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

To: Dwight E. Karlsen who wrote (8210)	6/1/1998 3:14:00 PM
From: mrknowitall	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Dwight . . . your analogies are flawed; Pepsi and Coke have each other as well as Dr. Pepper, 7-Up, etc., as very major competitors. They take those actions against each other to secure repeat sales and brand loyalty in a fickle consumer marketplace. In the OS marketplace, it's more like just having Coke with Snapple as its only competitor. In regard to credit card companies stuffing - they GET PAID (a lot) to stuff that junk in your statement. Those practices are not evil - they are legitimate ways to move product. Microsoft is leveraging, but they have the power to abuse that leverage since there is no counter-balance in the marketplace.

To: Dwight E. Karlsen who wrote (8210)	6/1/1998 5:57:00 PM
From: M31	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Dwight -- Leveraging a monopoly to avoid competition on merits is illegal. And I agree with mrknowitall that your Coke & Pepsi and credit card company analogies are flawed for the reasons he stated. Since you're such a big fan of our government, I've selected two of my favorite quotes -- one from the Attorney General and the other from Bob Dole -- just for you! Attorney General Janet Reno: "The Internet is an immensely popular medium for communication, commerce, and the information flow of the 21st century. No firm should be permitted to use its monopoly power to develop a chokehold on the browser software needed to access the Internet." Mr. Dole said that Microsoft "may have earned that monopoly through legal, aggressive competition, but it cannot be allowed to violate antitrust laws ... by using that monopoly to then stifle competition, slow down innovation and leverage itself into monopolies in other markets." M31