For immediate release
June 7, 2000
For more information, contact: Robert Weissman, 202-387-8030

Ralph Nader today issued the following statement:

Today a Reagan-appointed judge has taken the minimal necessary steps to constrain Microsoft's predatory activity.

Judge Penfield Jackson's order to split Microsoft into two companies should benefit consumers by promoting competition and speeding innovation, and will lead to the development of a more robust computer industry.

The order, following two years of litigation, careful deliberation and extremely detailed and well-argued findings of fact and law, should begin to level the playing field in the software industry. The inevitable appeal should be quickly rejected.

Today, Judge Penfield Jackson hit a triple. Had he broken Microsoft into three companies, separating the operating system, the applications and the browser businesses, we would be able to cheer a home run. But a triple isn't bad.