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What the Microsoft Antitrust Case Taught Us

 |  May 20, 2018

What the Microsoft Antitrust Case Taught Us

By Richard Blumenthal and Tim Wu

Twenty years ago today, Microsoft was sued by the Department of Justice and a coalition of 20 state attorneys general (including one of us, Mr. Blumenthal, of Connecticut) for violating federal antitrust law.

Microsoft, the world’s dominant software firm, and Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, faced a challenge from the upstart company Netscape and its internet browser, Netscape Navigator. The suit accused Microsoft of illegally protecting its operating-system monopoly and seeking a new monopoly for its own browser, Internet Explorer. The fear was that Microsoft would kill Netscape, monopolize the browser market and use that point of control to dominate the coming age of the web.

After a tough fight, the government won the case. There is now no browser monopoly, and the world has come to rely on the many apps, firms and ideas that were born after Microsoft’s control was broken. Microsoft has become a gentler giant, and Mr. Gates has become a philanthropist.

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