer’s self-declared country of residence.
• Now, the system relies on the user’s most frequent location. That may not prevent sticky international data situations in the future, but it's likely at least a first step toward a system that makes sense.