The antitrust behavior lawsuit filed against Microsoft was based on the issue of the operating systems that the company has installed as default in their computers. It was alleged that the company had bundled Internet Explorer and the Microsoft Windows operating system. This was done to make Microsoft the market leader in the browser wars against other web browsers. This is because every person who has a computer has access to the Internet Explorer which comes already installed as a factory setting in the computer.
The value to Microsoft would be that they restricted the market by making it difficult for the other web browsers to compete fairly since if the Windows system had a problem, then one would proceed to using the Internet Explorer in their computer. The options were for a user to either download the rival web browsers which took too long via a modem, or walk into a store and buy it. Microsoft had also been accused of changing the application programming interfaces to be more feasible with their own Internet Explorer than with other browsers.
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The case against Microsoft had a lot of weight and substance support since the accusers managed to create a lot of evidence to support their argument. It is unfair for Microsoft to indulge in these kinds of discriminatory practices in an attempt to achieve the monopoly of the web browser market. It is a computer giant and sidelining the other smaller companies is unfair. I agree that Microsoft was trying to get monopoly as this was not as a result of innovation as the company said in its defense. In the company defense, they forwarded a number of videotaped recordings showing the results of using the Microsoft Operating system without the Internet Explorer and it showed that the computer slowed. However, it was later discovered that the videotapes had been falsified, and this makes one wonder why Microsoft resulted to producing lies as their defense. If Microsoft had noble intentions, then the findings would not have been falsified. The honorable court did find Microsoft guilty and ordered it to share its Application Programming Interfaces with rival companies.
In an effort to protect interests, monopoly may be allowed in some sectors. Economic barriers and other barriers to entry in small businesses may result in monopolies. A good example of a monopoly with altruistic intentions is The Joint Commission on the United States (Armentano, 1996). It is taxed with the monopoly of regulating and deciding on whether or not hospitals in the public are allowed to participate with Medicaid or Medicare programs.
