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Re: the best justice money can buy --Lessig suspended
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on or about 980203:1222, in <v03102802b0fd25414459@[207.167.93.63]>,
Tim May <[email protected]> was purported to have
expostulated to perpetuate an opinion:
>As for Attila's calls to break up MS...could make Bill Gates immensely
>wealthier, as he'd then have a piece of the 5 most successful software
>companies!
after they extract the usual treble damages in antitrust
litigation, Bill will probably retain significant
assets, but he probably would not top the list of the
very wealthy, and might not even make it.
>(I assume Attila is not arguing for simply seizing his property and
>giving it to others, or running it as a government company, or just
>padlocking the doors....)
no, in fact, if there were a free market remedy for M$'
monopoly, I would be in favour of it --and there is _no_
free market remedy and failure to act promptly
conceivably wipe out all, or virtually all, of the
viable competitors.
the purpose of antitrust legislation is solely to
remedy an injustice caused by a private market segment
which became a monopoly. divestiture for M$ would
generally be along the lines of AT&T except it would
focus on divisions rather than regions; secondly, it
would obviously restrict Gate$ involvement in more than
one despite any stock ownership and might require Bill:
a) to sell all stock in units he does not control;
b) take his payout in stock from one unit only (less
negative market); or,
c) he may not have enough left after Sherman Act
penalties to be a major stockholder --he might
actually need to suffer through stockholders
meetings like the rest of the CEOs.
I would never advocate seizing assets for redistribution
vis a vis Mugabe or whatever the despot's name is --what
a waste-- if uncle Sam redistributed we would have
Microsoft-Harlem, Microsoft-Watts, etc. shit, I had to
stop typing after the mirth of that thought!
as for the government running _anything_ --how far do we
need to look for the nearest government excess and total
mismanagement, featherbedding, and corruption? not far
(you, Tim, on a non-clear day cant see very much from
your hilltop --out here on the high desert ridges in So.
Utah it is CAVU the vast majority of the time-- and I
still cant see any as Feds are like Revenuers in KY).
there are multiple issues:
1. Microsoft's almost good enough (for the market)
operating systems which probably should be
considered what we called firmware 25 years ago. at
this point >90% of the platforms run M$ in one form
or another and as you acknowledge, SGI, DEC, and so
on are all hedging their bets --which will become
reality as soon as they open the floodgates.
in software, the sheeple follow the Judas goat to
Redmond.
2. Microsoft "software"
a) office suite --already 95% of desktop market
b) data base --maybe should be included in a) but
Oracle, Sybase, IBM, etc have large installed
bases at a much higher cost per unit on servers
c) browser --certainly will be at 80% before year
end as all OEMs so far have indicated they will
not cross M$ and switch. that leaves the rest of
it up to the ISPs who could care less.
d) back office --M$ moving in on this one real
fast and it is now part of NT distribution--
which then requires the browser and webserver
for installation and maintenance.
e) web servers, firewalls, routers, etc. --M$ is
already getting the web servers with NT
distributions and is poised to tackle firewalls
and router dominance. I question that they can
ever configure NT on any hardware to do
routing/switching effectively, efficiently, or
competitively against dedicated hardware given
the new >1G switches.
3. M$ in cable systems. cable systems are always cash
poor from infrastructure expense. M$ is buying in
and therefore influencing the choice of settops
--and their format-- witness TCI. this further
establishes M$ in the determination of standards
--obviously to the detriment of everyone else-- and
the FCC has mandated the boxes must be compatible
across the board in a couple years and we all know
who negotiates dirty and hard
the only saviour in this one may be Time-Warner
which so far is moving ahead with its 2way cable
system from Scientific Atlanta with a sparc chip,
etc. T-W has 2.5 million boxes on order and is
planning extensive deployment 3rd quarter which
is at least 12 months before M$ can even beta test
with TCI
4. content...
a) msn which so far is harmless, but what would
happen if Gate$ absorbed Assholes on Line? or
really pushed MSN at POS and OEM.
b) msnbc which apparently still enjoys editorial
censorship only from the usual channels of our
non-free press.
c) reference bookshelf in which the latest revision
of the EnCarta encyclopediae described Gate$ as
a "philanthropist" --cheap son of bitch only
coughed $100 million towards school internet as
long as it was M$ product. he may have been
better termed a misogynist (before he was
married) given his terms of usage....
content is where we really start to worry more than
Bill's money, which has already bought influence:
the WSJ editorial page article by Bill striking back
at the DOJ, the NYTimes column, the books, and the
rest of the demigod worshipping media.
