Antitrust Isn't The Concern Of the States
Post | at | by Mike
Asked by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for its views, the Justice Department chose to split the baby rather than argue the point. "This action by the non-settling States raises for the very first time the prospect that a small group of States, with no particularized interests to vindicate, might somehow obtain divergent relief with wide-ranging, national economic implications," the government lawyers warned. But, they added, the court need not address the Big Picture issues in order to deny the dissenting states their tougher remedy. All that's needed is the judicious use of "equitable discretion."
I think it is pretty bad, no matter where you stand on Gates and company. For one thing, Microsoft's rivals haven't been shy about suing Microsoft without help from the states. And nobody is proposing to take away the right of private parties to seek damages in antitrust suits. But more important, the more we can discourage the game of what economists call "rent-seeking" -- the redistribution of property through non-market activity, such as lawsuits -- the more likely that success in the relatively unregulated technology industry will continue to be determined by innovation and quality.