Orrin Hatch: “I rise this morning to speak for just a few moments on the Senate Judiciary Committee's progress with respect to our…”

“I rise this morning to speak for just a few moments on the Senate Judiciary Committee's progress with respect to our Microsoft inquiry and, more specifically, to share my perspectives on how Microsoft has conducted itself before the committee; to discuss some important developments from this past week; and to discuss the committee's upcoming plans with respect to the Microsoft issue. This week has been a significant one. Just yesterday, Windows 98 was rolled out to consumers. I might note that, contrary to Microsoft's emphatic protests last month that a federal lawsuit would have catastrophic consequences for the PC industry, the Justice Department did file suit, and, lo and behold, the sky has not fallen on either Microsoft or the computer industry. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice encountered a set back in its original consent decree case. And, something which got less attention in the midst of these other developments, the Software Publisher's Association, the 1,200 member software industry association of which Microsoft is a member, released a report describing how, if allowed to proceed with its tried and true market practices, Microsoft will extend its current desktop monopoly to control the market for network servers--a technology which provides the foundation for the Internet and corporate intranets. So this is important.…”