Antitrust Law in the High-Technology Industry: Recent Developments in United States v. Microsoft Provides Insight to Department of Justice’s Stance on Antitrust Violations

John H Brinsley, Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 3/26/2008)

On November 5, 1999, United States District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his much anticipated Findings of Fact in United States v. Microsoft, 65 F. Supp. 2d 1, 1999 WL 1001107 (D.D.C. 1999). The federal government and Attorneys General for 20 states, in separate actions, brought this lawsuit against Microsoft on May 18, 1998, alleging that Microsoft used its popular Windows software to illegally extend the company's dominance to other products. Essentially, Judge Jackson has accepted this assertion, finding that "Microsoft enjoys market power in the relevant market" and has used that market power to inflict harm on both competitors and consumers.