In the Briefcases of Gates' Lawyers

[charles mueller <cmueller@metrolink.net>]

          I recently compiled a list of the U.S. Supreme Court cases that
  brought American antitrust to a halt--beginning a couple of decades ago.
  These are the precedents that are in the briefcase of every lawyer who
  represents a monopolist.
  They're the ones Bill Gates' lawyers have committed to memory--and briefed
  him on, and carefully explained to him, as they assured him over the years
  that he has every "right" under the antitrust laws to monopolize "his"
  industry.  This handful of decisions by the country's highest court is the
  root source of his arrogance in dealing with the Justice Department and the
  competitors he's smashed--of his assurance that he's untouchable.  Each of
  them of them blocks antitrust enforcement in a particular area; and
  together, they block it in all (save collusive price- fixing).  
  
          These decisions are "linked" on my Web page, which of course means
  you can read them in full text there and print out a copy of the full set
  for your OWN briefcase.  If the people who are technically skilled should
  also make themselves knowledgeable in antitrust law and policy (and in that
  regard I also invite you to read my Antitrust Overview, the introduction to
  my antitrust Web site), the size of Bill's information advantage would
  undergo a dramatic shrinkage.  
  
          You can go directly to my 'Dirty Dozen' cases at:
                       http://webpages.metrolink.net~cmueller/dirty.html  
  
          Charles Mueller, Editor
          ANTITRUST LAW & ECONOMICS REVIEW
          http://webpages.metrlink.net/~cmueller
  
  
  
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                        ANTITRUST LAW & ECONOMICS REVIEW   
  
  
                              'Dirty Dozen' U.S. Antitrust Cases
  
  
  
               In the U.S., over 1,500 private antitrust cases had been
         filed in the federal courts each year until the mid-70s, plus
         roughly 100 each by the Justice Department's Antitrust
         Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Today,
         only a handful of cases are filed and virtually all are
         dismissed out of hand by the courts. In effect, then, U.S.
         antitrust has been effectively closed down since about 1975,
         with the acceptance by Justice/FTC--and then the federal
         judiciary--of "economic" theory as the case standard. 
  
               This body of theory, now incorporated into nearly a
         dozen decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, currently kills
         virtually all cases except for the rawest kind of explicit
         price-fixing. Monopoly by merger--and by the coercive
         exclusion of more efficient competitors--is now routinely
         approved on the basis of these "dirty dozen" Supreme Court
         precedents. The U.S. judiciary, assuming the power to set
         the country's "industrial policy", has opted for the
         "consolidation" of U.S. industry into 2-firm (and even
         1-firm) monopoly, a policy which is spelled out in this set of
         decisions that, together, constitutes a gauntlet no serious
         anti-monopoly case can survive in 1997. 
  
               The full on-line texts of these "dirty dozen" antitrust
         decisions of America's highest Court are linked here,
         courtesy of Findlaw's case archives: 
  
  
  
               Continental T.V., Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc., 433 U.S.
              36 (1977) 
               Brunswick Corp. v. Pueblo Bowl-O-Mat, Inc., 429 U.S.
              477 (1977) 
               Monsanto Co. v. Spray-Rite Service Corp., 465 U.S.
              752 (1984) 
               Jefferson Parish Hospital Dist. No. 2 v. Hyde, 466
              U.S. 2 (1984) 
               Matsushita Elec. Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio, 475
              U.S. 574 (1986) 
               Cargill, Inc. v. Monfort of Colorado, Inc., 479 U.S. 104
              (1986) 
               Business Electronics v. Sharp Electronics, 485 U.S.
              717 (1988) 
               Atlantic Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co., 495 U.S.
              328 (1990) 
               Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco
              Corp., 509 U.S. 209 (1993) 
  
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          Charles Mueller, Editor
          ANTITRUST LAW & ECONOMICS REVIEW
          http://webpages.metrolink.net/~cmueller