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To: Dermot Burke who wrote (17131)	2/5/1998 6:12:00 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Respond to of 24154

Hatch: Microsoft may control Net news.com Hatch is behind the curve, of course. Mr. Middleton informed us a while back that Microsoft has already succeeded in "highjacking the internet", but that's out of context, and couldn't possibly be true when the subtle issue of antitrust violations is raised. Anyway, the war for the conservative mind goes on. At a morning conference here, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said that if Microsoft attempts to take control over Internet standards and software, it runs the risk of being overseen by a federal "Internet Commerce Commission." Hatch made his remarks here this morning in a speech delivered to the Progress and Freedom Foundation as part of a day-long conference entitled, "Competition, Convergence, and the Microsoft Monopoly: The Future of the Digital Marketplace." At the conference, antitrust economists, legal experts, and public officials are debating whether antitrust law enforcement or other forms of government intervention are needed to control the Redmond, Washington-based software giant. I'm sorta glad that old Orrin is in charge of Judiciary, to prevent my old prediction of the antitrust division's budget being zeroed before there was effective action against Microsoft coming true. But, as they say in the article, the leadership is split. Who should show up on the other side but Mr. Salvage Rider himself, my good friend Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash. I'm not sure what leadership position he holds. "The question of whether [Microsoft] has violated antitrust laws is something of an abstract question that has been posed, not by American consumers, but by Microsoft's competitors, Gorton said in a statement. "I believe that to be the key of this entire discussion, and why I feel so strongly that Microsoft is being treated unfairly. This isn't an effort led by those who purchase software products.this fight was started by those who must compete with Microsoft." Right. Microsoft is giving the customers what they want! Retail Windows95, flying off the shelves! It's the best seller! Them hairball OEMs, what's wrong with them, given the option to ship what the customers who purchase software really want, they go off in another direction. Nuts, I say. Of course, the retail version is the same price as it was two years ago, as opposed to the silly OEMs who somehow are paying twice as much now. Also cited as a Republican "leader" on Bill's side is old Mr. Supply side, Jack Kemp. Unfortunately he hasn't won any elections lately. Cheers, Dan.