Updated: 18 March 1998 .
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.	.	Make Your Voice Heard In The Senate Hearings Judiciary Committee Hearing Scheduled For March 1998 IMPORTANT: Even if you were not able to send in your e-mail, fax or letter by March 1998, send it in anyway. Better a month or two late then never! On March 3, Bill Gates will testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the antitrust case against Microsoft. In advance of this hearing, Ralph Nader's NetAction--an organization that calls for the breakup of Microsoft, under the control of federal regulators--is attempting to inundate the members of the Committee with faxes, phone calls, and e-mails supporting the Justice Department's persecution of Microsoft. This campaign is being carried out by a small minority of anti- capitalist activists, but if it goes unopposed, the members of the Committee will conclude that there is widespread public support for the attack on Microsoft--and no public opposition. That's why it is imperative to counter NetAction's campaign with a campaign of faxes, phone calls, and e-mails in defense of Microsoft and in defense of the free market. It is important to act today. Send a brief message explaining, in your own words, why you think the antitrust case against Microsoft should be dropped and why you believe that the government should be barred from interfering in the software market. The message should be no more than one or two paragraphs long, to increase its likelihood of being read. A list of senators on the Committee, with phone and fax numbers and e-mail links, can be found on this page. The most important members of the Committee who should be targeted are Senator Orrin Hatch (R- Utah), the Committee's Chairman, and Senator Strom Thurmond (D- South Carolina), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights, and Competition. You may also wish to send a fax to the chief of staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Manus Cooney, at (202) 224-9102. By acting now, you could help turn the tide of the campaign of envy against Microsoft. If you send a letter, please send us a note or a copy, so that we can guage how great an effect our campaign is having. Click here to read a selection of letters sent to Senators. The Paranoia Increases In the last few weeks, the campaign of envy against Microsoft has been raised to a fever pitch. It has culminated with the Justice Department's suit against Microsoft, an ever-growing smear campaign by the company's jealous competitors, the Senate Judiciary Committee's inquisition into Microsoft's business practices, the grotesque spectacle of Ralph Nader's kangaroo court, and finally Judge Jackson's cease-and-desist order forcing Microsoft to forfeit its right to decide how it will sell its own products. The Solution To The Hysteria: The Truth Luckily there is an answer to the screaming of the anti-Microsoft mob: the truth. The truth is: that Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Internet Explorer are Microsoft's property--not by permission of the government, but by right; that, in bundling these products together, Microsoft has respected the rights of its customers and business partners--that it has neither forced computer manufacturers to accept its licensing contracts, nor has it forced consumers to use its web browser; that Microsoft's dominant share of the market has been gained by making better products at lower prices, as judged by consumers in a free market--that most consumers have voted with their dollars for Microsoft rather than its competitors; that the motive force behind the persecution of Microsoft is the envy of its competitors, who are colluding to destroy free competition, not to preserve it, by lobbying to impose onerous restrictions on their largest competitor; that the Justice Department's assault on Microsoft is a violation of Microsoft's rights, an instance of real coercion and genuine "restraint of trade," and a complete inversion of justice; that the Antitrust laws punish America's geniuses in order to appease the envy of the less successful. The issue here is much broader than the fate of Microsoft. Do you want to live in country where achievement is resented and attacked, where every innovator and entrepreneur has to fear persecution from dictatorial regulators and judges, enforcing undefined laws at the bidding of jealous competitors? Or do you want a free market, in which innovators and entrepreneurs are free to rise as far as their ability can carry them, without being held down by arbitrary and unjust government regulations? If you want a free, productive, benevolent society, then you must act now. Educate Your Congressman About The Facts But in order to succeed in stopping the assault great American heroes, like Mr. Gates, we must educate the members of Congress on the facts of the Microsoft case.The Senate Judiciary committee has scheduled another hearing to examine antitrust issues in the computer industry, and we need your help ensure that they hear from individuals about the injustice of the DOJ's antitrust suit against Microsoft, and why such nonobjective laws should be repealed. Fax, E-mail, or Phone Committee Members to Stop The Persecution of America's Smallest Minority: The Successful Innovator Please convey your concerns about the atrocity of the DOJ's assault on Microsoft to the Senate Judiciary committee, and urge committee members to support our recommendations for restraining the DOJ's irrational abuse of power. Phone and fax numbers for all of the committee members are listed below. If you live in a state represented by any of the Senators listed below, we urge you to fax or phone the Senator from your state and urge them to use the upcoming hearing to defend Microsoft. Committee Member Listings Committee members and their phone and fax numbers are: Chairman & Ranking Member (e-mail) Phone: Fax: Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Chairman (202) 224-5251 (202) 224-6331 Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont (202) 224-4242 n/a       Republicans Phone: Fax: Strom Thurmond, South Carolina (202) 224-5972 (202) 224-1300 Charles E. Grassley, Iowa (202) 224-3744 (202) 224-6020 Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania (202) 224-4254 (202) 228-1229 Fred Thompson, Tennessee (202) 224-4944 (202) 228-3679 Jon Kyl, Arizona (202) 224-4521 (202) 228-1239 Mike DeWine, Ohio (202) 224-2315 (202) 224-6519 John Ashcroft, Missouri (202) 224-6154 (202) 228-0998 Spencer Abraham, Michigan (202) 224-4822 (202) 224-8834 Jeff Sessions, Alabama (202) 224-4124 (202) 224-3149       Democrats Phone: Fax: Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts (202) 224-4543 (202) 224-2417 Joseph R.Biden, Jr., Delaware (202) 224-5042 (202) 224-0139 Herb Kohl, Wisconsin (202) 224-5653 (202) 224-9787 Dianne Feinstein, California (202) 224-3841 (202) 228-4741 Russell D. Feingold, Wisconsin (202) 224-5323 (202) 224-2725 Richard Durbin, Illinois (202) 224-2152 (202) 228-0400 Robert Torricelli, New Jersey (202) 224-3224 (202) 224-8567 To Find Your Senator/ Representative's Address: House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/writerep Senate: http://www.senate.gov/senator/membmail.html Whitehouse: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/html/principals.html US Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov Take Action Now! This is a critical time in our campaign, so we urge you to take a few minutes, to fax or call the Senate Judiciary committee members. DO IT NOW! For an example of a model letter/fax, please click here. .
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