Larry, I got to repeat what I said to JB. Microsoft is unique in arguing that antitrust laws can't possibly apply to them. This nose in the tent business, if another Microsoft appears out of nowhere (some bright innovator could replace Windows in a day, you know), then I imagine they'd face the same scrutiny. Till then, it's all pretty hypothetical.
As for the rest- Sun monopoly in Unix? IBM and HP are giving up? The stories about Compaq and Digital Unix are a hoax to sell advertising? Aside from which, in any other context, Sun and Unix are irrelevant, doomed before the irresistable onslaught of NT. The FTC is investigating Intel, true, but Intel also has competition, and hasn't yet tried the "We are the world" antitrust defense that I've seen. They leave legal matters to the lawyers, like Microsoft claimed to do with the stolen DEC code in NT. As for mergers, why should the RBOCs be merging anyway? They were split up under the watchful eye of Charles "Rick" Rule. Sheesh.
Cheers, Dan. |
