Rowe raises serious concerns about software

AUGUSTA – Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe has joined the attorneys general of five other states in expressing “serious” concerns about not only the way Microsoft is marketing its new Windows XP operating system, but the privacy concerns raised by XP.

“We are concerned that Windows XP may involve additional unlawful attempts by Microsoft to maintain its operating system monopoly,” the attorneys general wrote to Steven Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive officer. “We agree with our colleagues, the litigating states and the federal government, that any anti-competitive aspects of Windows XP should be addressed.”

Rowe said Maine was joining in the letter as part of an effort to protect Maine consumers and state government from the higher costs that could result from the new XP operating system for computers.

“The antitrust laws protect competition, not particular competitors,” he said. “They are intended to help provide consumers with the highest-quality goods at the lowest possible price.”

Maine is not a party to the suit, which was filed by the federal government and 18 states in 1998. Last year, a federal judge ruled Microsoft had violated antitrust law and ordered the company be broken up, but the U.S. Appeals Court reversed the breakup order while agreeing Microsoft had engaged in anti-competitive activity. Today, a federal District Court starts the process of fashioning a “remedy” that would allow Microsoft to continue as a company, but which also would protect consumers from any anti-competitive activities.

Because Maine never joined in the lawsuit, it can only raise its concerns in an informal way like the letter to Microsoft.

“It’s not that unusual for something like this to be done,” said David Cluchey, a professor who specializes in antitrust law at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland. “The state certainly still has a concern here, even though they are not a party to the suit.”

Cluchey said the federal government always has taken the lead role in the suit, even though several states are formal parties to the matter. Earlier this month the federal government decided not to appeal the order to break up Microsoft to the U.S. Supreme Court, a move designed to speed up resolution of the suit.

“This has been a very complex and expensive case,” Cluchey said. “There will be debates for years over what the Supreme Court might have ruled.”

Is Maine concerned enough to join the existing case, or file its own lawsuit against Microsoft?

“I don’t think this should be characterized in terms of a threat,” said Assistant Attorney General Francis Ackerman, head of the antitrust division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office. “It’s clearly an expression of support for the position of the litigating states and the Department of Justice.”

He said Maine and the other states wanted to add their voices of concern as the federal District Court tries to comply with the direction of the Appeals Court. He said Mainers, as taxpayers and computer users, could face significant costs if Microsoft were able to force upgrading of operating systems by ending the support of current systems like Windows 95 or Windows 98.

“And there are privacy concerns we have raised, as well,” Ackerman said.

Much of that concern involves Microsoft’s Passport identification system, which has drawn criticism from privacy groups because of the way it collects personal information on individuals. Microsoft plans to bundle Passport into Windows XP, along with other Internet services like banking and shopping.

The system stores passwords and account numbers for users so they do not have to re-enter the information when, for example, they make an online purchase. The concern is that the system will provide Microsoft with detailed information on consumers that can be used for other business purposes.

“From what I have seen, there is reason for concern,” said George Markowsky, chairman of the computer science department at the University of Maine. “I have seen Microsoft engage in what I would call unfair competition and I have also seen them compete fairly.”

Markowsky said it is important for the federal government and the state attorneys general to keep tabs on Microsoft. He said Microsoft is a major player in the computer field, an industry that has an impact throughout society.

“I don’t think people realize just how pervasive computers are today,” he said. “They are everywhere from machines in factories to chips in our cars to the coffee maker in the kitchen.”

A spokeswoman for Microsoft said Thursday afternoon that the company had just received the letter and had no immediate comment on the concerns expressed by Rowe and the other attorneys general.