On Fri, 9 Jun 2000, Benjamin Scott wrote:
> On Thu, 8 Jun 2000, Jeffry Smith wrote:
> >> I'll bet anyone a nickel that, by the time the case gets to the supreme
> >> court, the law will have changed and MS will no longer be guilty.
> >
> > Except that that's too late. They've already been tried & found guilty.
>
> I think changes to law can be made such that any punishments are dropped
> when the law is repealed, but then, IANAL.
>
> > Then, to find MS not guilty would require throwing out the Sherman &
> > Clayton acts, that have stood for 100 years.
>
> No, just add a clause saying that an OS/browser combination is legal, or
> some other such loophole.
Which, of course, means that they were guilty beforehand. wonderful
PR: We were guilty, but we bought off congress (choose who it's
wonderful for).
Remember: MS refuses to admit guilt.
>
> And to repeat: Fifty billion dollars buys a lot of congressmen.
>
I assume you mean BG (MS only has around 20 - 25 billion cash). Yea,
he's worth 50 billion, but in a paradox, because most of it is MS
stock, he can't get at it. Under SEC rules, he's limited in what he
can sell or trade at one time. An interesting paradox is that, if the
breakup goes through, he'll have to sell out of one of the two
companies, and will be allowed a one-time sale, outside of SEC rules.
So, the only way to gain good liquidity is for the punishment to go
through.
> > I think too blatent of a pandering to MS would hurt most politicians more
> > than they want.
>
> Last I heard, public opinion was still largely divided on this. Many people
> still see Bill Gates as an American Hero, and think the mean ole government is
> just trying to play the bully.
>
>
Divided, but that's better than it was a couple of years ago, when
almost no one thought MS was bad. Now, what I hear is either:
1. Yea, they're bad, but so's everyone else.
2. They're bad, but what choice do we have?
3. They're bad, but if we hurt them, we hurt the economy. (of
course, if they're that powerful, isn't someone concerned about one
company having that kind of sway).
jeff
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffry Smith Technical Sales Consultant Mission Critical Linux
[EMAIL PROTECTED] phone:603.930.9379 fax:978.446.9470
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Thought for today: Always try to do things in chronological order; it's less
confusing that way.
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