To not go after AOL (I own some Time Warner, BTW) with the same enthusiasm with which they attacked MSFT would be inexcusable.
I respectfully disagree. I dislike AOL (the product) and have never had an equity position in the company, long or short, but I support them in this case for the same reasons I support MSFT. AOL owns their messaging services, and what they chose to do with it, to open the interface or not, should be entirely up to them. They don't owe their competitors anything, period.
To condone the governments continuing attacks on intellectual and property rights, however emotionally satisfying in any particular case, puts the country on a dangerous slippery slope, IMO. However much one might detest MSFT or AOL or any other company, the erosion of the underlying constitutional rights that are the foundation of this countries success is a much greater threat than any perceived so-called "monopoly abuse of power".
And to the SUNNYs who have been populating this thread recently, I'll fully support McNealy and company, should SUNW ever find itself under the gun of controllers and regulators. You want more DOJ and government interference in the market? Think carefully of the consequences and the principles involved. To attempt to label those who disagree with your assessment as some kind of militia nuts reveals ignorance, at best, of the fundamental principles of free minds and free markets.
-JB |
