-Caveat Lector- > On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Declan McCullagh wrote: > > > just what did this lawsuit accomplish, beyond enriching lawyers, > > eating up tens of millions of tax dollars, and launching a flotilla of > > anklebiting private antitrust suits? > > Declan, it accomplished a tremendous amount, all of it beneficial to the > federal government. First and most important, it reaffirmed the power of > the government. Before the Microsoft antitrust suit, Silicon Valley > entrepreneurs were acting as if they were immune from legislation. They > donated virtually nothing to political campaigns, and they shared a "screw > you" attitude toward DC. The Microsoft suit reminded everyone where the > real power is. I would expect considerably more expressions of humility > (bogus or otherwise) along with political contributions, in the future. > Regardless of the outcome of the suit, it demonstrated that the Justice > Department can impose such heavy legal costs, and can waste so much of a > company's time, anyone would be crazy to invite this kind of a major > hassle. Like a protection racket, anti-trust legislation warns companies > to behave themselves if they want to avoid being ruined. "Nice little > software business you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it." > > The second accomplishment was to burst the bubble of "irrational > exuberance." The Microsoft suit marked the beginning of the end, in this > respect. It demonstrated that tech companies were not untouchable, not > immune from boring old realities of government and commerce. They could be > nibbled to death by financial pundits like anyone else, as well as being > harassed and threatened and sued into oblivion just like anyone else. > > The major shifts in wealth, 2 to 3 years ago, must have caused alarm in > Washington, where people sincerely believe that they are the ones with the > real power, who run the country. They must have begun to feel--well, > potentially irrelevant. > > And now--praise Allah!--they have terrorism to deal with. No matter that > their responses so far have been almost inconceivably incompetent: The > terrorist threat has made government seem necessary again. The focus of > attention has shifted from Silicon Valley back to Washington DC. The > military-industrial complex is singing "Happy days are here again" (sotto > voce, of course). And if this nasty little war slows progress in peaceful > uses of science (just as Vietnam pretty much killed the manned space > program), well, what could be better, from the point of view of > techno-illiterate federal legislators? > > Microsoft is in the position of Winston Smith in 1984, after his period of > torture was complete. He could return to his everyday life and even have > liaisons with his former lover (contrary to state policy), because the > state had completed its punishment of him, had demonstrated its power, and > no longer had any interest in him. The exercise of power, purely for its > own sake, was the only point of the enterprise, according to Orwell. > > Meanwhile, just as in 1984, we are now allying ourselves with our old > enemies (Russia, in particular) while vowing endless war against our old > friends (Bin Laden). Because, there is nothing better than war to distract > the population from private pleasurable goals and reorient everyone toward > Big Brother, who alone can protect us from the monsters he has created. > > I hope this answers your question. > > --Charles
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