Consumer groups urge strong action against Microsoft

A coalition of consumer advocacy groups urged the US federal government and

State Attorney Generals to seek tough sanctions against Microsoft for violating

antitrust law. For one, the group wants the government to seek an injunction

against the Windows XP operating system until the new judge has reviewed whether

the bundling of several applications into XP violates antimonopoly law.

The coalition includes the Consumer Federation of America, the Consumers

Union, the US Public Interest Research Group and the Media Access Project.

"We urge the attorney generals, who represent consumers as plaintiffs in

this

case, to seek a swift and sure end to what we believe to be illegal

leveraging of illegally obtained monopolies for the PC operating system and

Internet browser," the consumer groups wrote in a letter to Justice

Department antitrust division chief Charles James and 18 state attorney generals

involved in the case.

While the government and states are no longer seeking a break-up of

Microsoft, they are committed to reigning in Microsoft's ability to squash

companies, if not entire industry sectors by bundling applications with its XP

operating software. While those integrated functions may provide for a better

computing experience, Microsoft opponents argue, they are not critical to the

functioning of a computer and should not be integrated to the point where they

eliminate other companies selling similar applications.

Because of the likelihood that the court may find Windows XP to be

anticompetitive by the new trial judge and the appeals court, the product should

be kept off the market, the group members argue. "This bundle of products

is built on co-mingled code, proprietary languages, and exclusive

functionalities that are promoted by restrictive licenses, the refusal to

support competing applications, embedded links and deceptive messages," the

letter from the coalition of consumer groups states.

Microsoft has argued that competing applications software products will have

equal access to Windows. But the Appeals Court unanimously upheld a ruling by US

District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft had illegally attempted to

maintain its Windows monopoly. Under those circumstances, the group argues,

Microsoft should not be allowed to unleash a controversial product such as

Windows XP until it has received legal clearance.