DISSENT: Regulation is a Better Solution

The staff is too harsh in recommending that Microsoft be broken up. The computer industry is very different from a traditional industry. Technology monopolies are extremely tenuous. But, furthermore, they are necessary. In order for third parties to write new software, a standard platform must be established to write to. Otherwise small applications developers will suffer by being forced to take on the additional costs of writing for multiple platforms.

The staff believes that Sun's cross-platform Java programming language alleviates this problem. However it is not clear that writing in Java is any better a state of the industry than writing applications for Windows. Java is less powerful, and at least for the moment slower than traditional programming languages. This is not to say that the government should force the industry to adopt one platform over another, or break down the benefits of a standard.

A better solution would be to make Microsoft a slightly regulated monopoly. The possibility of a competitor breaking open the market should be left open, but unless that happens, the government should keep a close eye over Microsoft's shoulder to ensure that none of its practices block potential competition and that it does not take unfair advantage over other companies. Although the staff rejects this possibility due to likely evasions by Microsoft, these evasions would only ensue if the government were not persistent in upholding its standards.

--M. Ari Behar '02