MSFT -- Should the DOJ Break it up? Message Board

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Technology Stocks : MSFT -- Should the DOJ Break it up?

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To: Mike Robinson who wrote (65)	5/9/1998 8:19:00 PM
From: JF Quinnelly	Read Replies (3) of 144

To lapse into serious discussion just briefly... A "monopoly" doesn't actually have to control the entire market. AT&T was a "regulated monopoly" even though they didn't have the entire U.S. phone system. GTE and a few small firms also provided some service. But AT&T was overwhelmingly dominant. The DOJ is arguing that MSFT has "market power" in desktop computing, a dominance similar to that of the old AT&T. The argument is that through sheer economic size MSFT can dictate terms to the vendors, suppliers, the whole distribution chain of personal computing in order to maintain their dominance and prevent rivals gaining a foothold in the marketplace. The argument is that MSFT uses anti-competitive leverage to prevent rival products from even being offered. And it has long been argued by small, entrepreneurial firms that MSFT either steals their ideas or forces them to sell their products to MSFT at cents on the dollar. Whatever the merits of the DOJ's case, I'll bet that if MSFT is forcibly broken up the stockholders will actually benefit, as happened with AT&T and Standard Oil.

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