United States Government

Opinion United States Government

The action against Microsoft arose pursuant to a complaint filed by the United States and separate complaints filed by individual States. The District Court determined that Microsoft had maintained a monopoly in the market for Intel compatible PC operating systems in violation of s 2; attempted to gain a monopoly in the market for internet browsers in violation of s 2; and illegally tied two purportedly separate products, Windows and Internet Explorer ("IE"), in violation of s 1. United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D. D. C. 2000) ("Conclusions of Law"). The District Court then found that the same facts that established liability under ss 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act mandated findings of liability under analogous state law antitrust provisions. To remedy the Sherman Act violations, the District Court issued a Final Judgment requiring Microsoft to submit a proposed plan of divestiture, with the company to be split into an operating systems business and an applications business. United States v. Microsoft Corp., 97 F. Supp. 2d 59, 64-65 (D. D. C. 2000) ("Final Judgment"). The District Court's remedial order also contains a number of interim restrictions on Microsoft's conduct.