Anti trust claims Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Anti trust claims - Research Paper Example The underlying questions were whether Microsoft manipulated its  application programming interfaces  (APIs) to favor Internet Explorer over third party web browsers (McMillan, 2003). The antitrust case against Microsoft set a dangerous example that foretells increasing government regulation in an industry which was formerly relatively free of government intrusion and that future technological progress in the industry will be hinder as a result. Microsoft was not really making any profits from Internet Explorer, and its marriage with the operating system was due to consumer expectation to have a browser bundled with the operating system. Instead, Microsofts true anticompetitive wallop was in the discounts it offered to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) preventing other operating systems from getting a footing in the market. According to Microsoft the merger of Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer was the result of  innovation  and  competition. However the browser is still a distinct and separate product which did not need to be coupled with an operating system since a separate version was available for  Mac OS. Microsoft operating systems dominates approximately 90-95% of operating systems in computers and has become an innate standard for home and business computer applications. It is fairly obvious that Microsoft is the leading firm in the market for computer operating systems. The question in the current Microsoft antitrust case is whether or not Microsoft has used its monopoly to restrain trade in violation of federal antitrust statutes (Brennan, 2002). Microsofts decision to integrate Internet Explorer into the operating system was intended to purge the competitive threat posed by Netscape and Sun Microsystems Java programming language. This action, I believe, is a natural extension of the Windows