Court of Appeals Votes Against Microsoft Corporation

Washington, D.C - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), the nation's largest taxpayer advocacy group, was outraged with the U.S. Court of Appeals decision to uphold the original June 7, 2000 ruling that the Microsoft Corporation had violated antitrust laws.  This ruling will force Microsoft to split into two companies, an operating system and applications business.

"This has been an absolutely preposterous suit against the Microsoft Corporation that has done nothing but cost the taxpayers millions of dollars," said CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz. Instead of settling out of court, the U.S. Justice Department's Attorney Generals decided to use this case to their advantage by making as much money as possible for themselves."

The Microsoft trial has been a burden on taxpayers since day one.  Figures for each state involved, range from $28,000 to over $3,000,000.  One Deputy Attorney General for the state of California charged $335.00 an hour. His total amount charged was $1,193,018.75.  This blatant abuse of taxpayer's dollars is exactly why the marketplace, not the government should have decided the future of Microsoft. 

It hasn’t been made clear on whether Microsoft will try to take the appeals one step further straight up to the Supreme Court.  This decision will regrettably loom over the market for months to come.  Economists have already begun to look at the impact this case has had on Wall Street. 

"Hopefully, with the negative aura surrounding this trial it will be the last of its kind in order to keep alive the future of entrepreneurship," Schatz added.   

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