Microsoft and the Antitrust Laws in the Digital Age: The Browser Wars and Beyond

MICROSOFT AND THE ANTITRUST LAWS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: THE BROWSER WARS AND BEYOND (1) by Gary L. Benton (2)

A recurring question raised in public debate over the legal battle between the government and Microsoft is whether the U.S. antitrust laws, the laws which regulate business competition in the U.S., are too antiquated to provide any value in the modern world of digital technology. The popular argument that the antitrust laws are outmoded has no merit. The antitrust laws encourage innovation and give consumers freedom of choice in the digital age.

True, the antitrust laws are ancient. The principal law, the Sherman Antitrust Act, enacted in July 1890, was designed to put limits on abuses of power by the oil and railroad barons of the day. The digital world doesn't worry much about oil conglomerates or the control of the railways, but we still have reason to fear abuses by corporate power barons. The antitrust laws deter abuse of economic power by protecting competition.