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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM)
QCOM 170.17-0.4%10:40 AM EST
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To: Maurice Winn who wrote (51170)11/20/1999 8:58:00 AM
From: Clarksterh  Read Replies (2) of 152472
 
Maurice - Do you do this with all shades of gray? Its absolutely true that any business is a monopoly if the boundary is drawn tight enough. But the issue is how much they could disrupt the finances of their customers (either their direct customers or end consumers). Microsoft can essentially put any of their customers out of business if they so choose. Qualcomm could not since, at this point, their monopoly isn't powerful enough - in five years it may be different, or at least I hope so.

But even if Qualcomm had as powerful a monopoly as Microsoft, that in and of itself is not sufficient to break them up at least as the anti-trust law is currently used in the US. Qualcomm would have to be abusive (note that there is actually a patent statute about this). Just as a child gains responsibilities to go along with his new power as he grows older, so does a company become obligated to behave more gently with their newly gained power. If Microsoft had threatened IBM with walking out and taking their OS with them in the original negotiations, IBM would have laughed. Child like behavior. But the same is not true in '95.

Essentially, anti-trust law as it is practiced is a version of the aphorism 'with power comes responsibility'. Not really such a bad thing unless you are innately paranoid about the enforcement mechanism. (My paranoia is about power, whether private or government.)

Clark
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