ws. In return for the ICP's agreement not to pay browser competitors or distribute their browsers for distribution, marketing, or promotion; to not promote any browser produced by Microsoft's primary browser competitors; to not allow any competitors to promote that ICP's "channel" content on or for their browsers; and to design its web sites using Microsoft-specific, proprietary programming extentions so that those sites look better when viewed with Internet explorer than when viewed with a competing browser. Antitrust laws protect competition, which is said to benefit consumers with more and better products at lower prices. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and attorneys general from 20 states has filed antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft), the world's largest supplier of computer software for personal computers (PCs) in the United States.. Microsoft is accused of allegedly violating sections 1 and 2 of The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Section 1 of the Sherman Act outlaws " every contract, combination, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade." The Supreme Court has since then decided that the Sherman Act prohibits only those contracts or agreements that restrain trade unreasonably. What kinds of agreements are unreasonable is up to the courts. Section 2 of the Sherman Act makes it unlawful for a company to "monopolize, or attempt to monopolize," trade or commerce. As that law has been interpreted, it is not necessarily illegal for a company to have a monopoly or to try to achieve a monopoly position. The law is violated only if the company tries to maintain or acquire a monopoly position through tactics that either unreasonably exclude firms from the market or significantly impair their ability to compete. The DOJ feels that Microsoft has a monopoly in the field of personal computer operating systems (OSs) and that they are engaging in anticompetitive conduct. Microsoft's "Windows" operating systems...
