James Gleick Returns

[Charles Behney <charlesaugust@theriver.com>]

One of the early McSoft Bashers has returned to commentaries, after a
long recovery from a near fatal plane crash.
James Gleick is *out to get McSoft.* He is a jlist par excellance, an
early adopter of causes, and an 'influencer of influencers.'

Got a problem with that?

CAB

Control Freaks

FAST FORWARD / By JAMES GLEICK


          A  little window into Bill Gates's soul opened the day the
Microsoft antitrust negotiations broke down for good.
           The light came from a plaintive comment by an anonymous
Microsoft executive, who was trying to explain
        why it would just be so unfair if the Government were to let
computer makers substitute their own start-up
        screens for the Windows "desktop" -- especially screens that
gave users an alternative way to run their software.

        "That would be tantamount to undermining our franchise," the
executive told Steve Lohr of The Times, "by
        making Windows some bit of software plumbing that no one sees."

.................
.................

Before long, a power point will be the ownership of the standards for
streaming audio and video data at high
        speeds across the Internet. A hodgepodge of companies have been
working to create these standards -- but
        Microsoft, proudly defending its right to "innovate," has had
its checkbook out and now owns all or part of each
        of these companies.

        The Justice Department's lawyers understand this -- the march of
the Microsoft monopoly from one point to the
        next -- but so far they have not found an antitrust framework
that will let them craft a remedy. The most
        important power point is the language of the Web, which has
evolved under the nominal control of an international
        standards-setting committee. Microsoft does not like
international committees any more than it likes Government
        lawyers, and when enough people are browsing the Internet with
Microsoft software and nothing but Microsoft
        software, it will be time for that committee to pack its bags
and go home.

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/cyber/articles/19microsoft-control.html