Gregoire asked to end Microsoft lawsuit

Call off the Dogs

Today Evergreen Freedom Foundation President Bob Williams called on Washington state Attorney General Christine Gregoire to intervene in the Microsoft antitrust action and encourage the nineteen state Attorneys General who are suing Microsoft to drop the case.

Williams appealed to Gregoire who is the Chair of the National Association of the Attorneys General to use her influence with her fellow Attorneys General to end this lawsuit. Williams praised Gregoire for not joining in the lawsuit against Microsoft lawsuit because she said, "I don’t believe I have a legal basis to join the action. I see no detriment to the consumer here caused by the conduct of Microsoft."

"However, as Chair of the Association of Attorneys General, Gregoire should do all she can to end this lawsuit because it is just plain wrong," Williams said. This lawsuit is hurting consumers and really hurting taxpayers. It really comes down to nineteen states and the federal government trying to destroy one of the world’s most successful companies to satisfy the demands of Microsoft’s competitors. But at what cost? Millions of dollars in state pension funds have vanished due to the decrease in stock value of not only Microsoft, but of other NASDAQ companies.

Williams pointed out that last year Microsoft surpassed Boeing with the largest payroll on a dollar basis in the Puget Sound region. In following this trial, our state’s chief economist, Chang Mook Sohn, said that "anything that depresses the price of the stock affects our income, which means our economic activity, which means our revenue, which means our whole economy."

Government officials have spent 35 million taxpayer dollars to prosecute the case. Additionally, in states where the Attorneys General are pursuing this lawsuit, the value of state pension systems dropped $38.6 billion, or 11 percent between March 31 and April 14.

The ruling against Microsoft has not only hurt the 80 million shareholders of Microsoft, but has also had a negative effect on the entire NASDAQ market causing the loss of $1.7 trillion in value since Judge Kennedy announced his decision on April 3rd. Washington state residents who own Microsoft stock have lost over $70 billion in stock value since the Judge’s ruling.

"How does this ruling benefit consumers?" Williams asked.

Bill Gates and Microsoft will survive this unfair attack, but what about the small investors and retirees who have taken a major hit thanks to the legal vultures set out to destroy Microsoft?

"In college I was taught that monopolies hurt consumers because they lead to higher prices and reduced output," Williams said. "But today computer software has become much more available and less expensive. In fact, one of the complaints against Microsoft is that they provided free copies of its Internet browser. How can these Attorneys General say that free products are bad for the consumers?"

It is a fact that when the actual marketplace is threatened by artificial regulation, the rest of the industry will suffer. Small and medium-sized businesses will dissolve or go bankrupt as they try to negotiate all the regulatory hoops and barriers. Fewer companies making fewer products will mean higher prices and less innovation for consumers.

Has Microsoft made mistakes? Yes, unlike many other companies, they did not have a big Washington, DC office filled with lobbyists. They did not have a political action committee to buy off politicians. Their mistake was they focused on serving customers and creating wealth for their shareholders.

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org