Well, I’ve read through most of the “Findings of Fact” about the Microsoft anti-trust case, and it seems that the judge is pretty set against them. (read is here: http://usvms.gpo.gov/ )
What I want to know is what kind of punishment will Microsoft get. I don’t think it’s going to be a slap on the wrist; the judge’s statements are too harsh for that. However, there are a lot of rumors floating around, many of which seem viable, but none are certain.
Microsoft will want to settle out of court, I assume, but I think the government will ask for too much, or else not be willing to settle, leaving it to the judge.
In that case, I see two possibilities:
MS is broken up like AT&T. The question is, who gets control of the new “baby MS” companies, and along what lines are they divided?
MS is ordered to open the source code for all of its software. I think this is the most serious thing that could happen to MS, and could be the stake in the heart that will kill them in the long run.
If it is broken up somehow, look for the various pieces to slowly reassemble, just like Standard Oil or the baby Bells. Or the T-1000 in “Terminator 2”.
Well any stock holders in MS would be pretty happy for a split up, imagine a 5 way split of the stock. Plus, each product is still the leader in it’s arena. Splitting windows from office would not solve anything and just give us more stock.
Also, if it were to split, the VP’s of each department would most likely be the heads of those products.
My understanding is that the finding of facts of a case are very difficult to appeal. Appellate courts generally look at the questions of law, procedure, and the verdict. So MS now has “Abusive Monopolist” stamped in its personal record.
I read in the New York Times yesterday that financial analysts would consider MS more valuable if it were to split.
nickrz, I was really looking more for entertainment than anything, and also the opinions of (more or less) ordinary people. I’m sick of most big news sources, and all the biases they have.
Besides, someone here might have some information that the press hasn’t made widely known.
Bill Gates, the Devil, is cloning an entire army of himself to either overthrow the US Government or become CEO of each of the new little Microsofts, either way he must be stopped! I suggest that we all show up in Renton with torches and pitch-forks! Actually, I think that opening up Microsoft source code would essentially be a slap on the wrist. All of the major innovations that any software company has come up with has been copied by other software companies virtually overnight anyway, i.e. red squiggly lines under incorrectly spelled words.
You know, doing what is right is easy. The problem is knowing what is right.
“Bill Gates, the Devil, is cloning an entire army of himself to either overthrow the US Government or become CEO of each of the new little Microsofts, either way he must be stopped! I suggest that we all show up in Renton with torches and pitch-forks!”
Ok, we will all go to Renton. After you take your haldol.
(Psst, no one tell him its Redmond)
On a more serious note, here is my Wild Assed Guess:
Private Sub AppealVerdict()
If not BribeJudges Then
GotoCanada
End If
End Sub
Associated Press - Redmond, WA
In an unprecedented acquisition, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ - MSF) purchased the nation of Canada for an estimated $325 trillian. Microsoft President and CEO, and new Prime Minister of Canada stated: “This should work for a little while.” Microsoft is expect to move its headquarters 150 miles north to Vancouver in order to avoid compliance with “whatever crap those justices dreamed up for me.” said Gates.
Oh, no he doesn’t. We’re not selling. He’ll have to get through me and Maude Barlow and John Ralston Saul and Linda McQuaig first. And me and Maude and John Ralston and Linda pissed off is not a crowd you want to go up against. Even if you are Bill Gates.
The short-term effect is that Apple will raise its prices by $1,000 per PC, effective next Wednesday.
The long-term effect is that you’ll have pay the neighbor’s kid $100/hour to set up Linux on your PC.
“Kings die, and leave their crowns to their sons. Shmuel HaKatan took all the treasures in the world, and went away.”
The first order of business is for everyone who ever believed B.G.'s line about MS ensuring innovation for the customers because of its strong business practices should be burned alive.
The second order of business is for everyone who publicly took MS’s side to pubicly apologize before we bury them alive.
Thirdly, everyone left alive gets a chance to kick B.G. in the head while screaming ‘scumbag’ over and over again.
Other than that, I have no opinions on the matter.
Peace.
Pirates of Silicon Valley on video now, says plenty. You all should read it cause it puts BG in his place. It’s about him & APple Computer comp, etc. Worth the three bucks to see it.
I work for a fairly small software company and for us, and others like us, the possible outcomes look fairly bleak. Why? because the two options that the states are going for are:
-Breaking Microsoft up into “Baby Bills”, each offering different flavors of Windows (i.e. with or w/o Internet Explorer, other features)
-Making the source code available to other ompanies to release “knockoff” versions of Windows.
Why is this so bad? Think of all the problems you have currenty trying to run an application designed for a single OS (or two- 95 and 98), not to mention hardware issues (“the Hoodoo 3dfx card will only run under KMart Windows 2000, not the Walmart OS”).
Although this may cause a boom in the tech support industry.
I was thinking of the same scenario as cooper. What’s to stop bill gates from moving his company to canada if the government does something drastic, such as opening up the source code? If I were BG, I’d certainly tell Janet Reno to go to hell, and pack for BC.
I’m not sure who I’m rooting for in this one. Gates or the government. Woo. I thought presidential elections were tough choices.
