Which 1998 legal case challenged Microsoft’s business practices while Bill Gates was its chief executive?

United States v. Microsoft Corp. challenged Microsoft’s business practices while Bill Gates was its chief executive.

The U.S. Department of Justice and several states brought the antitrust case in 1998. The government alleged that Microsoft had used its dominant position in personal-computer operating systems to restrict competition, particularly in web browsers.

The case became one of the most important technology antitrust proceedings of the late twentieth century. A district court initially found Microsoft liable and ordered a breakup, but the breakup remedy was overturned on appeal. The case ultimately ended with a settlement and restrictions on some Microsoft practices.

The litigation is often associated with Gates’s videotaped deposition and testimony about Microsoft’s strategy. It was a civil antitrust case, not a criminal prosecution of Gates personally.