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Why the DOJ’s case against Apple has everything to do with Microsoft in the ’90s
“Buy your mom an iPhone” really hits different now.
The court’s findings of fact detail how Microsoft first tried to persuade Netscape not to build a web browser for Windows 95, then attempted to control the company by offering it a “special relationship.” When that failed, Microsoft turned to the “cut off its air supply” page of the playbook, giving Internet Explorer away for free with Windows and making deals / threats in order to exclude Netscape from important distribution channels through other manufacturers. That didn’t end up happening, but Microsoft walked away from the trial weakened and with a long list of “prohibited conduct” instructing the company to refrain from anticompetitive shenanigans in its dealings with OEMs and developers. It goes on to detail how iTunes initially only worked on Mac computers; after the consent decree, Apple developed a version for Windows, and the iPod started going gangbusters.
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