Re: The new licensing model

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

--- From a message sent by pap on 12/16/99 8:08 PM ---

>But I do feel that the power you speak of is based not on some excess 
>larceny in the heart of  management but in the licenses they are granted 
>to use it by not having to disclose one jot of code, along with the rest 
>of the world. I do not see them being unique in this regard other than 
>having overachieved at it.

Exactly. Unlike some other members of this list, I don't view Microsoft's 
management as a genuine special case. Simply, they were gifted a virtual 
monopoly by IBM and then proceeded to leverage it to beat the band. Few 
corporations are ever availed of such as golden opportunity, which is why 
we see so few abusive monopolies of this kind, and not because the people 
running Microsoft are qualitatively less ethical then any other corporate 
execs. At least, not much. Past behavior is an issue, certainly, but we 
waste a lot of energy pasting horns on Bill Gates when what we really 
need is to strip away all the bluenosed rhetoric and focus on the basic 
issue, which is restoring open competition to the industry. Competition 
will cure a multitude of sins, real and perceived.

Mitch Stone
mstone@vc.net