U.S. V. Microsoft : Is the Proposed Settlement in the Public Interest?

On November 6, 2001, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Microsoft Corporation reached an agreement on the terms of a proposed settlement. The proposed decree brought to a conclusion the most closely followed antitrust case in history. This paper examines whether the antitrust remedy embodied in the settlement was in the "public interest." Key components of the public interest standard of the Tunney Act are satisfied when the antitrust remedy is sufficient to (1) stop the offending conduct, (2) prevent its reoccurrence, and (3) restore competitive conditions