United States v. Microsoft: An Economic Analysis
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Description
In May 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming a number of violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, filed suit against the Microsoft Corporation. The case was tried in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia from October 19, 1998, through June 24, 1999. Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled as to the findings of fact on November 5, 1999. As this chapter is drafted, the parties have prepared briefs on proposed conclusions of law and are involved in settlement discussion. If the parties reach no settlement and Judge Jackson rules in favor of the Department of Justice, remedy issues will then come into play. This chapter presents perspective and commentary on the economic issues from the viewpoint of two economists who were active in the case. Franklin M. Fisher was one of the U.S. government’s economic witnesses at the trial, and this chapter is based in part on his testimony. Daniel L. Rubinfeld was deputy assistant attorney general for economics in the Antitrust Division during much of the investigation. During the trial he was deputy assistant attorney general and later a consultant for the U.S. government. Our roles as testifying expert and chief economist at the Antitrust Division, respectively, carry with them the advantage of seeing the issues from the inside as participants and the disadvantage that one’s perspective is inevitably affected by one’s own viewpoint. Because our goal is to explicate the merits of the government’s case and to highlight important issues, we hope that the advantages will outweigh any disadvantages.
Source Publication
Did Microsoft Harm Consumers? Two Opposing Views
Source Editors/Authors
David S. Evans, Franklin M. Fisher, Daniel L. Rubinfeld, Richard L. Schmalensee
Publication Date
2000
Recommended Citation
Fisher, Franklin M. and Rubinfeld, Daniel L., "United States v. Microsoft: An Economic Analysis" (2000). Faculty Chapters. 1846.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1846
