Susan Jones, CNSNews.com
Thursday, April 25, 2002

Nine states and the District of Columbia refused to sign onto an antitrust agreement between Microsoft and the Justice Department. "They continue to prolong the case at taxpayers' expense," according to the group Citizens Against Government Waste.

CAGW is once again calling for the nine holdout states and the District of Columbia to tell taxpayers just how much the prolonged litigation is costing.

"CAGW has repeatedly asked for information regarding the states' expenditures in the case by filing Freedom of Information Act requests with the attorneys general, most recently in January 2002. The states have either denied the requests or provided incomplete responses," said CAGW President Tom Schatz in a statement.

CAGW insists that the holdout states should properly inform taxpayers of the costs involved in the long-term litigation.

Meanwhile, based on its own analysis, CAGW estimates that each day in court costs taxpayers at least $30,000. "Once pretrial preparation, estimated at $250,000, is factored in, the total cost by the end of this week will be $1 million," according to CAGW.

CAGW said all Americans "should be upset that their tax dollars are being risked on prolonged litigation that the majority of them do not even support."

'Better Spent on Homeland Security'

"With many of these states already facing financial difficulties, this money and the attorneys' general time could be better spent on homeland security and other critical needs," said Schatz.

In a similar vein, the National Taxpayers Union says it's time to give taxpayers a break by ending the case.

"The attorneys general from the nine states and the District of Columbia who refused to sign onto the agreement between Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice have now gotten what they really wanted - more headlines and more political theater," said NTU President John Berthoud.

He says the continuing litigation against Microsoft has had "huge direct costs on the American economy," adding that the millions of tax dollars devoted to the Microsoft "courtroom circus" could be better spent elsewhere.

In addition to the drain on taxpayers' money, NTU said it "scoffs" at new demands the holdout states are placing on Microsoft.

"Draconian requirements such as forcing Microsoft to offer 'modular' versions of Windows (so they're customizable by computer-makers) are an affront to both common sense and the American traditions of economic freedom," said Berthoud.

NTU casts the continuing litigation against Microsoft as an ego trip for the holdout attorneys general, who have "thinly-veiled political ambitions."

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