Microsoft was declared a monopoly and ordered broken up as punishment largely because Gates held firm that a web browser was an integral part of an operating system. (It was only the switch in US Presidential administrations that prevented the "remedy" from taking effect.)
Seems so fucking silly in 2014.
The laws around antitrust are complex and this is a huge oversimplification -- but I have a hard time believing anyone here thinks that shipping a computer with a browser pre-installed, and in no way preventing access to downloading another browser with it, deserves government intervention into the structure of your company.
Remember, this was an era when software came on many, many floppy disks and a 28.8 modem card cost $299 and required a screwdriver to install. Off by one CSS bugs and allowing both VBScript and JScript and OLE controls to run in the browser wasn't exactly the roadblock to an open information nirvana.
Microsoft was convicted of using their monopoly in operating systems to prevent other browsers from being installed on Windows computers by OEM manufacturers. The browser/OS integration was a sideshow to the main legal issue.
There was no "conviction" (it's not a criminal case) - the judge's findings of fact centered on 1) monopoly & monopolistic behavior and 2) "tying" - specifically saying that a browser was a part of the operating system.
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Microsoft was declared a monopoly and ordered broken up as punishment largely because Gates held firm that a web browser was an integral part of an operating system. (It was only the switch in US Presidential administrations that prevented the "remedy" from taking effect.)
Seems so fucking silly in 2014.
The laws around antitrust are complex and this is a huge oversimplification -- but I have a hard time believing anyone here thinks that shipping a computer with a browser pre-installed, and in no way preventing access to downloading another browser with it, deserves government intervention into the structure of your company.
Remember, this was an era when software came on many, many floppy disks and a 28.8 modem card cost $299 and required a screwdriver to install. Off by one CSS bugs and allowing both VBScript and JScript and OLE controls to run in the browser wasn't exactly the roadblock to an open information nirvana.
Microsoft was convicted of using their monopoly in operating systems to prevent other browsers from being installed on Windows computers by OEM manufacturers. The browser/OS integration was a sideshow to the main legal issue.
There was no "conviction" (it's not a criminal case) - the judge's findings of fact centered on 1) monopoly & monopolistic behavior and 2) "tying" - specifically saying that a browser was a part of the operating system.