Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: Replies to DoJ's Joel Klein and breaking up Microsoft
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 13:17:03 -0700
Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 20:59:28 -0400 To: politech () vorlon mit edu From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com> ***********From: "Phillip Hallam-Baker" <hallam () ai mit edu> To: <declan () well com>, <politech () vorlon mit edu> Subject: RE: DoJ's Joel Klein explains why judge must break up Microsoft Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 13:06:43 -0400 Klein is an utter fool. AT&T was an absolutely hidebound monolith that refused to countenance the slightest innovation. Comparing Microsoft to AT&T is just ridiculous. AT&T had an absolute monopoly on providing telephone service, there was no other provider to turn to. Neither the infrastructure used to deliver telephone service nor the service itself changed measurably from the invention of the Strouger automated telephone exchange to the breakup. The principle complaint made against Microsoft is that they unfairly compete by outdeveloping their competitors, matching them feature for feature for as long as it takes them to tire. So Klien thinks a browser takes 'hundreds of millions to develop'. I got news for him. We wrote three browsers at CERN and none had so much as an entire man year spent on them. If it wasn't for the junk thrown in by Netscape there would still be viable open source alternatives to IE and Netscape. Phill***********From: "ahf" <ahf () tekintel com> To: <declan () well com> Subject: Re: DoJ's Joel Klein explains why judge must break up Microsoft Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 14:22:30 -0500 Declan; A lot of real muddled thinking here. Anyone who starts off by equating The Bill of Rights and the Constitution with an Act of Congress needs to revisit Constitutional Law 101. The Congress can change the Sherman Anti-Trust Act anytime it wishes. And so it can with the other laws to do with anti-competitive behavior. I predict before the next two Congresses, the Congress will do exactly that in order to come to grips with global needs. As far as AT&T is concerned Klein's thinking is nothing more than coming up with an example, any example(the only example) that meets his needs to rationalize his argument. Long-distance rates are just one very small part of the entire telephone/communications bill that people are paying for. What about local rates which are going up at an alarming curve? This argument of AT&T justifying MS breakup is plain nonsense on examination. What about IBM? After thirteen years absolutely nothing. A dropped case after tens of millions spent by lawyers on both sides. IBM changed because the technology and the markets changed. The same thing will happen to MS without government interference. This is all politics, just as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was. Politics as practiced by Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Novell,etc. Finally, lets ask Joel Klein where he will be next year. Looking for a job with each and every one of his assistants. Makes little difference if Gore or Bush will be president. Except that with Bush he will be handed his box and the door the day after inauguration. AHF***********From: Russ <Russ.Cooper () rc on ca> To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com> Subject: RE: DoJ's Joel Klein explains why judge must break up Microsoft Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 20:41:33 -0400 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Hmm, let's see. There's 100 million users of Office on Windows, 1 million Office on Mac, and no Office on Linux. I'm sure the Microsoft Office Corporation (MOC) is going to rush right out and try to figure out how to put Office for Windows onto Linux, because that Linux market looks sooooo lucrative...??? as opposed to, say, trying to put Office on Windows onto the other 200 million Windows boxes that don't already run it. And this is the marketing sensibility that knows what is best for competition and innovation? Cheers, Russ - NTBugtraq Editor "dot-age" (as in "we're in the dot-age") = senility (source Webster's)***********From: Matthew_G_Saroff () raytheon com To: declan () well com Subject: Re: FC: DoJ's Joel Klein explains why judge must break up Microsoft Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:35:13 -0500 A cogent and well thought out statement. I agree wholeheartedly. The fact that if one looks at Microsoft products, Basic, (lifted from the computer lab of an east coast school (to be fair Netscape did the same with Mosaic)), DOS (purchased), Windows (Purchased), Word (purchased), Excel (Purchased) there is a common thread. Microsoft does not innovate, it purchases or appropriates. If Microsoft were a true innovator, we would be using MultiPlan for our spreadsheets. -- Matthew G. Saroff The Opinions Expressed are not those Raytheon. Which is why the stock is tanking.*********** -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- IP: Replies to DoJ's Joel Klein and breaking up Microsoft Dave Farber (May 12)
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- IP: Replies to DoJ's Joel Klein and breaking up Microsoft Dave Farber (May 18)
- IP: Replies to DoJ's Joel Klein and breaking up Microsoft Dave Farber (May 18)