Curb, don't break up, Microsoft--yet zdnet.com
Oops, PCWeek signs up with the ilk brigade. Near as I can tell, this is a lead editorial, not a column.
But the Windows desktop monopoly has reached the point of diminishing returns as the software industry turns to the Internet. Microsoft has shown it wants to control the Net; if that happens, the Web becomes less open and less vital to all users.
We're not ready to call for the breakup of Microsoft--at least not yet. The government's history of dealing with monopolies such as Standard Oil and AT&T indicates the time is not right for the feds to take such drastic measures. But it is time for the DOJ to curb Microsoft's predatory practices.
We think Internet Explorer is really a product, not a feature, despite Microsoft's numerous declarations to the contrary and its intent to blend the browser into the operating system in Windows 98. IE was introduced well after Windows 95 and has had its own upgrade cycle, distinct from Windows 95. And how is it possible for Microsoft to claim the browser is free if it is not a separate entity? [Me: consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. Besides, it's all consistent with Bill's desire to rule the world, and that's all that counts.]
So, we believe the basics of the government's position are sound: that Microsoft has made the shipping of an additional product a condition of its licensees being able to ship Windows 95. The government is right in trying to force Microsoft to unbundle IE.
The Justice Department, in the consent decree of 1995, its current effort to enforce that consent decree and its previous denial of Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Intuit, is, step by step, delineating the legal boundaries within which Microsoft must play. We probably haven't seen the last of these boundaries.
The Internet's greatness is that it is a standards-based field of free
innovation. Some ground rules are needed so there can be fair product competition. Microsoft's claim that all software eventually is absorbed into an operating system doesn't work for us and won't work in the open world of the Internet, where standards, a plethora of diverse vendors
and interoperability must rule.
I don't know, Microsoft just doesn't seem to be doing too good on the hearts and minds front, however nice its monopoly might be. Time to get those marketing peers on the horn, go wash out some mouths with soap, explain again the integrity and uniformity of the Windows Experience.
Cheers, Dan. |
