Committee for the Moral Defense of Microsoft

last update: 22 April 99

Antitrust is fast becoming the greatest menace to American business.

From airlines, to book store chains, to banks, to hospitals--large, successful businesses in almost every industry are facing legal attacks by envious competitors and power-hungry bureaucrats. It is time to stand up and speak out against this assault on achievement and capitalism. And there is no better example to start with than the current case against Microsoft Corporation.

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Salsman at Harvard: The Injustice of the Anti-trust Laws as Reflected in the High-Tech Lynching of Microsoft NEW!
Harvard University - 6 May 1999

Help Prevent the Nationalization (Theft) of Microsoft Windows NEW!

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		What's New!
		May 6, 1999 Richard Salsman at Harvard: The Injustice of the Anti-trust Laws as Reflected in the High-Tech Lynching of Microsoft Thursday, May 6, 1999 at 8 p.m. Q & A period at 9PM. Location: Harvard Hall, Room 202, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Contact: Joe Anderson for further information. A century ago America's conservatives passed the anti-trust laws as an alleged "answer" to the Marxist claim that laissez-capitalism would lead to evil concentrations of wealth. The conservatives insisted that they were "preserving" capitalism. What they did, instead, was to preserve and codify Marxism. The liberals, always sympathetic to Marxist doctrines, were willing accomplices in this vicious crusade. The anti-trust laws are an arbitrary, non-objective, contradictory hash of controls, edicts and legal armaments directed at the most successful firms in America. Its weapons are wielded by envious bureaucrats and vindictive laggards. The anti-trust laws do not "preserve" competition or capitalism; they sabotage both. The Microsoft case is only the latest example of the rank injustice perpetrated by these laws. In this talk Mr. Salsman addresses the nature of the anti-trust laws as well as the philosophic, economic and legal myths underlying them. He shows how the anti-trust laws have been applied to Microsoft and what it means for the future of software development. He concludes with an argument for the immediate and total abolition of anti-trust laws. Richard M. Salsman is senior vice president and senior economist at H.C. Wainwright & Co. Economics, and economic forecasting and investment advisory firm based in Boston. He is author of Gold and Liberty (1995) and Breaking the Banks: Central Banking Problems and Free Banking Solutions (1990). His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Investor's Business Daily, Forbes, Barron’s and The Intellectual Activist. 2 April 1999 Activism: Help Prevent the Nationalization (Theft) of Microsoft Windows 29 March 99 The Injustice of the Anti-trust Laws as Reflected in the High-Tech Lynching of Microsoft A Live Talk by Richard M. Salsman U-Washington - Seattle, on Thursday, April 8th at 7PM 28 March 1999 Re-opening of Petition for Signatures 31 January 1999 Closing of Petition for Signatures 15 December 1998 Microsoft and Creativity Does Microsoft Innovate? Published in the December issue of Capitalism Magazine 9 November 1998 In Defense of Microsoft Ross Laver's Maclean's Column has an excellent piece on CMDM's Moral Defense of Microsoft. Excerpts are presented below: For Rand's followers, who call themselves [O]bjectivists, the parallels between Gates's predicament and that faced by John Galt are obvious. "There is only one fundamental reason why great businessmen or great companies are hated, and it has nothing to do with monopolies," says Edwin Locke, a professor of management at the University of Maryland. They are hated, he adds, "because they are good -- that is, smarter, more visionary, more creative, more tenacious, more action-focused, more ambitious and more successful than everyone else." ...Tracinski says he and his [Objectivist] peers are nobody's lackeys. Indeed, they are frustrated by Microsoft's attempts to justify its actions on the grounds that they result in better products at lower prices. In Tracinski's eyes, that's a cop-out. "We don't believe serving consumers is the ultimate standard," he says. "We're saying Microsoft is perfectly entitled to behave the way it does in order to increase profits for shareholders, regardless of the public good." And if Gates won't say it, the [Objectivists] will. [more] For previous "what's new" items, please click here.

		Essays
		Educate yourself by reading essays and commentary on the government's assault against Microsoft. Production vs. Force by Robert Tracinski The Difference Between Bill Gates and Orrin Hatch: One Wields the Power of Production, the Other the Power of the Gun. Published: Denver Post 4 March 98 The U.S. Government's Assault on Microsoft by Glenn Woiceshyn "Consumers" need protection from coercive and omnipotent governments--not from the beneficial products that Microsoft and other companies provide via freedom of competition in a free market. Published: Capitalism Magazine Jan 98; Ottawa Citizen 7 March 98; Vancouver Sun 21 April 98 Antitrust Against Justice by Greg Shoom A brief exposition on the injustice of Antitrust laws and the irrational motives behind them. Published: Capitalism Magazine Jan 98 Janet Reno: Rank Amateur by Jay Allen Microsoft is so wealthy, it can hire the best programmers, software designers and marketers in the world. Clearly, this fosters unfair competition. ... A hiring quota needs to be enforced, limiting the number of genuises who can work at Microsoft at any one time. Published: Capitalism Magazine Jan 98 Regulating from the Bench: How a Federal Judge Held Microsoft Hostage by Robert Tracinski What Sporkin wants is to gain control over Microsoft's operations-- to force the company to seek his approval for every move it makes in the future. This demand calls on a long tradition in the enforcement of antitrust laws. Published: The American Republic April 95

		Q & A
		Q: Isn't Microsoft using force? You say you are in favor of the free market. But isn't Microsoft interfering with free competition? Isn't it forcing its products on consumers? Isn't the Justice Department trying to restore a free market? Q: How can a big business be a minority? How can you refer to a company as big and powerful as Microsoft as being "persecuted"? How can you refer to big business as a "persecuted minority"? Q: Don't consumers have a right to Windows without Explorer? Does not Microsoft's bundling of their products (i.e. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Windows) restrict consumer choice?

		Media Center
		Press Release: New Antitrust Suit Reveals Hatred of Success 18 May 98 For more press releases and media information, visit our media center