Re: Antrust and lock-in

["Etchison, Michael" <etchison@puc.texas.gov>]

	Brian Blackman proposes some sort of limits -- temporal, maybe -- for 
intellectual property, as a way of dealing with network effects.  The 
point, however, is that if they are genuine network effects, they may be 
intrinsic:  there may be a natural strong tendency for the market to 
settle on one location/system/design/standard _because of the benefits to 
the customer_.  To deprive customers of this benefit in order to strip 
BillG of some of his billions is to use a broadax on one's foot.
Michael E. Etchison
etchison@puc.texas.gov
[opinions mine, not the PUCT's]