Microsoft Hatred FAQ

[Mike Meyer]

"David Schwartz" <davids at webmaster.com> writes:
>     As for it being illegal, it was illegal only because if was Microsoft 
> doing it.

Actually, *any* company with a defacto monopoly pulling such a stunt
would be found in violation of the law. Such companies operate under
different legal rules than other companies. This was true when IBM was
the company that was dancing with the DOJ, and it'll be true long
after MS is nothing more than a memory.  I don't know if anyone has
spelled this out to MS, but IBM was told so in no uncertain terms.

> And the only reason it was illegal for Microsoft was because
> Microsoft was deemed to have a monopoly

And that's not at all clear. The thing is, if MS didn't have a
monopoly, their strong-arm tactics wouldn't have worked. If the
companies in question actually had other choices, they would have
laughed at MS's offer. The reality was that if they wanted to stay in
business, they had no choice but to take whatever MS offered them. It
isn't the offer that's illegal; it's the tools used to get the offer
accepted that are illegal. Selling insurance is only illegal if you
hint that someone is going to need it if they don't buy it from you.

   <mike
-- 
Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org>			http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/
Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information.