Anti-Microsoft group hires Dole
By Peter Barnes, CNBC
MSNBC
December 19, 1997 8:14 AM PST
In Washington, critics and competitors of Microsoft are stockpiling ammunition in their fight against the software giant. They charge that for the first time in years, Microsoft is on the defensive and somewhat vulnerable as the company fights antitrust charges filed by the Department of Justice.
Sources close to the Microsoft battle say that a group of the company's rivals have hired one of Washington's heaviest hitters, former U.S. senator and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, to help them in their fight against the software leader. (Microsoft is a partner in the joint venture that operates MSNBC.)
Dole currently works for one of Washington's most powerful law and lobbying firms, Verner Liipfert.
Sources say a group of software and computer makers, including Netscape Communications and Sun Microsystems, have hired Dole to put together a coalition of high-tech companies called the Council for a Competitive Electronic Marketplace. Sen. Dole's office and his lobbying firm would not comment on the reports.
Sources say the council, if it gets off the ground, will try to convince the public and Washington policymakers -- through lobbying and advertising -- that Microsoft is trying to dominate the Internet with anti-competitive practices.
Also involved in the campaign against Microsoft is another public-relations heavy hitter: Jody Powell, the former press secretary to President Jimmy Carter. Powell has been retained by Sun Microsystems. Both Powell and Sun declined to comment.
Microsoft critics say the antitrust case against the company is not just about whether the software-maker illegally bundles its Internet Explorer software with its Windows operating system. The fight is really about whether one company will dominate Internet software and commerce.
But after the Department of Justice beefed up its fight against the software firm this week -- asking a federal district court to find the company in civil contempt -- the armor may be weakening.
"The fact that they're not invincible is a big deal. The fact that they lost the first round of this antitrust case is a signal to a lot of companies that maybe they don't have to fold their tent right away. Maybe they can fight," said Jamie Love, director of the Consumer Project on Technology.
On Thursday, Love wrapped up a four-day trip to Europe where he met with antitrust investigators from the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, to supply them with documents to step up their Microsoft investigation.
Separately, Microsoft rivals and critics are pursuing other offensives. This weekend, for example, Netscape will include on its Web page instructions to computer users on how to deactivate Microsoft's Internet Explorer from Windows.
Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment on the Dole effort. But recently, it called Netscape's Web page instructions a publicity stunt. |
