Microsoft Is Ruled An Illegal Monopoly  Ruling Reasserts
Antitrust Premise  April 04, 2000|By Merrill Goozner, Washington
Bureau.  WASHINGTON — With federal Judge Thomas Penfield
Jackson's findings against Microsoft Corp. on Monday, the
nation's antitrust laws, born in the 19th Century to curb the
runaway power of steel and oil trusts, staked their claim to
relevance in the 21st Century era of bits, bytes and
biotechnology.  The economy may be changing at an ever-more
rapid pace, but for the time being, the illegality of certain
economic practices endures. While the decision could be
overturned on appeal, the judge's ruling reasserts the 110-year-
old premise that corporations that dominate their markets can
abuse that power to the detriment of consumers, competitors and
the process of innovation.  The fact that an industry, in this
case computer software, is in a permanent state of technological
change was, in the end, no defense.  It was the goal of
innovation, which in many ways has come to define American