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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FR1 who wrote (7924)	5/23/1998 11:01:00 PM
From: Gersh Avery	Respond to of 74651

Franz .. thanks for the response Yes .. I know what you mean about that site. Most of the posts are vulgar, background noise. There does seem to be a few gems there. Which is why I've been reading that thread for a long time now. It would be nice if Yahoo would do something to clean it up. The thread seems to fluctuate from one period to the next about bear/bull about MSFT. For the time being it seems to be pretty bearish. Personally, I like to see a balance. When you can see both sides of any argument you are less likely to get blindsided. I had posted the link to Dwight, thinking that he was a lawyer also, and was looking for the other vantage point. Oh well .. Are there any lawyers out there who do not have a vested interest that could respond? Gersh

To: FR1 who wrote (7924)	5/23/1998 11:34:00 PM
From: Dwight E. Karlsen	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Franz, I agree with you on the contributions to the Yahoo company threads. Low quality. The few times I've looked there, I've run into some very tasteless, vulgar stuff.

To: FR1 who wrote (7924)	5/24/1998 9:37:00 PM
From: rudedog	Respond to of 74651

Franz - re: patents. Microsoft has infringed lots of patents over the years - all of the high tech companies have. What happens? The patent holder either cross licenses (as Tandem did with MSFT over cluster technology) or gets money in the form of a royalty (as Compaq did when IBM infringed some of Compaq's bus patents) or some other deal is struck. This is a normal part of everyday life in this business and patent discussions between Microsoft and people who believe they have been infringed happen hundreds of times a year. The settlement is usually some fraction of market value of the infringing product, and is governed by a 'common sense' rule. The idea that buried in some microsoft code are a few lines that will cost the company billions is ridiculous. This has already happened many, many times and the settlements don't make the news. Copyright infringement is even lower on the value chain. Patent and copyright laws are most useful in affecting current business practice, not collecting millions for past violations.