Statement from Linda F. Golodner, President National Consumers League
Appeal of the U. S. v. Microsoft ruling

    The appeals court’s unanimous decision to uphold the core anticompetitive charges against Microsoft is a victory for consumers. Microsoft’s business practices sustained and expanded the monopoly at the expense of consumers, innovation, and our economy. Consumers are paying more for less, innovation and competition have been stifled, and the high-tech industry key to America’s economic strength has been undermined.

    The remand of the structural remedy will allow new evidence to be introduced in the case—evidence that demonstrates a pattern of anticompetitive behavior since the end of the trial. Consumers should understand that the core monopoly maintenance charges that were upheld were the very charges that warranted the initial structural remedy in the first place. This structural remedy is by far the most effective way for the government to ensure legal obligations are met to eliminate Microsoft’s monopoly, deny it the benefits of this activity, and prevent it from engaging in this anticompetitive behavior again.

    We hope that the decision of the appeals court strengthens the resolve of the Department of Justice and the 19 states’ Attorneys General to pursue the case against Microsoft until its illegal monopoly is terminated. Given the Justice Department’s victory at this stage, we find it hard to believe that the administration could abandon the case. But if Microsoft is allowed to walk away with its monopoly intact despite being twice convicted of illegal, anticompetitive behavior, then it will embolden monopolists in every industry to flout the nation’s antitrust laws that serve as the legal underpinning of the consumer movement.

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to identify, protect, represent, and advance the economic and social interests of consumers and workers. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization.

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