Microsoft(MSFT) has been accused of violating the Anti-trust law time to time. M
ID: 366066 • Letter: M
Question
Microsoft(MSFT) has been accused of violating the Anti-trust law time to time. MSFT had the legal problem with European Community(EC). Q1)Do you think Monopoly business practice is so bad for the general public's welfare?(0.5 point) Q2)Why? or if you disagree, then why not? (0.5 point) Q3)Would you give us another notorious example like Monopoly case in the past or present (such as Standard Oil, Morgan House, OPEC with high energy price, lately case of INTEL)?(0.5 point) Is the current Antitrust law outdated?(0.5 point) Q5) if so, what reform is necessary for the current anti-trust law? (0.5 point) · acer 11Explanation / Answer
Is the Current Anti-trust law outdated?
Formulated in the year 1890 the US Anti-Trust law in order to advertise just and fair competition to benefit the customers is a collective initiative of the federal and state goverment laws which controls the organization and hierarchial struture of the business firms. The legal battle between microsoft and the government in the recent past has raised various questions about the validity and workability of the law which was formulated late in the 19th century and debates and speculation on the issue infers that the question raised is not at all invalid.
The history of the Anti-Trust law is some what unique because the objective of this law then was to put a check on the power and privilege enjoyed by the industry barons like the Oil Barons, Railroad Barons, Sugar Barons,etc. In simple words the Anti-Trust law prohibits Monopoly because it is a dangerous aspect in business and affect consumers to a large extent and the basic objective of the law is to prohibit organizations from being too big and bad.
The question now, is the primitive law valid in this world of digital technology?
The old law loses its validity if the law is not amended because the digital modern world is not concerned about the power of the industry barons but still power should not be aggregated at one place because that opens the door for misuse of power and even the corporate sector is not an exception in this case and this is the root cause which led to the legal battle between microsoft and the government. Microsoft an Information Technology giant generally possess monopoly powers because the operating system manufactured by them controls almost 90% of the market and the Anti-Trust law prohibits them from doing the same which is very much fair in this context. Therfore it cannot be concluded that the Anti-Trust law is outdated rather it can be stated that with ammendments considering the situation of the modern world the law is very much valid and effective.