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Freedom Action of the Week
Email List Archive
Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m A c t i o n o f t h e W e e k
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Edited by Thomas L. Knapp. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this and
other lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
----- Featured Action of the Week -----
Second Week of December, 2001
Where do you want (your government) to go today?
With Bill of Rights Day this weekend, and your party plans probably
complete, I guess it's time to segue into some other issues. Don't worry --
Bill of Rights Enforcement will be back in this space soon -- but this week
I'd like to change the focus a bit and take a necessary second look at an
important issue that's at a critical point.
Free-Market.Net has brought you in-depth coverage of the Microsoft
antitrust case since its beginnings. We (and many of our partners)
believed, and still believe, that the case is a watershed event. It has the
potential to either substantially free business from a century's worth of
unwarranted, unwanted and damaging chains, or to tighten those chains down,
even further constricting the ability of enterprises to fulfill human needs
as they've done so well whenever they've been allowed to act free of
burdensopme restrictions.
On November 3, Microsoft, the Department of Justice, and a number of state
Attorneys General reached a settlement agreement in the case. The
settlement is not the denouement that free market advocates had hoped for
-- a full dismissal of all charges and an apology for having brought them
-- but, on the other hand, it didn't result in the breakup of Microsoft
that the government was seeking, either.
While the settlement _does_ contain some pretty punishing terms --
Microsoft will no longer be able to forbid vendors from replacing parts of
the Windows operating system with competing products, and the company will
be required to share its code with competitors so that they can design
applications that work more seamlessly with the OS -- it is also a clear
signal to future would-be "trustbusters." After years of work and millions
of tax dollars spent in pursuit of Microsoft, the Department of Justice
failed in its quest to hobble and dismember the company.
Under the Tunney Act, individuals have 60 days in which to submit comments
on a settlement proposal of this type. Your comments can have a dramatic
effect on whether the settlement is ultimately adopted or whether the
persecution continues. Given that several states are holding out on the
agreement, your input could even tip the balance for or against their
participation.
Free-Market.Net partner Americans for Technology Leadership is soliciting
_your_ comments, which will become part of the public record and part of
the decision-making process. The voices of market advocates are important
and can have impact. Take the time to ensure that your voice is heard.
Americans for Technology Leadership:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/468460877.html
ATL's settlement comment gateway:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/540032794.html
Free-Market.Net's Policy Spotlight on the Microsoft settlement:
http://www.free-market.net/spotlight/antitrust2/
More resources on antitrust:
http://www.free-market.net/directorybytopic/antitrust/
Action of the Week Archive:
http://www.free-market.net/features/list-archives/activism/maillist.html
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