Classless action against Microsoft
[September 4, 2002]

By Nicholas Provenzo

In another antitrust victory against Microsoft, a Florida judge ruled last week that Microsoft software users can band together in a class-action lawsuit to pursue antitrust claims against the company. Other class-action suits are being pursued against Microsoft in California, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The premise behind the lawsuits is that Microsoft injured the poor lowly consumer because Windows is the gold standard for operating systems (and, well, that makes it a coercive monopoly). According to the California class action suit web site:

Specifically, plaintiffs allege that Microsoft harmed all class members by using a monopoly alleged to be unlawful to overcharge for its software and deprive consumers of a free choice as well as the benefits of software innovation in a competitive market.

These class action suits confirm yet again that antitrust is little more that a looter's game and that the original federal antitrust suit was only the beginning of the end for Microsoft. If you believe that consumers have a right to anything and everything they want regardless of whether there is anyone in the market who actually wants to do business on those terms, looting is in your blood and you should be a class action trial lawyer. You need not read any further.

If you are like the rest of us who are hard pressed to see how Microsoft coerced us out of anything when we freely chose to buy Windows and you think you actually benefit from Microsoft products, you need to speak up. The fact is the class action suits against Microsoft represent a growing drain on Microsoft's resources. Microsoft can not be a vibrant, innovative firm while simultaneously having to fend off a host of trial lawyers. It is impossible to expect to be able to purchase great software in a system that devours the producers of great software.

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