Legal and Ethical Issues Surround the Microsoft Antitrust Case
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MICROSOFT ANTITRUST
FACTS SURROUNDING THE CASE STUDY
Bill Gates and Paul Allen formed Microsoft in 1978. Originally created to sell software for the Apple II computer, the firm established its current direction when it agreed to provide an operating system for IBM and its new personal computer. Development of the MS-DOS operating system and the ultimate success of the personal computer upon which it resided, provided a phenomenal level of business success and profits for Microsoft. The firm adopted a very shrewd method for business growth, analyzing competitor's strengths and weaknesses, in an effort to develop competitive advantages that would fuel corporate profits. Such business practices brought them under investigation by the US Government in 1991, through an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC began this investigation upon suspicion that Microsoft had monopolized the market on PC operating systems. Although the investigation continued until 1993, a formal complaint was not filed against Microsoft for such violations of antitrust law.
At the point of closure of the FTC investigation, the US Justice Department began its own investigation into the practices of Microsoft. This investigation came to a conclusion with a consent decree in 1995, with Microsoft agreeing to change specific requirements in it's contracts with PC makers, as well as remove restrictions on software makers as to the inclusion of Microsoft products and exclusion of other software company products.
A series of actions brought against Microsoft by the Department of Justice (DOJ) followed this decree, as the DOJ accused Microsoft of violating the terms of the decree by requiring Internet Explorer (IE) to be installed on all computers loaded with Windows 95...