Politics & Voting Return
Seniors Decry Microsoft Ruling
Washington, D.C.— November 6, 1999
Today The Seniors Coalition, representing millions of senior citizens and their families nationwide, responded to the "Finding of Fact" by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in the landmark United States vs. Microsoft case with the following statement:
"Today is a bad day for American consumers. Under the guise of protecting consumers, the government has once again moved to punish a company whose only offense is that they have been too successful. Yesterdays findings do not reflect the dynamic nature of the marketplace- the viable and substantial competition that Microsoft faces, the phenomenal innovation that continues to benefit consumers, and the millions of new jobs that this industry continues to create. The sad truth is that Microsoft is being attacked for its ability to innovate, expand, and rapidly reduce prices even while increasing quality. In other words, Microsoft is being attacked for being too successful, and that is un-American because it undermines and discourages the kind of entrepreneurial behavior upon which our free market system was built. Yesterday’s ruling undermines competition because it discourages companies everywhere from developing better products at lower prices, for fear of outdoing the competition and attracting the attention of trust busters.
Moreover, the idea that Microsoft is a monopoly is laughable. AOL, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, and Novell are all formidable competitors- they are just not as efficient as Microsoft, that is all. The plain fact is that Microsoft’s products are popular because they have presented consumers with the best choices in the marketplace, and that is why The Seniors Coalition is so disappointed with yesterdays news. With every passing year more and more seniors are using computer products, and senior citizens are an important and growing market for the computer industry. The members of The Seniors Coalition believe that these findings do not represent anything more than hard competition. It is our sincere hope that before this case is over, the American principles of free market competition will prevail over unfettered government regulation."