11.29.07
More Microsoft ‘Shills’ Come to Its Rescue in Antitrust Debate
Remember the Department of Justice jumping to Microsoft's defense in Europe and in the United States (separately)? Remember Novell's role in helping Microsoft escape scrutiny in Europe? That is where Microsoft has, in some sense, got its way [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]? It has become apparent that it’s a game of money of power (buy friends and shills. It’s rarely about justice, which is a merely ‘nice-to-have’.
The Department of Justice is apparently not enough for Microsoft to escape scrutiny as more and more states continue to voice their concerns.
Ten states and the District of Columbia made the unusual claim to try to show that the operating system and browser spaces had changed much more slowly than expected in 2002, when state regulators and the US Department of Justice brokered a deal with Microsoft in a long-running antitrust case against the company. The lack of change, they said, means that potential competitors need more time — and judicial protection — if they are to develop into real rivals to Microsoft.
In such a scenario, the solution should be predictable. When Microsoft wanted to intercept Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, it paid plenty of money to lobbying firms, bombarded journalists using PR firms, and probably reached out for other proxies like AT&T. There’s no concrete proof for the last point, but there is for the rest. So, guess what Microsoft is up to now? Check out this new article from MarketWatch:
Microsoft’s fellow giants push to end its oversight
Fellow giants Visa Inc. and Weyerhaeuser Co. have come to the aid of Microsoft Corp., arguing that extending restrictive antitrust oversight of the software maker could trigger a glut of needless litigation for already overburdened courts.
Isn’t that just so predictable? When there’s not enough support, buy or lend some. Novell is just one example among many, but it’s an interesting thing to watch once the pattern gets identified. █
