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To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (19127)	5/16/1998 10:41:00 AM
From: Daniel Schuh	Respond to of 24154

Talks on Between Microsoft and U.S. nytimes.com Don't hold your breath though. I got a feeling it's all one of Bill's mind games. Make Joel Klein lose a lot of sleep over the weekend, hope for him to crack from exhaustion. The talks will continue over the weekend, but people involved in the negotiations have said that reaching a settlement will be difficult given the differences among the three groups negotiating -- the federal government, Microsoft and representatives of 20 state attorneys general. Also from yesterday's NYT: Ever a Pragmatist, Microsoft Compromises nytimes.com "Microsoft is extremely tough-minded and willing to act on the edge of brinkmanship, but pragmatic at its core," said David Yoffie, a Harvard Business School professor. Clearly, Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman, and his lieutenants have decided that some of the concessions the government is seeking can be made without posing a real threat to the company's remarkably lucrative business. Like the Active Channel bar thing, which wasn't working anyway. Cheers, Dan.

To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (19127)	5/16/1998 3:38:00 PM
From: Gerald R. Lampton	Respond to of 24154

Aside from the variable enforcement, if you're the wrong color . . . Point for Dan.

To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (19127)	5/16/1998 4:56:00 PM
From: miraje	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 24154

I don't know, I think it's very much like enforcing the speed limit. That one's all pretty arbitrary too. Dan, I really do admire your ability to divert an issue. Let me attempt to put it back on track. Speed Limit 60, for example, is a clearly defined law. It is indeed, as you noted, very arbitrarily enforced. Two completely different issues. Anti-trust laws are vague in definition, deliberately so. They give justice officials virtual carte blanche to prosecute any "crimes" they chose against any "criminals" they so designate at their whim (or at the behest of current political winds). Enforcement of such "laws" has to be arbitrary. One day a company is competing legally and the next they have crossed some undefined line and become "monopolistic predators" or some other criminal designation. Everyone in business is a potential criminal at some point if they compete too successfully. This, to me, is Alice in Wonderland. Regards, JB