Neuromancer

The case against Microsoft is based not just on bad economics, but on a fundamental misunderstanding of government's decision-making role when it comes to market operations. This misunderstanding has led to an attack on one of the US’s most successful firms. It is difficult to measure consumer "harms", much less harms that may only occur in the future. A common misconception about antitrust law is that its purpose is to ensure fair competition. That's …

…ignorance. And that, at bottom, is the issue in the Microsoft trial. It is not about whether Microsoft is a nice company or whether Bill Gates is a nice person. It is about whom gets to make decisions on how software is made and sold. Do firms get to make those decisions, informed by consumer preferences? Or does the government do so with its well-documented susceptibility to private interests? I think the answer is clear.