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To: Eric Wells who wrote (102062)	4/24/2000 8:56:00 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Eric: To be effective, the breakup must cut to the heart of the matter -- not the tying or the untying of a browser or anything else I saw in your post. The issue is market power -- what happens when a company has too much of it, and what happens when that power is abused -- and what should be done to take away their market power. As for the "most popular" software argument -- by extension that would have made ATT the "most popular phone" company before its breakup -- a very amusing thought, but hardly a valid argument. The fact is, competition is good for IT. MSFT has systematically thwarted competition using its market power -- that is what the court found. As for the process of the breakup, MSFT would have been smart to do it themselves and avoid a flood of civil suits, damages, and having the courts decide their fate. MSFT shareholders should be fuming at MSFT management. Perhaps half the trouble here is that it is still seen as Gates company -- he can do want he wants and the interests of the shareholders be damned.

To: Eric Wells who wrote (102062)	4/24/2000 9:11:00 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Eric: I am sorry, I neglected some of your points. <1. poorer quality products 2. a substantial increase in time required for innovation 3. higher prices 4. a nightmare> These four points are exactly what half the world believes we already have as a result of MSFTs actions in the past 5 years. I have never been a MSFT employee, perhaps you see it differently. But I have never considered MSFT to be a creator of high quality products, a great innovator, or cheap prices. On the contrary - there are many users of MSFT products who believe they "put up with" MSFT because of its dominance -- pure and simple. MSFT has used its installed base as a lever -- not its innovative capability, product quality and pricing. And it did so very effectively -- too effectively as it turns out. Perhaps you are stuck in a mode of thinking that believes what is good for MSFT is good for IT and the world -- remember the good old days when people said "what is good for GM is good for the economy?" GM couldn't believe the world could exist without them. I'll bet ATT also thought communication on this planet would cease if they were broken up. They believed that their monopoly profits "fueled innovation". Such silliness.