Consumers will lose if states win
boston.com | at | by Mike
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's first duty is to the citizens of the Commonwealth. However, his pursuit of antitrust penalties against Microsoft is both counterproductive and harmful to Massachusetts consumers and producers. In joining with eight other attorneys general to limit the ability of Microsoft to bring its products to market, Reilly is carrying water for Microsoft's competitors - firms such as Sun Microsystems, America Online, and Oracle that are, in effect, banking on the courts to accomplish what they have been unable to do in the open market. It is these firms, not the citizens of Massachusetts or the other states bringing this case, that stand to benefit from the sought-for penalties.
The problem, however, is that there is no reason to put any faith in this joyous outcome. There is no evidence that any of Microsoft's competitors is champing at the bit to develop an operating system or, if it is, that the operating system it develops would compete effectively against Windows.