Re: Company, government eyeing deal?

["Norm" <normanmo@clark.net>]

On Wed, 10 Mar 1999 01:41:01 -0500, Mitch Stone wrote:

>>Interesting, isn't it.  This may be the most momentous event since the 
>>trial began
>>- Microsoft blinks for the first time.  And what have we, the "Appraising
>>Microsoft" list been discussing today, for the most part?
>>
>>Thank you, Mitch and Chris, for trying to bring us back to topic.
>>
>>My guess is that no settlement will come soon, but that the two sides are 
>>feeling
>>each other out to see where a settlement is feasible.  What is discussed 
>>today may
>>become part of the basis for settlement later.  Regardless of what comes 
>>of it, I
>>think it's good that Microsoft is finally realizing it's going to have to do
>>something different than what it's been up to so far.
>
>The history of this company suggests that whenever they find the need to 
>do something different, they instead do the same thing in a slightly 
>different way. They manage perceptions. When they were first accused of 
>using inside knowledge of OS development to give themselves an advantage 
>in applications, they created the "Chinese wall" fiction. That worked for 
>quite a while. When they agreed to stop using the cpu tax, they found 
>other equally effective methods of producing the same result. It goes 
>without saying that the company will try to find a settlement that harms 
>them the least, but keep in mind that the perceptions they need to manage 
>are those of the public, and perhaps Congress, not the DoJ.


     Exactly, IOW to allow M$ to take part in their own 'regulation' is
pure folly.  They've proven time and time again that they can't be
trusted to do the 'right thing', and given the slightest amount of
'wiggle room' they'll break at least the spirt, if not the letter of
the law.  I really hope nobody at the DOJ forgets the 1995 decree.

--
 ...Cheers,

 ...Norm

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