Court of Appeals Sides with Taxpayers; Innovation, Not Litigation

Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today cheered the U.S. Court of Appeals for its landmark decision vacating the breakup of the Microsoft Corporation after more than three months of deliberation. 

“This decision marks a return to rational antitrust jurisprudence and is a victory for taxpayers, investors, and the entire information economy,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Hopefully this case can now end quickly.  We call on Attorney General John Ashcroft and the 19 state attorneys general involved to reach a fair and speedy settlement so Microsoft, taxpayers, the government, and the NASDAQ can all move on.” 

“This litigation was never about legal misconduct but about competitors hoping to leverage political pull to get the Department of Justice to do what their products could not,” Schatz also said.  “Free-market competition may be a tough business, but innovation, not litigation, benefits society most in the long run.”

“The Microsoft case has put taxpayers on the hook for at least $35 million in costs at the federal and state levels,” Schatz added.  “Investors have watched their portfolios nosedive by trillions of dollars since the U.S. District Court decision to break up Microsoft last June.  Additionally, economists have estimated Microsoft’s breakup could cost consumers $60 billion in higher software costs.”

“It’s time for everyone involved in the case to get serious about resolving their differences, particularly the state attorneys general who have pledged to appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court,” Schatz concluded.  “That course of action would only waste more time and money, and further disrupt the technology marketplace.”

CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government.

TOM SCHATZ IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS ON THE MICROSOFT CASE