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Technology Stocks : Microsoft - The Evil empire -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Robert Winchell who wrote (761)	4/22/1998 2:47:00 PM
From: Kal	Respond to of 1600

MS has the right to develop technology just like anyone else. Just because they start going up against your technology, doesn't make them evil. It just makes them the 800-pound gorilla. sound like it's out of MS PR machine. were yo a programmer in their PR dept?

To: Robert Winchell who wrote (761)	4/22/1998 3:33:00 PM
From: Dragonfly	Respond to of 1600

OK, MS completely screwed the Pen Windows thing. They killed the Go Corp, flat out. But the impact is not just PenPoint. The impact is also in the thousands of applications that were not written or not enhanced because funding wasn't there because of fear of Microsoft. How do you "steal" a competitive advantage? Doesn't Microsoft have the right to protect their business investments? Simple, by incorporating copyrighted code into your product. Then, when you loose the lawsuit, buy the company (stac) or settle out of court (apple, many times) or win by force because your competitor cannot afford to defend themselves in court. Remember, innovation in the software industry comes from the small companies more than the big ones. Microsoft squishes small companies left and right. The fact is, MS has the right to develop technology just like anyone else. Sure. The issue is that more often than not, they don't develop new technology, but rather copy other's innovations. Just because they start going up against your technology, doesn't make them evil. It just makes them the 800-pound gorilla. No, it doesn't. However when they use deception and coercion to force you out of business, I'd call that evil. There are numerous examples of all three. The deception issue we've covered. The coercion is shown in the anti-trust decree where they charged people for machines they sold, even if they didn't include an MS OS on them. There is a problem in a discussion like this (and in the DoJ investigations) because I, like many people, am not able to give specific examples of certain events without fear of persecution. Dragonfly