Previous article: "It's official: DOJ and Microsoft agree to settle antitrust case" http://www.politechbot.com/p-02741.html ********* Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 10:47:04 -0500 (EST) From: Charles Platt <cpat_private> To: politechat_private Cc: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private> Subject: Re: FC: It's official: DOJ and Microsoft agree to settle antitrust case In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.0.20011102095916.027f2430at_private> The following message may be distributed with my name attached if you wish. On Fri, 2 Nov 2001, Declan McCullagh wrote: > just what did this lawsuit accomplish, beyond enriching lawyers, > eating up tens of millions of tax dollars, and launching a flotilla of > anklebiting private antitrust suits? Declan, it accomplished a tremendous amount, all of it beneficial to the federal government. First and most important, it reaffirmed the power of the government. Before the Microsoft antitrust suit, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs were acting as if they were immune from legislation. They donated virtually nothing to political campaigns, and they shared a "screw you" attitude toward DC. The Microsoft suit reminded everyone where the real power is. I would expect considerably more expressions of humility (bogus or otherwise) along with political contributions, in the future. Regardless of the outcome of the suit, it demonstrated that the Justice Department can impose such heavy legal costs, and can waste so much of a company's time, anyone would be crazy to invite this kind of a major hassle. Like a protection racket, anti-trust legislation warns companies to behave themselves if they want to avoid being ruined. "Nice little software business you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it." The second accomplishment was to burst the bubble of "irrational exuberance." The Microsoft suit marked the beginning of the end, in this respect. It demonstrated that tech companies were not untouchable, not immune from boring old realities of government and commerce. They could be nibbled to death by financial pundits like anyone else, as well as being harassed and threatened and sued into oblivion just like anyone else. The major shifts in wealth, 2 to 3 years ago, must have caused alarm in Washington, where people sincerely believe that they are the ones with the real power, who run the country. They must have begun to feel--well, potentially irrelevant. And now--praise Allah!--they have terrorism to deal with. No matter that their responses so far have been almost inconceivably incompetent: The terrorist threat has made government seem necessary again. The focus of attention has shifted from Silicon Valley back to Washington DC. The military-industrial complex is singing "Happy days are here again" (sotto voce, of course). And if this nasty little war slows progress in peaceful uses of science (just as Vietnam pretty much killed the manned space program), well, what could be better, from the point of view of techno-illiterate federal legislators? Microsoft is in the position of Winston Smith in 1984, after his period of torture was complete. He could return to his everyday life and even have liaisons with his former lover (contrary to state policy), because the state had completed its punishment of him, had demonstrated its power, and no longer had any interest in him. The exercise of power, purely for its own sake, was the only point of the enterprise, according to Orwell. Meanwhile, just as in 1984, we are now allying ourselves with our old enemies (Russia, in particular) while vowing endless war against our old friends (Bin Laden). Because, there is nothing better than war to distract the population from private pleasurable goals and reorient everyone toward Big Brother, who alone can protect us from the monsters he has created. I hope this answers your question. --Charles ********* Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 10:44:19 -0500 To: declanat_private From: Donald Weightman <dweightmanat_private> Subject: Re: FC: It's official: DOJ and Microsoft agree to settle antitrust case In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.0.20011102095916.027f2430at_private> The lawsuit might have accomplished a lot, but for the DOJ backpedaling in recent months. Aside from missing the chance to fence in Gates, there is now with the settlement less than optimal clarity on what the legal regime is for industries with strong network effects. dw ********* Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 10:19:17 -0800 From: Michael Maynard <mmaynardat_private> To: declanat_private Subject: Re: FC: It's official: DOJ and Microsoft agree to settle antitrust case Declan - I've been on top of this case and has analyzed it in depth for many years now. This settlement is gutless. It places no real restrictions on Microsoft nor does anything to slow down its continued horizontal or vertical market antitrust violations. We should all be very scared about Microsoft's entry into the telephony/ telecom business. With the exception of owning assets in the local telephone loop (which Time Warner AOL does), Microsoft can have complete worldwide vertical telecom integration from the desktop through communications hookups (local and satellite), the computer/telecom equipment used (NT Servers, WinPhones) through Internet content (IE + MSN + Media Player) through programming content (TiVo, MS-NBC). The leveraging key is the control of 97% of desktop/laptop computers' operating system. Unless forced to provide the Windows source code, so that Linux or another operating system could provide a real-time, native interface to Windows-based programs, Microsoft still has monopolistic control over the most important areas of the industry - the desktop and server operating systems. Hopefully, the state AG's will recognize this deal to be the sell-out that it really is and not sign on. ********* Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 07:43:22 -0800 From: Norman MacLeod <gaelwolfat_private> Organization: Gaelic Wolf Consulting To: declanat_private Subject: Re: FC: It's official: DOJ and Microsoft agree to settle antitrust case Declan -- My personal take on this is that the United States government has decided that one of the nation's most successful corporations should not remain under legal pressure during a protracted war. If you look at the "deal" with that in mind, I think you'll see some things jumping out at you that you might not otherwise notice on a cursory review. ...Just my opinion, of course...your mileage may vary... Norman MacLeod ********* Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 10:43:09 -0500 From: Chris Farris <chrisat_private> To: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private> Subject: Re: FC: It's official: DOJ and Microsoft agree to settle antitrust case On Fri, Nov 02, 2001 at 10:01:45AM -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote: > [Well, so much for that. Anyone want to speculate on how different this > deal is from what Microsoft has been offering in settlement talks since > early 1998? If the differences are minimal and if the judge accepts this > deal, then just what did this lawsuit accomplish, beyond enriching lawyers, > eating up tens of millions of tax dollars, and launching a flotilla of > anklebiting private antitrust suits? --Declan] It helped crash the Nasdaq.... Chris -- Chris Farris chris at room17.com PrimeHarbor Technologies www.primeharbor.com "I've taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me" -Winston Churchill ********* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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