“Oh my gosh, Microsoft? We’re not going to sue Microsoft are we?"(i) Thomas Miller, the chairman of the antitrust committee of the attorney general, sentiment’s spread throughout United States as the investigation into monopoly like behavior in Microsoft’s corporate hierarchy quickly heated in 1997. The lawsuit filed would turn into what some called the trial of the century. The Microsoft trial, effecting technophile and technophobe alike, will challenge the Sherman Act, which for 110 years has kept corporate structures of US companies from becoming too aggressive. However, this law is outdated and does not apply to the software industry which Microsoft is prominent. A second problem with this trial deals with Judge Penfield Jackson and his seemingly biased ruling. He said repeatedly during and after the trial his decision to breakup Microsoft came through newspaper reports and interviews with Microsoft executives who did not admit any wrong doing. However this is extremely biased and not based on the information presented in the trial. The Microsoft Antitrust trial proves the Sherman Act of 1890 is out of date, and Judge Jackson made a biased decision, which could destroy stability in the computer industry as a result.
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