Microsoft and Browsers: Are the Antitrust Problems Really New?

Abstract:     
The question of Microsoft's market power (if any) and what to do about it (if anything) has attracted a great deal of attention in the political world and the media, as well as by specialists in antitrust policy. It has also generated significant antitrust litigation. A common claim in the media is that the antitrust laws, written a century ago for application to "smokestack industries," are difficult to apply to the software industry (and to other information-based industries). This paper will argue that, contrary to these claims, the antitrust issues surrounding Microsoft are not new and can be readily comprehended by use of an analogy to a familiar (and relatively low tech) industry, railroads.

JEL Classifications: L86

Working Paper Series