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The Microsoft Case

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The Microsoft Case

November 17, 2011
Week 3 Paper

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...02

The Case...……......................………….………………….………………………… 02

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………....... 03

References………………………………………………………………………....... 04

Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Microsoft Monopoly case and how it relates to what we have been learning in our Economics class.

The Case
In 1999 Microsoft was accused of violating the Sherman Act, which was passed in 1890 with the purpose of maintaining competition in the marketplace by opposing the combination of entities. Microsoft was positioned as the largest publisher of operating systems in the world and this was their third anti-trust trial in the United States. The charges of the alleged monopoly were whether Microsoft were allowed to bundle Internet Explorer with their Operating Systems. The major theory was that they were going to turn into the sole internet browser supplier because it came bundled with every new personal computer and every Microsoft operating system, causing a monopoly. By definition this simply is not the case as Microsoft were not the only producers and sellers of internet browsers, nor was there any blocking of new entries to the market.

There were also plenty of close substitutes back in 1999, with the internet browser Netscape actually far more popular than Microsoft's Internet Explorer. There was a perception by Microsoft's competitors that there were barriers to entry to the marketplace because they did not have their own operating system to bundle their browsers with, but the only real barriers were that they were not as aggressive as Microsoft were in getting the name of their product out there. There was no chance of this being a natural monopoly as there was nothing being released at a lower rate than their competitors. The competitors were all offering internet browsers at the same rate, free. That goes against the thought of Monopoly pricing which people assume will be to the highest degree.

Conclusion
Microsoft came to an agreement with the Department Of Justice. By allowing its application programming interfaces with third-party companies and appointing a panel of three people who will have full access to Microsoft's systems, records, and source code for five years in order to ensure compliance, they allowed for third party middle-ware and other internet browsers to appear on their operating systems. The settlement also did not require Microsoft to have to alter any of its code. I disagree with the charges of Microsoft being a monopoly. I think that they were just going with the rules of business which is simply survival of the fittest. There was an open market then as the internet was still pretty new, so they thought that it would be good synergy to include their internet browser with their operating system, which any company in their position would have done.

Monopolies may not always be a bad thing. The anti-trust case against Microsoft failed, but they truthfully were far from violating it anyway. Real current monopolies that happen in every day life things like local utilities. Local utilities do not have any competition, so they can most likely offer their service at lower rates than the larger utility companies can. A local utility is a monopoly as there is legislation to make sure that they are the only utility company in the area. That is a definition of a natural monopoly and the example I gave describes the power and water in my town.

References
Ohlhausen, M. K. (2009). SYMPOSIUM: THE END OF THE MICROSOFT ANTITRUST CASE?. Antitrust Law Journal, 75(3), 691-703. http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=39753550&site=bsi-live

Khan, S., Islam, F., & Ahmed, S. M. (2004). Is Microsoft a Monopoly: An Empirical Test. American Business Review, 22(2), 130-134. http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=13989746&site=bsi-live

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