From free-market zealot to Microsoft policeman news.com
That's not necessarily contradictory, depending on your definition of "free-market" of course. You like the kind of "free-market" Compaq was working in when the sacred icon ultimatum came down, then there's some inconsistency. This is an interview with Orrin Hatch, strange bedfellow of the ilk. He's still on probation until there's some indication that the Reagan-era judicial appointees he shepherded through the Senate acknowledge the validity of antitrust law. An interesting aside:
The high-profile hearing drew more media attention than any other event in Senate history.
More that Watergate? Perhaps a bit of hyperbole at work here. I mean, it is like the techno-geek O.J. trial and everything, but still. Anyway, on to the first question.
NEWS.COM: You're known as a senator who adamantly opposes government regulation of private enterprise. Why are you so supportive of the Justice Department policing Microsoft? Isn't that just another example of burdensome government interference?
HATCH: Well, I don't look at the Justice Department's policing of Microsoft as governmental interference. It's whether or not the antitrust laws should be enforced, and whether or not Microsoft is using its control of the desktop operating system to basically annihilate other companies, or put them out of business, or make it impossible for them to do business--and thus stifle competition, innovation, and continued growth in the industry. I don't think the Justice Department is trying to regulate. I think what they're trying to do is enforce antitrust law.
That's the naive civic virtues line for you. Apparently, Sen. Hatch didn't read the right novels in his youth, probably something to do with Morman moral rectitude.
There's much more of the same kind of Q&A in this article, all pretty coherent for an extemporaneous interview. Needless to say, I give more weight to the naive civic virtues school of thought than to the Chrysler car radio / Bill the naive software engineer / regulate Microsoft and you regulate everyone / whatever line du jour of the day school from the other side. You guys want that MLB-style statutory immunity for Bill & Co., the process is straightforward. I'd advise that the effort be spearheaded from somewhere other than the Bahamas, though.
Cheers, Dan. |
