> 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.
People by computers to do specific things. Compatibility of data is
important. Just try selling Linux machines! How many applications? Not
that many. Data compatibility? Unknown. Market recognition? Lin-Who???
If Compaq were to abandon their MS contracts to sell only Linux, they
would be committing financial suicide, and their stock holders would sue
the pants off of their board of directors. (That said, I use Linux most
of the time! It is Great! But... it will not run Microsoft Word, Foxpro,
or any of the popular Name Brand recognized software that people feel safe
with. Hence, they won't buy it in the quantities that Compaq, etc. need
to stay in business.)
> 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.
Past time. Gary Kildahl is dead, Digital Research has been sold, and a
lot of other companies have been driven out of business.
> 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.
That is correct, we do not know exactly what the legal definition of
Monopoly, or unfair business practices really is. And by the time the
government notices anything, a LOT of irreversible damage has been done.
I think Americans would rather watch football, than watch the far
more important games of economic competition (or mayhem,) going on every
day all around them.
Billy Gates is a piker when compared to the pharmaceuticals industry,
and some of his contracts are mild compared with the contracts some
farmers had to sign for genetically engineered crops resistant to certain
pesticides. And once those pesticides build up in the soil, they won't be
able to grow anything else for some years, thus locking them in! Other
games are being played trying to ban herbal remedies, reduce the
availability of vitamins in large doses, etc. One may hope that the
actions against MS will warn other industries, but I doubt they will be
heeded without stern warnings from the Dept of Justice. Playing king of
the desktop is one thing; playing king of the pile of hurting human bodies
is another. We really need to wake up and look at what is going on around
us. Industry is preying on our ignorant preoccupations.
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