Recently one of the biggest corporations in the United States, Microsoft had to face several ultimatums from the government. The case against Microsoft was brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as several state Attorneys General. Microsoft is accused of using and maintaining monopoly power to gain an unfair advantage in software market. The case has been under observation for a long time, but the Justice department is having trouble coming up with substantial evidence against Microsoft. Specifically, the Department must prove: That Microsoft has monopoly power and is using it to gain unfair leverage in the market. And that Microsoft has maintained this monopoly power through "predatory" actions. Many people feel that Microsoft is only taking advantage of its position in the market and using marketing strategies to attract new customers. They have chosen to implement a market development strategy to attract new customers, who are looking for a system that has Internet capability. Microsoft feels that by integrating their Internet Explorer web browser technology into Windows, they are only improving its functionality available to the customer. Some people, especially the judge, say that Microsoft began its "illegal" agenda when it began requiring PC manufacturers to sign a license agreement that said that, if they were going to have Windows preinstalled on their new systems, that the Windows Internet Explorer must also be installed. Although it is possible for consumers to install other browsers onto Windows and use them, critics say that Microsoft still has an unfair advantage. It also keeps other browser companies from being able to consult with PC manufacturers to put their browser on the PC from the beginning. When Netscape refused to bow before Microsoft, Microsoft decided to do everything in their power to limit the amount of resources that Netscape could access. Their methods were often compared to those of And...
