(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz issued a statement today concerning the use of tax dollars to increase government regulation of the technology industry through taxpayer financed litigation against companies such as Microsoft. 

"Janet Reno's Department of Justice is spending our tax dollars to pick winners and losers in the marketplace.  The taxpayer financed litigation against Microsoft will only benefit a few competitors and begin the regulation of America’s most successful industry.  The only harm to consumers is the use of their tax dollars to pursue this kind of dangerous litigation.

"While DOJ wants Microsoft to reveal its “secret sauce” – the source code for its software – they will not even tell their clients, the American taxpayers, how much they’re spending on the case.  CAGW estimates that the DOJ and the state attorneys general have spent $30 million to pursue Microsoft.  Costs have skyrocketed and controversies have multiplied, yet the government  continues to show remarkable ignorance of the industry it seeks to regulate, and the effects this litigation and subsequent regulation would have on the technology sector.

"It’s time for the crusade against Microsoft to end.  The attorneys pursuing the case with other people’s money should tell the truth about their costs, and admit that the future of Microsoft – and that of the whole information technology industry – will be decided in the marketplace, not in the courtroom.

CAGW is a 600,000 member nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.  For additional information, visit the web site at www.cagw.org.  

To schedule an interview with Tom Schatz, please contact Nancy Guiden or Adam Bromberg at 703-683-5004.