Two decades ago, we were thrust into the heart of what might be considered modern information technology’s first collision with the world. In the United States, the Department of Justice and twenty states brought an antitrust lawsuit and sought to break Microsoft into pieces. Governments in other countries followed with their own cases. Competition officials concluded that the Windows operating system was too important to be left unregulated. While we successfully defended against the breakup of the company, it was a difficult, bruising, and even painful experience. When I was appointed the
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