Dwight,
"Broad and sweeping powers": such is the nature of law
enforcement in general. It is even more true of the
Federal Government.
Our right to privacy is jealously guarded, and protected,
up to the point where the gov't believes that laws have been
broken. Then, they will walk all over you, if need be, just
to prove their point. That is why it's better not to get
tangled up with them in the first place, just like
it's better if people like you and me don't get into a
pissing match with the IRS.
Maybe the DOJ can prove their case, and maybe they can't,
but, rightly or wrongly, they are on the warpath because they
have heard & seen & experienced first hand behavior by MSFT
that they believe violates the anti-trust statutes.
Maybe these problems were inevitable, because the PC was designed
as an off-the-shelf product, with no proprietary ownership.
It invited competitors into the software arena with the expectation
that no one would ever try to monopolize it (it's pretty naive to
think that way). Maybe if it wasn't MSFT, it would have been
someone else. Now that the PC is a successful product, everyone
is screaming bloody murder, so the Federal Government feels it is
their responsibility to do something about it, and MSFT is going to
pay the price.
They do have the authority to break up MSFT, and it could happen,
if they don't get any concessions along the way. Even if the
current lawsuit bogs down, they can send investigators to Redmond
until hell freezes over. MSFT would be wise to get this behind
them and move on. |
