While I too am annoyed with Microsoft, I am pleased by the decision
against breaking them up.  The decision to pursue that direction would
only set a dangerous precedent that companies must "pay to play"...pay
the government that is, or they'll wreck your business.  It only puts
more money in the hands of government and lawyers, taking money from
those that earned it, and putting it into the hands of those that
extorted it.  Anyone remember the tobacco wars?  How much money did our
beloved gov't rape from that industry...did it do anything to curb
smoking or raise health awareness?  It sure fattened a whole lot of
pockets though...(Not to mention the subversion of congressional power
that occurred just to enable the gov't to bring the lawsuit).  Our gov't
is, after all, the largest corporation in the world.

For many years, Microsoft didn't play in the whole Washington lobbying
game...and that's probably exactly why they came under attack (the near
monopoly just gave the gov't a convenient excuse..."to protect
consumers").

I don't need or want the government's help against Microsoft...our
industry can take care of monopolies just fine (and MS will probably
collapse under its own weight like every bloated company eventually
does).  I suppose I'm more optimistic than most I guess.

The real danger is the human desire to topple the guy on top...at any
cost.

- Stephen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: squeak-dev-admin at lists.squeakfoundation.org 
> [mailto:squeak-dev-admin at lists.squeakfoundation.org] On 
> Behalf Of Jarvis, Robert P. (Contingent)
> Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 11:41 AM
> To: 'squeak-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org'
> Subject: [OT] RE: Microsoft removes Netscape support from IE; 
> plug-in needsre-writing.
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: John Hinsley [mailto:jhinsley at telinco.co.uk]
> > Makes me wonder what would happen if no-one came to the
> > Microsoft party.
> 
> <rant>
> A lovely thought, and one I support.  However, despite the 
> best of intentions, the great unwashed masses are not going 
> to dump Microsoft.  Joe Sixpak will order that hot new PC his 
> kid wants, and it'll come with Windows XP and IE 6.  At work 
> Joe will order a new PC and it will come with XP and IE6.  
> Unless and until software developers everywhere (you, me, and 
> about thirteen zillion others) refuse to develop anything 
> that will run on a Microsoft-supplied OS, MS is going to 
> continue to make money hand over fist, and will (by virtue of 
> their monopoly position) be able to dictate "standards".  
> Microsoft is apparently freaked by the upsurge of interest in 
> non-MS platforms, and is trying to do everything and anything 
> they can to marginalize those non-MS platforms.  I hope that 
> the folks at Justice will understand this and take a suitably 
> harsh view of this obvious abuse of MS's monopoly position, 
> but given the Bush administration's "close ties" with the 
> business community (can you say "incestuous relationship"?  I knew you
> could...) I fear this will not happen.  Billy's can simply 
> throw a few million $ Washington's way, and the 
> politico-whore's will do whatever he pays...oops, "asks" for.
> 
> What, me, annoyed?  No, surely not...
> </rant>
> 
> > Instead of being prompted to download the IE plug-in, you'd
> > be prompted
> > to download Netscape and the plug-in. (Of course, you've got 
> > Netscape on
> > some old magazine CD, somewhere.) Now, if folk wrote to Mr.Gates and
> > told him that that was their intention......
> 
> 
> Bob Jarvis
> Compuware @ Timken
> 
>