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“MICROSOFT WINS APPEALS COURT DECISION, DOJ LOSES” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S6991 on June 24, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MICROSOFT WINS APPEALS COURT DECISION, DOJ LOSES
Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, yesterday a three judge United States Appeals Court panel overturned the preliminary injunction issued against Microsoft last December by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. This ruling by the Appeals Court is a major victory for Microsoft and its supporters. In fact, in my opinion, it is so significant as to make the Department of Justice's current case against Microsoft even more dubious than it was at the time of filing.
The basic question before the panel was whether or not Microsoft violated antitrust law and a 1995 consent decree by integrating its web browser, Internet Explorer, into its Windows 95 operating system. The panel ruled that Microsoft's actions did not violate the consent decree and that Microsoft should indeed be allowed to integrate new and improved features into Windows because such integration benefits consumers.
The Department of Justice has just suffered a major defeat.
The ruling comes only a few weeks after the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice filed a new case against Microsoft alleging anticompetitive behavior. The central point of the new case is Microsoft's integration of the Internet Explorer into Windows 98.
In the new case, the Department of Justice wants Microsoft either to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 98 or add a competing browser from rival Netscape into that Windows 98 program. Department of Justice lawyers claim that Internet Explorer is a separate product and that its integration into Windows 98 is a violation of antitrust law. Interestingly enough, there are other browser manufacturers, smaller than Netscape, who don't seem to have Department of Justice's ear or sponsorship.
But in the opinion issued yesterday by the Appeals Court panel, the judges ruled that Microsoft's product integration meets the court's requirement that product innovation bring benefits to consumers. The panel calls Microsoft's software design ``genuine integration'' and rules that the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Window's 95 is not a violation of the consent decree.
Further, the panel wrote that, ``Antitrust scholars have long recognized the undesirability of having courts oversee product design, and any dampening of technological innovation would be at cross-
purposes with antitrust law.''
It is quite clear from this ruling that the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia believes that Microsoft is not violating the law by integrating Internet Explorer into its operating system software. That integration is beneficial to consumers and any attempt to stifle such innovations is harmful to consumers.
I see very little difference between the new case and the case just rejected by the Appeals Court. It is time for the Department of Justice to pick up its marbles and go home, Mr. President.
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