PFF Conference on Microsoft and Antitrust

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) is a group identified with
Newt Gingrich.  They are sponsoring an interesting conference on
Microsoft and antitrust on Feb 5, 1997, in Washington, DC.  The
participants represent a range of views.  The Conference organizers are
saying privately that the conference will distance PFF from the more
dogmatic anti-antitrust views offered recently by the CATO and the
Heritage Foundations on the Microsoft issue.  This seems to suggest
somewhat of split in the politically conservative community, and follows
a surprisingly strong endorsement of the DOJ antitrust case by AEI's
Irwin Stelzer, in a recent issue of the Weekly Standard. 
Jamie

----------------------------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                CONTACT:  Rachel Krajc
January 23, 1998                     202/371-9580
                                     PAGER: 1-800-965-6073

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch to Keynote
PFF Conference on Microsoft, Antitrust Issues

(Washington, D.C.) Senator Orrin Hatch will deliver the keynote address
at The
Progress & Freedom Foundation’s (PFF) upcoming conference, "Competition,
Convergence and the Microsoft Monopoly:  The Future of the Digital
Marketplace," to be held on February 5, 1998 at the Four Seasons Hotel. 
Hatch
chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is planning to hold
hearings on
Microsoft and the current Justice Department action surrounding its
Internet
browser. 

The conference will feature leading antitrust economists, legal experts
and
public officials for a full day of presentations, discussions and
debate.  The
discussions will focus on the implications of the Microsoft monopoly,
and
whether antitrust or other forms of government intervention can improve
the
future of the digital marketplace.  The conference will conclude with a
"policy roundtable" discussion moderated by David Gergen, Editor at
Large for
U.S. News & World Report.  

Senator Hatch will deliver the keynote address scheduled for 8:00 AM,
and will
focus his remarks on plans for continued legislative oversight of
competition
in the computer and software marketplace. 

Last November, Senator Hatch convened the first of what is expected to
be a
series of hearings on "Competition, Innovation, and Public Policy in the
Digital Age."  At these hearings, the committee explored the growth of
high
technology, and considered how the important role of technology in our
economy
will impact antitrust policy and enforcement.

Participants in the conference represent a virtual "who's who" of the
antitrust bar and economic community, including:

· James C. Miller III  Counselor, Citizens for a Sound Economy and The
                     Tax Foundation; Former Chairman, Federal Trade
Commission;
                     Former Director, Office of Management and Budget

· Daniel Oliver       Former Chairman, Federal Trade Commission

· Robert Crandall     Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
 
· Nicholas Economides   Professor of Economics, Stern School of
Business, 
                        New York University

· Kenneth Flamm       Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

· Michael Katz        Professor of Business and Economics, University of
                      California, Berkeley; Former Chief Economist,
Federal
                       Communications Commission

· Timothy Muris       Foundation Professor of Law, George Mason
                      University School of Law; Former Director, Bureau
of
                      Competition, Federal Trade Commission

· Janusz Ordover             Professor of Economics at New York
University
                             Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General
for
                             Economics, Antitrust Division, Department
of Justice

· Steven Salop             Professor, Georgetown University Law Center

· Carl Shapiro          Transmamerica Professor of Business Strategy and 
                        Professor of Economics, University of
California, Berkeley
                        Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for
Economics,
                        Antitrust Division, Department of Justice

· Robert Tollison      Duncan Black Professor of Economics and Director
of the 
                       Center for the Study of Public Choice, George
Mason 
                       University; Former Director, Bureau of Economics,
                       Federal Trade Commission

· Lawrence J. White         Arthur E. Imperatore Professor of Economics,
Stern
                            School of Business, New York University;
Former Chief Economist
                            Antitrust Division, Department of Justice

· Robert Willig           Professor of  Economics, Princeton University
                          Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for
                          Economics,  Antitrust Division, Department of
Justice

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is dedicated to studying the digital
revolution and its implications for public policy.  Headquartered in
Washington, DC, it has conducted major studies and conferences
addressing
telecommunications regulation, censorship on the Internet, regulation of
software encryption products and other "digital" issues.

A complete list of confirmed participants and the conference schedule
can be
viewed on PFF’s web site at www.pff.org.

REGISTRATION:  Please call Rachel Krajc at 202-371-9580, or register
on-line
at www.pff.org.  

COST:  $395 for Individual/Corporate; $150 for Government/Nonprofit; $50
for
Registered Student.  No charge for members of the media

DATE/TIME:  February 5, 1998 from 8:00AM to 7:30PM at the Four Seasons
Hotel,
2800 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.