Sen. Schumer Demands Changes to New Microsoft Product Software package yet to be released, Schumer sharpening his knives

Recently, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to justify his call for hearings on the release of Microsoft’s anticipated new XP software package and competition in the Internet marketplace.

Erick Gustafson, director of CSE’s Center for Consumer Choice, issued the following statement responding to Sen. Schumer’s actions:

“Sen. Schumer seems to have lost his bearings. In a letter to software executives he has demanded changes to a product that has not even been released. As a legislator, his job is not in the field of software development or enforcement of antitrust laws, rather, it is in the Senate.

“Just this morning, Sen. Schumer heard testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in the Banking Committee on how to get the economy on track. I don’t believe Mr. Greenspan advised that additional persecution of the high-tech industry was the way to accomplish getting the economy back on track.

“The investigation proposed by Mr. Schumer will hold up innovation and restrain the development of new products and services in the critical software marketplace. It is becoming increasingly clear that Schumer is more concerned with new lawsuits than new choices for consumers.

“It is time for Sen. Schumer, and all of us, to give more credit to consumers to make decisions for themselves in a marketplace as dynamic as high-tech. The message should be clear to Sen. Schumer and his anti-tech friends: fewer attacks on the high-tech economy means more positive return for consumers and the economy.”