Microsoft—DOJ and 20 states sued Microsoft for illegal monopoly maintenance; court found Microsoft violated Sherman Act
In May 1998, the DOJ and 20 state attorneys general sued Microsoft for illegally maintaining its Windows monopoly by bundling Internet Explorer and crushing competitors including Netscape, Java, and Linux. In April 2000, Judge Jackson found Microsoft committed multiple Sherman Act violations and ordered a breakup. The breakup was overturned on appeal in June 2001 due to judicial conduct issues, though findings of fact were upheld. Microsoft settled in November 2001, agreeing to establish an antitrust compliance program.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antitrust & Competition | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -1.180 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Federal judge found Microsoft violated Sherman Antitrust Act through illegal monopoly maintenance
In United States v. Microsoft Corp., Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued conclusions of law finding Microsoft committed multiple Sherman Act violations by illegally maintaining its Windows monopoly through bundling Internet Explorer and crushing competitors. The DOJ had filed suit in May 1998 joined by 20 state attorneys general. Jackson initially ordered Microsoft broken up, but this was overturned on appeal. Microsoft settled in November 2001.