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Technology Stocks : Nokia (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnG who wrote (4568)	5/3/2000 2:31:00 PM
From: t2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34857

I am sure the US government would not approve sale of QCOM to a foreign company for security reasons. Business sense makes this a bad move for the US also. OT I think you are giving the US government too much credit. They are proposing to break up Microsoft without realizing the long term (possible) consequences to the US high tech industry. A MSFT breakup would open up more international competition, increasing the risk of losing its high tech dominance. I bet that new cell phones would have been operating on Windows based internet access around the world had it not been the intitiation of the government action against Microsoft. I am referring to legal action for Windows95 brought up a while ago and not the Windows98 case. That started the whole downward loss in its ability to set new standards in new markets. For example---now NOKIA does not need Microsoft---Microsoft needs Nokia. I think the government will not be standing in the way of this possibility of a buyout but I suspect it is just an unrealistic rumor.

To: JohnG who wrote (4568)	5/3/2000 5:08:00 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34857

JohnG, certainly the USA might prefer Q! ownership to remain predominantly in USA citizen hands, but it's already owned by me, buddies in Taiwan, UK, Japan and all over the place. To protect the military side of life, all they need to do is form contracts, which the USA can enforce anywhere on earth. If Q! moves the HQ! to Eketahuna, the USA could still enforce contracts. The piece that the USA is interested in, is Condor. That's the bit we hear little about. They are making really cool stuff like broadcast cellphone services so a commander could talk to all troops simultaneously. With Globalstar phones and a mobile military-owned gateway, a whole region could be in secure, fast, simple, easy to carry communications. Nokia could buy the ASICs division for normal cellphones and WWeb applications, but that wouldn't include Globalstar and Condor [and maybe some other parts of the ASIC division]. I agree with t2 that it has been a disaster for the USA to attack Microsoft for making a great success of their business and technology. I bet the Supreme Court makes a decision to the effect that the absurd 'antitrust' laws are in contradiction to the constitution and that 'monopolies' are not bad things. Every event in existence is a monopoly if defined closely enough. No action is repeated. All business are instantaneous monopolies. To somebody living next to a supermarket, that supermarket is a monopoly, bundling all their goods into one building with no choice but to go there for meat, bread, milk, baked beans and fly spray. Sure, customers could get in a taxi and travel 3 kilometres to another, but that would increase the cost dramatically. We don't really expect the anti-trust lawyers to break supermarkets up into various shops around the area, each with their own board of directors, advertising department, fiancial management, etc, etc etc, which would just add costs to the long-suffering customer. We don't expect shops to unbundle toasters and the wire leading to it. Or sell the brush and the handle separately for a toothbrush. Then again, Joel Klein and his gang are going to need a source of income after Microsoft is finished, so they'll need to pick on somebody. I suppose the next biggest company will be in line. Nokia better not get too big. They might buy a passel of antitrust lawsuits if they leverage their monopoly on their Nokia brand into ASICs too and monopolize CDMA. I think Nokia will just be a normal customer and negotiate a deal with Q! for the technology they need. Mqurice PS: Sure, the MSFT decision by Jackson isn't a 'single event' which has caused the Nasdaq to thump down, but it sure gave a kick on the way. USA citizens watching their 401K dreams turn to dust will NOT be amused. Oh well, I guess like India for 50 years, they'll vote to stay poor and not make the link between their cry for punishment of the evil Microsoft and $ill Gates and their reduced financial circumstances.