>A monopoly is when a company uses unfair practices to shut out
>the competition, i.e., as purported by DOJ against MS. It is not
>a monopoly when a company has a choice and picks the best product
>available.
by that reasoning, Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly either. sure, they
have a 90% lock on the desktop market, but OEMs still have a /choice/. if
Compaq, Dell, and Gateway want to give up their Windows licenses and start
shipping machines with Linux, i'm pretty sure they can. i don't think you
can use the fact that all three companies choose to ship MS software to
prove that MS is the strongest competitor without getting into circular
logic, though.. post-hoc at the very least.
the same holds for Intel. the best product doesn't always dominate the
market, and market dominance can be gained in ways other than fair trade
with a strong product. it's amazing what a talented contract lawyer can
do and still remain (arguably) within the law.
the suit the FTC has recommended is to investigate whether Intel used its
dominance in the processor market unfairly, to force other companies to
give up trade secrets or otherwise play ball. the Intergraph suit is a
pretty clear case of Intel using its leverage to yank somebody back into
line.. with that line being drawn exactly where Intel wanted it. there
have been similar stories about Intel and DEC, and i think the gov't has
just decided it's time to step in and decide where *it* wants the lines to
be drawn.
if you don't like the word 'monopoly', let's have a lawyer or economist lay
out the technical definition of the term 'market power' and the proper
scope of 'antitrust' actions. those are the terms the FTC actually used,
AFAIK.. the monopoly thing seems to be a simplification on the part of
journalists reporting the issue. personally, i'm betting that there's a
whole lot of meaning wrapped up in those three words, and that right now i
don't know a tenth of it.
mike stone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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