Microsoft hopes to help shape antitrust legislature during subcommittee hearings

Despite the spotlight being on Google regarding anticompetitive business practices here in the US and abroad, Microsoft felt it was time to step back in the antitrust arena to offer its two cents on the matter. According to Axios reporting, Microsoft president Brad Smith will be appearing before a House antitrust subcommittee next week to answers questions about tech and the evolution of antitrust legislation.

The House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee has been holding hearings for over a year on how to best address the blending of direct and indirect monopolies and their inherent anticompetitive effects on markets. Inviting Smith, who has been a vocal advocate of more stringent legislature to address antitrust behavior, is another step by the House subcommittee to draft relevant laws going forward.

Axios reporting also points out something we’ve been reporting on for years: Smith’s appearance next week may not be a straightforward advocacy project but also serves as a lobbying effort to subtly undermine its search engine rival’s current market dominance. Microsoft and its Bing search engine have the luxury of being in the minority position in search, and legislature guided by Microsoft would seemingly help benefit the company as it continues to compete against Google.

Interestingly enough, committee members are also keeping an eye on how Google, Facebook, and Australia sort out their revenue sharing efforts for news, search, and social media sites as a possible tent pole for future legislation in the US.