May 3, 2000
Media Contact: Lew Harris, (615) 343-1271
[email protected]
MEDIA ADVISORY
Microsoft divestiture won't necessarily cure all, says former Justice economist
A breakup of Microsoft may not be the panacea that some think it would be, says Vanderbilt Professor Luke Froeb, a former staff economist in the antitrust division of the Department of Justice.
"There is no good remedy to the problem of monopolization and whatever remedies the Justice Department proposes for Microsoft are likely to cause as many problems as they solve," says Froeb, who helped develop software used by the Justice Department to assess the effects of mergers.
Froeb, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management, is available to discuss the antitrust litigation brought by the federal government and 17 states against Microsoft. The Justice Department and the states want to slice Microsoft into two competing camps, one armed with Microsoft's Windows operating-system and the other with its widely used Office and other applications products, plus Microsoft's Internet businesses.
Froeb is one of three co-authors, along with two Vanderbilt math professors, of SimMerger software, which simulates the effects of mergers. The software was designed under a contract with the Department of Justice and has been used by Justice employees to evaluate mergers in industries as diverse as bread, ski resorts, frozen fish, and motor oil.
Froeb may be reached at (615) 343-6009 or by calling Lew Harris at the above phone number.
Vanderbilt University also has an on-campus broadcast facility (VUStar) that can link our experts with your organization for live interviews. Froeb has been interviewed in the past on the Microsoft case by ABC national television news.
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