From: attila <attila@hun.org>
To: cypherpunks <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Message Hash: 25704f2432162e15cbe19883ef894794a44c2c6fa2dcae5766d5687d38eda4c0
Message ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980629113011.281C-100000@hun.org>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1998-06-29 11:31:51 UTC
Raw Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 04:31:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: attila <attila@hun.org>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 04:31:51 -0700 (PDT)
To: cypherpunks <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: saving the world from a cancerous monopoly
Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980629113011.281C-100000@hun.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
there is only one _sane_ course of action against M$:
divestiture --before Gates becomes the Hydra.
to make it short: at 90% of the OS market, and 95% of the
current office software (w/p, spreadsheet, database, etc)
market worldwide, M$ _is_ in a position of total market
dominance.
the real issue is not the 90% of the OS market, it is the
95% (expected to grow to 98% before 2000) of the office s/w.
the office software, available _only_ on M$ platforms
creates a self-perpetuating juggernaut: no other OS can
even begin to make market penetraton without the key
product (office s/w) --and people are not willing to
learn a new application-- that's just human nature.
it will take two technical factors to make M$ subject to
market pressures and responsive to further competitive
innovation (and this involves extensive ongoing regulation
and oversight which I consider anathema):
1. M$' base operating system must be fully defined; eg-
the API interface must be made available to all. if
the API is not a moving target, emulators can be
written enabling native WinTel s/w to run correctly
on other platforms (unix variants, OS/2, beos, apple,
etc). the increasing CPU "horsepower" makes this
approach at least feasible.
2. M$ must be required to port it's major products to
other operating systems; it is worth noting that
freeBSD, for instance, will run native binaries from
Linux and SCO variants which simplifies on set.
as a corollary, M$ must be required to support some
of the non-Intel hardware ports such as freeBSD or
Linux on Alpha (almost 5 years ago, Alpha was at the
performance level of the current Intel 400 Mhz). M$
does support Word and Explorer on Apple, but major
features were not ported in both instances --this is
not acceptable.
I am not in favour of the government meddling in the design
or integration of M$ products... but:
the Sherman Act, passed in 1890 is designed to level the
playing field, not regulate/administrate. the real issue
of the act is that it acts _in the interest of society_
to curtail monopolistic and anti-competitive actions and
excesses --M$ certainly qualifies for the remedies far
more than John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil did in 1908.
Bill Gates, through his _total_ dominance of the desktop,
(with exceptiom of a few of the hardheaded/stubborn who
refuse to run _any_ M$ products (author included))
is using his cash cow, swollen by gouging the consumer, to
acquire _significant_ interests in industries which use
computers: cable networks, cellular networks, satellite
networks, etc. and related industries dependent on
communications: news (MSNBC), television, productions,
etc.
this horizontal and vertical spread of M$ is even more
dangerous. Bill Gates is quickly approaching critical mass
--Bill Gates could literally bring the world to its knees--
and Gates is a notorious control freak: there is Bill's
way, there is Bill's way, there is... sorry, there is
no other way.
unless the DOJ shows some spine, particularly in light of
the appeals court ruling dumping the injunction _and_ the
special master (which is far more critical than the public
perceives, which is why M$ went after Lessig), the DOJ is
going to be in and out of court with M$ until M$ literally
buys the government or intimidates the DOJ out of the deal.
the scenario of forcing M$ to accommodate other OSs and
hardware platforms might be workable, but Gates will not
only fight it, but it will be a constant additional legal
burden to force M$ to make the services available in a
timely manner; in other words, the government will end
up establishing an agency the size of the FCC just to
regulate M$ the "controlled" monopoly (as Sen. Hatch
threatened).
nothing in American law says we can not have a regulated
monopoly if it serves the public interest --AT&T provided
superb and universal service for decades (many of us would
love to have that service today), but AT&T did _not_
innovate in a timely manner at the market demand. and
telephones are rather low tech compared to computers
which have been subject to Grove's Law for two decades.
M$ has not been a creative company --it is a marketing
and control machine which acquires technology, often by
less than socially acceptable means, and integrates it
into M$' market offerings. credit must be given to M$
for making the PC ubiquitous, but that value starts to
wear very thin with M$' current market domination.
from the perspective of serving the future interests
of our society, the only effective option for the DOJ
is to litigate for the divestiture of M$ into several
operating companies --and to prevent Bill Gates from
owning or controlling more than one division --much
on the line of the AT&T divestiture.
anything less will mean continuing litigation and further
dominance of Gates as he uses his enormous cash reserves
to buy control in additional markets. likewise, the orders
must prohibit Gates from further market horizontal and
vertical "octopussing".
the Sherman Act also permits market damages (M$' 50-80%
gross profit margin certainly qualifies as gouging)
--which are then trebled;
that would put a cramp on Bill's $50 _billion_ net worth
and probably force even further divestiture of his
controlling stock interests.
Gates' personality needs to be considered as a factor
as he must control, totally control. it is not enough
to be first in a market, he must be the only player in
the market.
Gates' tactics have been deplorable: his minions go forth to
companies and say: "...we dont know whether to buy you out,
or force you out..." and if the company is purchased, it is
purchased for much less than potential or fair market value.
Gates does not buy just the leader, he buys outright,
or controls, _all_ of the players in an emerging technology
so there will be no competition to the direction chosen for
inclusion in the M$ product line --and the choice may not
be the best choice... the market is stifled.
unfortunately, Bill Gates is a cancer on society. it is
the old story: deal with it today, or deal with it later
when Gates has become an even more cash bloated and
arrogant monster which has devoured more of societies'
rights and destroyed even more of the worlds' technical
infrastructure.
Bill Gates is not going to mellow with age; if anything,
he will get more difficult. the world will be in less of
a shock knocking the pins out from under Gates now rather
than later.
attila out....
__________________________________________________________________________
go not unto usenet for advice, for the inhabitants thereof will say:
yes, and no, and maybe, and I don't know, and fuck-off.
_________________________________________________________________ attila__
On Sun, 28 Jun 1998, Brian wrote:
>> ...(Compared to Gates, Hannibal lacks vision...)
>>
>> I read a statistic yesterday (I think) that 90%
>> of all PCs have Win95 installed, and Gates wants 90% of them to 'upgrade'
>> to Win98. He has 90% of the WORLD market. And the Zionist theory people
>> worry about 6% controlling 90%? What about one guy controlling 90% of the
>> PC in the world? And stopping him is a restriction of his rights as defined
>> by the American Constitution? During a debate on this, people happened to
>> mention that the constitution was partially about resisting tyranny. Gates
>> could bury ANYTHING DEEP into a new OS (remember the windows bomb joke that
>> made the rounds a while back?), and no one would know. even then, people in
>> businesses don't speak up, cause those who dissent, get fired.
>>
>> I think that Gates should be slowed down now, while the chance is still
>> there, and (somehow) get some alternative, workable, opposition OS's up and
>> running, yet are compatible with win95/98 as well. The only way forward is
>> through both unity and diversity.
>>
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