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To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (19012)	5/13/1998 12:44:00 PM
From: Bearded One	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

A industry regulated in one country cannot keep pace with a similar industry without regulation in another country (given similar resources). Nice soundbyte, but completely 100% absolutely false. We regulate plenty of industries-- phone, cellular, electricity, gas, airlines (yes we have plenty of regulation, just less than in 1980), military products, cable. For each one, Reginald, name a country which has a better product than us and doesn't regulate it. Actually, try doing that for any of the services I mentioned.

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (19012)	5/13/1998 5:29:00 PM
From: nommedeguerre	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 24154

Reggie, >>it is virtually impossible, not to mention currently unlawful for lesgislation to singularly target MSFT. Isn't the current anti-trust movement aimed at Microsoft's anti-competitive behaviour, etc.? Microsoft is being held in account for their own actions not the software industry. Monopolies lend themselves toward singularity of responsibility. Name another corporation responsible for dumping/bundling IE with Windows. Name another party who signed the consent decree, etc. Cheers, Norm

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (19012)	5/14/1998 2:05:00 AM
From: Gerald R. Lampton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Gerry, it is virtually impossible, not to mention currently unlawful for lesgislation to singularly target MSFT. If software legislation is enacted (which I doubt) look for the US to lose its dominance in the software industry. A industry regulated in one country cannot keep pace with a similar industry without regulation in another country (given similar resources). I doubt very seriously if the current administration will allow that to happen simply to keep the MSFT haters happy. Hypergrowth and supernormal profits are, by definition, impossible to have in a regulated industry. Suffice it to say, I disagree. Your thinking is way too short term. Face it Regimond, the Reagan Era is over. The era of the New Populism is almost upon us [it starts tomorrow ;)]. Today, antitrust is all about efficiency, but there are already underway attempts to change the terms of the scholarly and public debate. I won't bore you with citations to law review articles by people like Eleanor Fox. They've been around for a long enough time that their views are totally predictable by now. I will refer you instead to an article published by Robert Reich in my hometown rag, the LA Times. Democracy and Megacorporations May Be Mutually Exclusive Choice cuts: The real danger of the new corporate giantism is political rather than economic. It has to do with the earlier, now abandoned, strand of antitrust. Even if they don't have power to raise prices, the new giants will have more power to raise political money. At a time when campaigns for elective office in America are fast degenerating into pure television advertising and when "soft money" for such ads is already out of control, we should at least consider the possibility that corporate giantism will poison elections for good. * * * Consider also their power to mount effective lobbying campaigns in Washington or our state capitals, seeking favorable outcomes in contests over environmental or health and safety regulations. I still have scars to show how effective corporate lobbying was in the first Clinton administration. The new giants will have even deeper pockets. * * * Ponder the generous flow of corporate money that already compromises universities and think tanks in pursuit of analyses favorable to corporate positions. The new giants will have more resources for this sort of thing. They'll be able to afford platoons of lawyers to fight anyone audacious enough to take them to court and to litigate forever against any government agency trying to enforce the law. Are Justice Department lawyers a fair match for Microsoft's army of private attorneys from America's most prestigious law firms? latimes.com If Microsoft should be so fortunate as to win its antitrust case, an outcome I do not consider likely, this kind of thinking will become endemic, accelerated by the failure of antitrust law to deal with the problem of undue concentration of corporate power, in the software industry and elsewhere, the fear of which will by then have been duly enflamed by the rhetoric of politicians like Gephardt and Wellstone.