In High-Tech Market, Government Must Let Go

As the high-tech marketplace jets ahead, government, of course, is left behind. Unfortunately, many in government often insist on not letting go.

Consider the latest news regarding the courts and Microsoft.

An article from PC World (and carried on the Washington Posts’ website) noted: “Microsoft’s compliance with a U.S. antitrust settlement will remain under court supervision for another two years, in part because the company delayed producing documentation required by the court, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia extended the court's supervision through Nov. 12, 2009, writing that the2002 settlement had not fully taken effect. Several U.S. states involved in the case had sought a five-year extension, despite opposition from the Department of Justice.”

The article continued: “The documentation has been a sticking point between the company and the government. Microsoft has been ordered to rewrite the documentation, which was supposed to have been complete by February 2003, to make it clearer. In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly blamed Microsoft. ‘Although the technical documentation project is complex and novel, it is clear, at least to the Court, that Microsoft is culpable for this inexcusable delay,’ she wrote. But she also wrote that the company had been ‘overwhelmingly cooperative’ in the years after the antitrust settlement, and that this latest extension should not be viewed as a sanction.”

Of course, the government’s pursuit of Microsoft, which actually dates back to the early 1990s, never made any economic sense. Computer operating systems, software, browsers, etc. mix it up in a highly energetic market. Both current and future competitors challenge market leaders. And if the market leader falters in the eyes of consumers, other businesses will take market share and profits. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a more dynamic, creative marketplace than in computer technology.

In the end, the market works. Leave it up to consumers to decide what works and what does not in the marketplace, not politicians, their appointees or judges.

It’s long past time for the government to let go.