Microsoft Ethics
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There appear to be many who feel that using Microsoft and ethics in the same phrase represents an oxymoron. Certainly the Department of Justice (DOJ), whose recent ruling that Microsoft violates antitrust laws and must be split into two companies, believes as much. However, others argue that Microsoft's practices are entirely ethical and their clout and dominance are the result of superior products and market ability. The decision of Microsoft to tie a web browser to its Windows operating system won it scrutiny and lawsuits that have led to the recent DOJ ruling to breakup the company. Microsoft has been accused by competitors or predatory, monopolistic, take-no-prisoners strategies that unfairly hamper competitors and offer consumers fewer choices. Microsoft, on the other hand, argues that is had done nothing unethical in building company sales from $16,000 in 1975 to $20 billion annually today (Stout 2). In fact, Microsoft founder Bill Gates called the DOJ’s action “Draconian, unwarranted and bad for consumers, the high-tech industry and our economy. The judge’s ruling is an unwarranted and unjustified intrusion into the software marketplace, a marketplace that has been an engine of economic growth for America” (Brinkley 2).The DOJ and Microsoft competitors feel differently. They argue that by tying an operating system and browser together, Microsoft has unfairly stunted the competition and impedes consumer choice and quality. The judge’s dec
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new businesses. However, Ballmer insists that while the government and competitors argue about Microsoft’s unfair tactics, consumers prefer things how they are and have come to trust Microsoft and its products. While in the U.K. during the DOJ ruling, Ballmer relates “I had a customer turn to me tonight and say: ‘Did you tell them there are a bunch of U.K. customers that would be very disappointed if it’s implemented? That there’s a bunch of us who really want your stuff to be integrated?’” (Markoff 2).
The ruling by the DOJ will break Microsoft into two competing companies. One will manufacture and develop Windows operating systems. The other one will make the software applications that the operating system uses, in addition to Microsoft hardware. However, the ruling also provided a laundry list of restrictions that are to be imposed on the company’s operating practices. For example, the two new companies must have separate employees, assets and stock. Anyone who owns stock in one cannot own stock in another in the government’s attempt to create a firewall between the two companies. Some of the restrictions are intended to directly address unfair practices the government believes Microsoft has adopted in the past, li
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1217
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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