decades; starting with IBM. The government had been investigating IBM for many years, but it was not until 1969 that it finally filed and antitrust suit against IBM. Unexpectedly, the Justice Department dropped the case in 1982. But, of course, this was after they had spent 13 years and millions of taxpayer dollars dragging the suit out. (Citizens Against Government Waste [CAGW])According to CAGW, the Justice Department set its sights on Microsoft in 1989 and began investigating them in 1992. 14,000 attorney hours, 5,500 paralegal hours, and 3,650 economist hours later, the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft in 1994. The suit was filed because the government feared that Microsoft was going to gain a monopoly of the Internet browser market. Microsoft stated that the software, Internet Explorer and Windows had to be installed together, and that if a PC manufacturer wanted to use Windows, they also hod to use Internet Explorer. The Justice Department failed to prove their case and Microsoft continued to grow in the browser market. (CAGW)When Microsoft wanted to integrate Internet Explorer into their Windows 98 package, the Justice Department again went after Microsoft. Less than a month after the Justice Department Opened their new case, America Online announced a multi-billion dollar plan to acquire Microsoft’s biggest browser rival, Netscape Navigator. This merger would give Navigator a 58% share of the browser market. Yes, you guessed it; this ruins the Justice Department’s case. (CAGW)Now, getting to the point. How much did the war of Microsoft versus the Justice Department cost the taxpayers? Well the Justice Department has not released the exact number but it is somewhere between $30 and $60 million dollars. (CAGW)Many are fooled into believing that the United States Military is one of the most efficient forces in the entire world. This is far from true. According to Mark Zepenzaur an...
