Microsoft Hatred FAQ

[David Schwartz]

"Antoon Pardon" <apardon at forel.vub.ac.be> wrote in message 
news:slrndlrlt2.hdl.apardon at rcpc42.vub.ac.be...

>>     I think you need to look up "extortion" in a dictionary. I can walk 
>> up
>> to you and say "if you want me to mow your lawn, you must pay me $1 every
>> time you smoke a cigarette". So long as you can say "no" and all that
>> happens is that I don't mow your lawn (which I have no obligation to do
>> anyway), it isn't extortion.

> If you would happen to have a monopoly on the mowing business, which
> would make it very hard for me to have my lawn mowed unless I took
> your offer, it would be.

    Yes, but that's the "if". I have a monopoly on *me* mowing your lawn. 
You can, of course, go to someone else to have your lawn mowed. Microsoft 
only had a monopoly on *Microsoft* operating systems. Microsoft had no 
control over OSX, Linux, FreeBSD, and so on.

    Essentially, Microsoft asked for exclusive arrangements. That is, 
arrangements wherein you could not sell competing products if you wished to 
sell Microsoft products. That's not even remotely unusual.

    DS