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

To: Carlos Blanco who wrote (8153)	5/29/1998 1:23:00 PM
From: M31	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

Carlos -- Views like yours never cease to amaze me. <<You see, the definition of freedom in a market includes the freedom for consumers to anoint some company with 100% market share.>> Are consumers really free to "annoint" microsoft? Or are they just being herded like so many sheep while microsoft buys out and "cuts off the air supply" of upstarts and competitors? <<Once we use the right terminology...Thus we see the real agenda...>> What psychic powers do you use to see "the truth" so clearly? M31

To: Carlos Blanco who wrote (8153)	5/29/1998 3:18:00 PM
From: miraje	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Carlos, Thank you for another thoughtful and intelligent post. Thus we see the real agenda: to guarantee the welfare of companies that compete with Microsoft. Indeed the agenda of Microsofts competitors. I suspect, however, not the prime motive of the Justice Dept. Regards, JB

To: Carlos Blanco who wrote (8153)	6/1/1998 8:39:00 PM
From: Hal Rubel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Monopoly Rules RE: "You see, the definition of freedom in a market includes the freedom for consumers to anoint some company with 100% market share. The definition of freedom in a market does not require that multiple companies thrive or survive as the producers of any given product. A free market is a market without regulation, period." My understanding is that the primary cause of a monopoly is not relevant in anti-trust law. HR PS: Being a Monopoly is not in and of itself a crime and, as such, is not a punishable criminal offense. (This fact, of course, does not preclude the possibility of creating civil and criminal liability by intentionally engaging in a pattern of criminal acts in restraint of trade while in the legal pursuit of market dominance.) I do agree somewhat with your analysis of Microsoft's ascendancy. Public anointment seems to have been a powerful factor in Microsoft's success, more so even than innovation. After all, DOS outsold Mac 4-to1 in its heyday, only to be replaced by a very Mac like Windows product. Gates very brilliantly marketed Intel/IBM/MS primacy to a vulnerable and willing public in the '80's, thus laying the foundation for today's seemingly unbeatable market dominance. Acheiving Monopoly-hood does change the rules of the market for all involved. We are currently going through this adjustment now. The overall issue here is one of Public Policy. Fortunately, we do not live in a free society without regulation. That form of government is called an Anarchy. What we live in is a Democracy. This means majority rule but with minority rights. For instance, in democratic politics, the voters have the freedom to anoint some political party with a virtual 100% market share, but that does not give them the right to abuse the position. As an example, the winning party does not have the right to just confiscate the lives, wives, and personal assets of the members of the loosing party. There are limits to victory, even, and especially, in a case of complete and total victory. In a commercial instance more close to home where Anarchy simply will not do: thanks to legal regulations, stock brokers have more than just the loss of their reputations to motivate them to pay back to clients the money earned and due on successful investments such as our Microsoft shares. In fact, Microsoft would not even have been able to build and harvest the blessings of the monopoly it currently enjoys if it were not for the body of regulations that govern commercial activity in our society. The principle called into play here is called the Rule of Law. The Rule of Law pervades the very foundations of society and at all times shapes the nature of the social, political, and commercial activity within it. Relax. Don't fight it, learn to live with and profit by it. Have a nice day. HR