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To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (18442)	4/13/1998 12:44:00 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Respond to of 24154

Microsoft: Hopelessly truth-challenged www5.zdnet.com The press division of the nefarious international ilk conspiracy had been relatively quite lately, but Bill's gotten them back on the case with his latest moves. News flash: Former Nixon henchman H.R. Haldeman links up with Inspector Clouseau -- and they're both working for Microsoft. How else to explain Microsoft's consideration of a harebrained idea to orchestrate a 'spontaneous' outpouring of public support for its escalating battle against the U.S. Justice Department and a dozen attorneys general? The only other explanation is that somebody in Redmond is inhaling -- and in a big way. Mr. Cooper should have checked with Nathan Myhrvold, it's the other guys doing the "Nixon era dirty tricks". Actually, he goes into that somewhat. Interesting aside, though: "The legal folks want to handle it as a strict legal problem and say 'no comment' to almost everything," according to one knowledgeable Microsoft source. "The business folks understand that it's really something tried in the court of public opinion." "The legal guys tend to control things early, leaving the opposing side to set the tone and agenda and get a big early lead -- and then Microsoft has to play catch-up," the source said. I'm with the lawyers on this one. Although I'm big on the hearts and minds thing, I'm skeptical that there would be much interest in arcane antitrust issues without Bill's "raised middle finger" thing fanning the flames. Intel's got continuous antitrust stuff going on, but the stories come and go without much notice. I'd say the difference is more due to the way The Economist analyzed it than to a PR failure: Unlike Microsoft, Intel has a clear idea of the obligations placed on a dominant firm and has a reasonable record of sticking at least to the letter of antitrust law. Mr. Cooper disagrees, but he thought the "kinder gentler Microsoft" campaign was going well until now too. Who knows, as I've stated before I think it's important for everyone to understand the way Microsoft works, not just the savvy investors who understand the value of a good monopoly when they see one. We got to watch out how we get where we want to go. Cheers, Dan.