Of course, the AT&T brand had substantial value, and today there exists a company called AT&T. But the AT&T that exists today did not directly emerge from the DOJ's consent decree. Instead, it is the product of one of the smaller companies -- the so-called "Baby Bells" -- that were spun off as part of the breakup that subsequently reassembled themselves and reattached the AT&T brand name.

Again in 2000, the DOJ and several states sought to break up Microsoft for alleged violations of antitrust law, specifically in relation to Microsoft's forced bundling of Internet Explorer with its Windows operating system. Although a federal district court ruled in the DOJ's favor, an appeals court did not. Microsoft eventually settled the case without breaking up the company, but reputational harm remained. Microsoft remains a large and successful company today, but Microsoft's desktop browser ambitions, and indeed desktop computing itself, have been overtaken by competition. Moreover, many, including Bill Gates himself, argue that had it not been for the distraction of the DOJ's antitrust case, Microsoft might today be a viable third competitor in the mobile operating system market.