Gate$' fortunes have been changing: Gate$ now has for
more enemies than his money can buy friends. even the
SPA has turned against him with their white paper on
fair competition which is a direct shot across Gate$'
bow --and Gate$' response was that their membership in
SPA might not be renewed in August --economic threat.
The DOJ has expanded their scope and will probably file
significant actions shortly (hopefully before the 21 Apr
appeals court hearing)
next are the states, eleven so far including NY, TX, IL
and CA where they have very definitely aggressive AGs.
and CA's is pissed over the sweetheart deal the CSU
system gave M$ to supply everything as the "official
vendor" of the CSU system which has 20+ campi and how
many million students?
complain about a McDonalds' generation? shit, that's
only your stomach, not your mind --and at least there
are other choices for food --I personally have never
eaten at McDonalds; of course, that does not say much as
I have never owned a television, either.
we already have an M$ generation. they all learned on
PCs and they all programmed to PCs and windows with
their private APIs. this is exactly what creating a
positive feedback, self-enhancing market place does:
McDonalds grabbed their stomachs with their playgrounds,
etc. and M$ twists their minds.
BOTTOM LINE: Gate$ manipulation, scheming, red-dog
contracts, etc. make Cornelius Vanderbilt look like a
choir boy. Gate$ style of management with Steve Ballmer
as the heavy and Gate$ trying to cover his geekness as
the "aw shucks" boy next door has had the curtain pulled
to show what technically amounts to a legal "conspiracy"
to dominate multiple markets, both vertically and
horizontally.
as such, M$ and their executives actions fall directly
under the guidelines of part B of the Sherman Antitrust
act which includes the usual penalties of divestiture,
treble damages, and _criminal_ penalties. secondly, M$
and Gate$, if convicted of violating part 2, could then
be construed as a "corrupt" meaning malicious intent
the difference between misfeasance and malfeasance
is that in the latter you were intentionally fucked
which qualifies for RICO prosecution as well. in
addition to the extremely severe criminal penalties, RICO
does provide for confiscation of ill gotten assets
--this would apply to Gate$ monetary gains, including
his stock, which could be forfeited.
frankly, I think it would be most amusing to see Gate$
and Ballmer receiving the customary "3 hots and a cot"
for such offenders and to need to work for a living like
the rest of us when they earn their freedom.
the fact that RICO could apply does not mean that it
will be trundled out --but it would be fitting justice.
I will never denigrate Gate$ determination to build M$
and to proliferate the computer, which he did, a little
too well.
--but Gate$ crossed the line:
Gate$' instinct set him on the path that competition
means forcing everyone and their ideas (those that he
did not steal, literally or figuratively) from the
marketplace --Bill can not compete; he must "own" the
market. William Henry Gates III expects to be crowned
"William III" --see my rant on 16 Oct. on DejaVu or:
http://www.primenet.com/~attila/rants/gates/7a16-ms_monopoly.html
not to be crass about it, but Gate$ has served his
purpose and outlived his usefulness --his defense
against the DOJ, his further market actions while under
attack, and his intent to trump the moot with Win98 are
actions of a petty dictator; give Bill a shiny new
uniform from a Napoleanic banana republic and let him
prance around.
any more of Gate$ not only becomes tiresome, but
hazardous to our health. give me the hook...
there is no free market remedy for M$' control of the
market place as the consumer will not boycott something
which a) costs them money do so; and, b) for which there
is no ready substitute. the only alternative is to apply
the anti-trust laws in the general interests of
society which does not mean government ownership or
management.
M$ stockholders may either make or lose money depending
on the valuations the market assigns to each of the
divested divisions --but that is a risk you take in the
market if your greed exceeds your wisdom. ask any VC,
whose greed is only exceeded by his fear.
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