More opinion.......There's very little evidence that the consumer has been
hurt," he said. There's a big hurdle to face that whatever
the judge decides does not result in higher prices for
consumers, Gerson said.
"Consumers have an integrated operating system, we're
not paying for the browser, and we've paid a constant
cost while the system has gotten better and better," he
said.
If the judge breaks up Microsoft, consumers may have
to pay more for pieces of software, Gerson said.
Justice faces a "careful-what-you-ask-for" dilemma,
said Bill Whyman, Internet strategist at Legg Mason
Precuror Group, in Washington, D.C.
"Limited conduct remedies to change behavior may be
legally sustainable on appeal and politically safe, but
may not be effective in creating competition. Stronger
structural remedies, like a company breakup, may
restrain Microsoft, but not survive appeal and would
subject Justice to intense heat," Whyman said. Justice
and the states have put together an advisory group to
develop an appropriate remedy, he said.
Probably the most workable remedy is selective
divestiture or line-of-business restrictions -- such as
Microsoft selling its browser, Whyman said. That would
allow an alternative platform to Windows and break the
link between Windows and Internet applications, while
requiring less oversight, he said. Most likely, U.S.
District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will rule that
Microsoft follow a code of do's and don'ts in leveraging
its OS, Gerson said. The key is to what extent
Microsoft may be required to open its source code, he
said.
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