CompTIA Expresses Surprise and Disappointment at Justice Department Recommendations.

Business Editors

LOMBARD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 2000

CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association has expressed surprise and disappointment at the Justice Department's remedy recommendations in the Microsoft case. "There is an inherent tension between an antitrust philosophy that discourages interoperability and the needs and best interests of consumers, said Alan P. Hald, Chairman of CompTIA's Public Policy Committee and cofounder of MicroAge, Inc. "Users have driven the demand for interoperability among products, and this has not been fully recognized in Judge Jackson's findings", he added.

"With the exception of the involved parties, most of the companies in the technology industry are agnostic with respect to Microsoft and its antagonists. The vast majority of the companies in the industry are involved in service and distribution. They are pleased to distribute and service hardware of all the companies in the software industry. In an early April survey of CompTIA members 66 percent thought the government is going too far and 77 percent oppose breaking up Microsoft", Hald observed.

Bruce Hahn, CompTIA's director of public policy noted the concerns of the stock market analysts, industry executives, and consumers about the impact of the Justice Department's proposal on the economy. "Since April 13 at least $150 billion of the wealth and retirement savings of some 80 million direct and indirect investors in Microsoft stock has been wiped out. It is clear that a substantial amount of those losses have been driven by Justice department actions", he said. "We believe the Justice department is ignoring the impact of their actions on the very consumers they are sworn to protect. It threatens the economic growth of the country and the technology sector."

"In an industry that morphs quickly, markets address problems of economic concentration faster and more efficiently than regulators can," noted CompTIA antitrust counsel Lars Liebeler. "Microsoft is facing serious competition in markets that have developed since the time the case was brought. By the time it's finally resolved it's very likely that many of the issues the Justice Department is addressing will be moot", he said.

About CompTIA

CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association, is a not-for-profit trade association of more than 10,000 companies and professional IT members in the rapidly converging computing and communications market. CompTIA has members in more than 50 countries and provides a unified voice for the industry in the areas of e-commerce standards, vendor-neutral certification, service metrics, public policy and workforce development. More than a quarter of a million individuals worldwide have earned CompTIA certifications in PC service, networking, document imaging, and Internet.

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