The Anti-Trust Case Against Microsoft

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

to the Department
of Justice. The Department of Justice moved quickly, with Anne K. Bingaman, head
of the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, leading the way.(Check 1) The case was
finally ended on July 15, 1994, with Microsoft signing a consent
settlement.(Check 1)
The settlement focused on Microsoft's selling practices with computer
manufacturers. Up until now, Microsoft would sell MS-DOS and Microsoft's other
operating systems to original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) at a 60% discount
if that OEM agreed to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every single computer that
they sold (Check 2) regardless if it had a Microsoft operating system installed
on it or not. After the settlement, Microsoft would be forced to sell their
operating systems according to the number of computers shipped with a Microsoft
operating system installed, and not for computers that ran other operating
systems. (Check 2)
Another practice that the Justice Department accused Microsoft of was
that Microsoft would ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

purchased both MS-DOS and Windows,
and threatening to not sell Windows to companies who did not also purchase DOS.
In the end, Microsoft decided to suck it up and sign the settlement
agreement. In signing the agreement, Microsoft did not actually have to admit to
any of the alleged charges, but were able to escape any type of formal
punishment such as fines and the like. The settlement that Microsoft agreed to
prohibits it, for the next six and a half years from:
-Charging for its operating system on the basis of computer shipped
rather than on
copies of MS-DOS shipped;
-Imposing minimum quantity commitments on manufacturers;
-Signing contracts for greater than one year;
-Tying ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: