Volume 117 >> Issue 58 : Friday, November 14, 1997

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News Briefs I

Nader Joins Anti-Microsoft Chorus

Veteran consumer activist Ralph Nader joined the fight against Microsoft Corp. Thursday, presiding over a Washington conference in which a chorus of the huge software company's critics charged it is unfairly trying to dominate the Internet.

Not many consumers were in sight at the conference, which had an advertised ticket price of $1,000 a person. It was a corporate gathering, one that Nader claimed could have attracted more participants if they weren't so worried about retaliation from Microsoft.

"What Ralph is trying to do is get people in the business community mobilized about not rolling over for Microsoft," said John Richard, director of Essential Information, a Nader organization..

The conference occurred in the midst of a confrontation between the Justice Department and Microsoft over whether the company is honoring a 1995 consent decree created to curb some of its business practices.