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Antitrust Expert Expects Court to Support Microsoft

Says court-appointed special master has history of opposing antitrust findings.

By Brian McWilliams, PCWorld   

Lessig has been called a leading expert on technology law and is currently a visiting professor at Harvard Law School. But his permanent post is at the University of Chicago, an institution considered a bastion of conservative--and some might even argue pro-monopoly--economics.

At Chicago, Lessig met and went on to serve as a law clerk for two conservative judges, Richard Posner and Antonin Scalia.

According to Charles Mueller, editor of Antitrust Law & Economics Review, Lessig%squots background suggests he%squots unlikely to advise Judge Jackson to take any kind of major action against Microsoft.

Mueller says, %dquotIt%squots a virtual certainty [that Lessig] subscribes to the ideology of the Chicago school, which means that he doesn%squott believe in government intervention in these things--he believes in laissez-faire.%dquot

Besides predicting that Lessig will snuff out the government%squots case, Mueller also says that the Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit is likely to rule in Microsoft%squots favor on its appeal of Judge Jackson%squots preliminary injunction.

Mueller says that the D.C. circuit is dominated by Reagan appointees, and eight of its nine members have long records of pro-monopoly decisions.

According to Mueller, antitrust cases are fraught with politics--often to the detriment of consumers, who don%squott know what%squots at stake. %dquotWho makes up the constituency that is in favor of [antitrust regulation]?%dquot Mueller asks. %dquotNobody really benefits from competition except the consumer, and of course the consumers are usually uninformed ... and there%squots no mechanism for informing them adequately enough to make them support it.%dquot