[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 39 (Monday, April 3, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MICROSOFT ANTITRUST VERDICT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 3, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, America and the world are reacting to today's 
decision by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft, 
among other things, violated federal antitrust laws when it bundled its 
Internet browser and its Windows operating system. In particular, a lot 
of focus is being placed on the way the financial markets are reacting 
to this decision and its impact on consumers of technological goods and 
services.
  I am not in a position at this point to comment on the Judge's 
decision or on who is to blame for the settlement discussions failing 
to achieve a solution acceptable to the parties. Mr. Speaker, I rise 
today to ensure that we do not overlook many of the tremendous benefits 
that Microsoft has given to America, and African Americans in 
particular.
  No one can seriously dispute that the Microsoft phenomenon has had a 
profound impact on the way every American lives today. When Microsoft 
and IBM led the personal computer revolution in the early 1980s, 
helping to make this powerful tool affordable to many American 
families, no one could have dreamed that we would be where we are 
today. The Internet and the potential of e-commerce simply could not 
have been imagined.
  Today, the personal computer with the user-friendly Windows operating 
system is a way of life for many of us. We are just beginning to fully 
realize the great improvements in our educational achievement, our 
economy growth and our personal enjoyment that we owe to the personal 
computer and Microsoft. I hope that we never forget the tremendous 
contribution Microsoft has made to our way of life, no matter the 
outcome of this proceeding.
  I also want to point out that Microsoft and its Chairman, Bill Gates, 
are outstanding corporate citizens whose record of charitable giving 
should not be ignored. Together, Bill Gates and Microsoft have donated 
over $20 million to the United Negro College Fund and other 
organizations helping to educate future generations of Americans. They 
also have taken great steps to help bridge the ``digital divide,'' the 
gap between those with access to the Internet and information 
technologies and those without it. They have donated over $200 million 
in software to public libraries, Boys & Girls Clubs, and made 
``Connected Learning Community'' grants to community-based nonprofit 
organizations in cities across the United States.
  Mr. Chairman, our antitrust laws are creatures of the early 20th 
century, designed to address ``robber barons'' and railroads. As the 
lessons learned from the AT&T litigation showed us, these laws were not 
easily adapted to the economic realities of telecommunications in the 
1970s. The Microsoft litigation shows the problems inherent in applying 
these old laws to the electronic marketplace of the third millennium. 
Microsoft was a pioneer in an industry that did not exist twenty years 
ago, and it may ultimately pay a penalty as our legal system attempts 
to grasp this new, dynamic industry.
  What happens to Microsoft in the coming months will have an important 
impact on other technology companies, and will frame the shape of 21st 
century commerce. Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the right form of 
regulation, if any, should be and how the antitrust laws should apply 
in this new age. I encourage Congress to begin to look at this issue, 
as well as addressing the growing digital divide, to ensure that the 
great revolution that Microsoft helped begin does not falter.




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