Monopoly Power
By Lincoln D. Stein
The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals has issued its decision on the United States vs. Microsoft antitrust trial: Microsoft is a monopoly, and has abused its power. However, the appeals court has stated that the punishment imposed by U. S. District Court Judge Penfield Jackson doesn't fit the crime. Now a lower court or a settlement agreement will decide what the proper punishment should be.
In the meantime, Microsoft has removed the restrictive language from its contracts with PC makers that forbade placing competing software icons on the Windows desktop. At the same time, the company is readying the October release of Windows XP. This version of the operating system will substantially increase the amount of integration between traditional operating system functions such as file management, and traditional application functions like multimedia and Web browsing.
I've been watching these events unfold with bemused detachment. True, I do get annoyed when Microsoft products don't work as expected. I'm always a bit reluctant to click on the font size menu in my version of PowerPoint because one time out of a hundred this action causes the entire system to freeze. However, I've been pretty satisfied with Microsoft products. The operating system comes for free (or seems to) whenever I purchase a new PC. And as a member of an academic institution I'm entitled to a substantial 80 percent discount on Microsoft Office and other products.
Over the past two weeks, though, I've learned two lessons about the meaning of monopoly power. Suddenly, the antitrust suit got a lot more personal.
