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COURT VINDICATES FREEDOM TO INNOVATE!
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today cleared the way for innovation in the 21st century for the entire high-tech industry by vacating the U.S. v. Microsoft trial court decision on the critical issue of tying.
Microsoft issued the following statement about the Appeals Court decision:
Microsoft is pleased that the Court of Appeals has overturned the bulk of the lower court's ruling.
- This ruling significantly narrows the case and removes the breakup cloud from the Company.
- The central issue in this case was the fundamental principle that every company must have the ability to innovate and improve its products. We're very pleased that this ruling reverses the lower court ruling and provides a very positive framework if these issues have to be retried. This ruling sets a much higher standard than the lower court applied, setting a very high bar for ruling against the inclusion of new features in our products.
- Obviously, we are disappointed with certain aspects of this ruling. We continue to believe that we face significant competition every day, and that we must continually innovate and improve our products in order to succeed.
Today's decision is more than a big win for Microsoft. The true winners are consumers, the industry and the economy. All will continue to benefit from the Freedom to Innovate that has been the hallmark of the high-tech industry from the start.
Here are some of the first public statements about today's critical ruling:
I applaud today's ruling because it's good for American competitiveness. It sends the message that innovation in America will be rewarded, not punished … Government needs to get off the back of our innovators so that high tech America can prosper."
~House Majority Leader, Dick Armey (R, TX)
You can mark the beginning of the decline of the stock market with the beginning of this ill-advised lawsuit against Microsoft. The federal government shouldn't pick winners and losers in the marketplace, especially the high-tech marketplace. Let's hope that we can put this lawsuit behind us so that the American people can move forward with the knowledge that business innovation, not government regulation, will ultimately determine the fate of our high-tech sector.
~U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R, IL)
For years, I have contended that Microsoft would prevail because the government's attorneys failed to prove Microsoft's actions harmed consumers. We should be working to extend the benefits of technology to every American, not trying to cripple a major technology company.
It is now time for the Bush Administration to settle the case. Throughout the campaign, President Bush said he preferred innovation to litigation. I hope he will honor that commitment.
~U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
In light of today's Appellate Court decision overturning the Microsoft breakup order, I urge all parties involved to work quickly toward a settlement in this case. Further litigation in this matter will not serve the public interest, nor will it provide any incentive to firms such as Microsoft, to provide consumers with the kinds of technological innovations that have spurred productivity and growth in the New Economy.
~Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D, TN)
The Court got it right in rejecting the outrageous notion that integration is harmful to consumers and the industry … Integration has always been an important part of innovation.
~ Jonathan Zuck, President Association for Competitive Technology, ACT Press Release, 6/28/01
We are pleased to see the court uphold the principles of aggressive innovation and competition.. This decision should discourage competitors from asking the courts to protect them from innovative new products.
~ C. Boyden Gray, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, ACT Press Release, 6/28/01
The Microsoft case has been a costly chapter in American economic history that need not, and should not, have been written in the first place. Today we call upon Attorney General Ashcroft and the state Attorneys General involved in this case to seek a quick end, so high tech entrepreneurs can get back to the business of making software.
~ John Berthoud, President National Taxpayers Union, NTU Press Release, 6/28/01
This litigation was never about legal misconduct but about competitors hoping to leverage political pull to get the Department of Justice to do what their products could not … Free-market competition may be a tough business, but innovation, not litigation, benefits society most in the long run.
~Tom Schatz, President CAGW, CAGW Press Release, 6/28/01
Throughout the next few days, the FIN will continue to send you updates with commentary on the implications of today's decision from key industry, legal and economic experts, public officials, media outlets - and you. We want to hear from FIN members who have followed and care about this case.
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