>>By endorsing the Justice Department's allegations that Microsoft bullied rivals and that the bullying significantly harmed consumers, Jackson has taken a long step toward setting tough rules for dominant firms in the booming technology sector, experts say...Jackson's opinion could immediately influence the course of high-tech commerce...He effectively put large companies on notice that they'll have to restrain themselves when dealing with smaller rivals.
"This is going to cause dominant firms to think twice before throwing their weight around," said Lawrence Ausubel...<<
Certainly a decision against Microsoft - if there is ultimately one - will have an effect on other companies under
the precedent-setting rules of our court systems. But I think the effect will not be as significant as many seem to
be writing about the last few days.
In some ways the MSFT trial reminds me of the Leona Helmsley trial. Leona did what many incredibly rich
people do. For example, she had work done at her mansion and told contractors to charge it to her real estate
ventures. But she was caught, tried and convicted, not because her crimes were so egregious, but because of the
way she did things caused her to be hated by many people.
MSFT has elicited similar loathing from a variety of sources. Much more, imho, than other dominant
companies. I read two PC magazines consistently. These are written by people who are obviously big users
and big fans of PCs, and most of the writing is in a positive vein - cheering computer innovation. However, I
would estimate that 80% or more of the articles mentioning MSFT are negative. We've all heard the complaints
- bloated software, system crashes, etc. etc. It is a much different feeling than one gets reading about any other
company, including say, Intel.
Rather than being a terrible threat to gorilla companies I think the MSFT ruling will likely effect MSFT and
then slowly fade into the background.
StockHawk |
