Frequently Asked Questions about Antitrust and Microsoft

Microsoft’s future is in limbo as the company and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) discuss a settlement in their antitrust investigation and the court awaits further information from Microsoft before rendering a verdict. Reams of paper have passed over court benches and through the hands of journalists and lawyers, and much confusion remains about why the trial was launched in the first place, what is likely to happen to Microsoft, and what the legal options are. This list of answers to frequently asked questions is intended to cut through the clutter and make sense of some of the arcane legal aspects of the trial.

Q. What, exactly, is Microsoft being charged with?

A. According to the most recent submission by the DoJ, Microsoft is guilty of violating the Sherman Act, the main antitrust legislation in the United States, in four ways:

• First, Microsoft illegally maintained the barrier to entry into, and hence its monopoly in, the market for operating systems for Intel-compatible personal