An antitrust remedy worthy of Solomon

Obscure proceedings in Luxembourg are about to have a big impact on all of our lives. The Court of First Instance there recently spent two days listening to a debate between Microsoft and the European Union Commission. The commission found Microsoft guilty of engaging in an illegal "tying arrangement," because Microsoft sells Windows operating systems only with its Windows Media Player built in. Along with fining Microsoft $497 million euros, the commission ordered Microsoft to sell a version of Windows without media player. Here's an oped that Barry Nalebuff and I just published in the International Herald Tribune that explains why this odd injunctive remedy actually is a pretty good idea.

By the way, the IHT dropped a crucial disclosure that we included with our submission: "Prof. Nalebuff testified last week at the Court of First Instance hearings on behalf of a third party--the Computer and Communications Industry Association."