To: RTev who wrote (32122 ) 11/6/1999 2:59:00 AM From: Joana Tides Respond to
JMHO - Something tells me whatever the ultimate practical outcome of judgments/orders/penalties/etc. will be for Microsoft....gotta think Bill Gates of all people can be counted on to squeeze every drop of Lemonade from any Lemon that might be handed to him by the gummint! Now I'm no Socialist or Communist or Big Government Fan, far from it, but can certainly understand why this so-powerful Company in the field of communications with such a power over the functioning of our very national security (controlling much of the USA & international functional infrastructure at this point; an argument can even be made that MSFT Is A Utility) would be closely examined at any hint of abuses of its position which would prevent cooperation among software vendors, stop product improvements by others from being marketed, or actually impede computer function. Monopolistic domination of any sector of the free market by a Co. isn't conducive to the freedom needed to do business the laissez-faire capitalist way - which is the ideal needing clarification, sanctions, and legal redefining from time to time. In a way Microsoft is the goat, and in a way not. Anyway, this MSFT Trial has already forced a show of cooperation between business rivals who really need to communicate with their competitors in order for their different technologies to mesh so they can actually work... and that show is becoming, more and more, Reality.
