Re: Hatch wants Gates back

[Declan McCullagh <declan@pathfinder.com>]

Eric, if you're going to be talking about the law, use a legal dictionary. 
Or better yet, learn a little about the law. Otherwise you look more than
a little foolish. 

Signed,

A friend



On Fri, 24 Jul 1998, Eric M. Bennett wrote:

> 
> Declan wrote:
> 
> >Yes, yes. Something can be unlawful without being a crime. Like I said,
> >who's charging Microsoft with a crime? Fantasies don't count.
> 
> As I said before, that depends entirely on your definition of crime.  My
> dictionary says:
> 
> crime, n.  1. An act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding
> or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon conviction.  2.
> Unlawful activity.  3. A serious offense, esp. one in violation of
> morality.  4.  An unjust, senseless, or disgraceful act or condition.
> 
> Note that the legal definition you're probably referring to doesn't even
> show up in my dictionary.  It does show up under "criminal":
> 
> criminal, adj.  1. Of, involving, or having the nature of crime.  2.
> Pertaining to the administration of penal law as distinguished from civil
> law.  3.  Guilty of crime.  4. Shameful; disgraceful.
> 
> 
> 
> So who is right?  Unless you're going to argue with a panel of
> lexicographers, Microsoft has definitely been accused of a crime as that
> word is definined in common use.  The dictionary is the American Heritage
> Dictionary, second college edition.
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Eric Bennett (http://www.pobox.com/~ericb/), Cornell Biochemistry Department
> 
> [If you are Bill Gates and you] want to control video? Just add it to
> Windows. Want to control Java? Just add it to Windows. Want to control the
> Internet? Just add it to Windows. Everyone has to buy Windows.
> -Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO
> 
> 
> 
>