Re: DOJ actions -- Why not Windows 98?

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

  I don't think DOJ has logically insist that any feature be unbundled. 
  The browser isn't just any feature however.  It is a platform for lots
  of applications.  This is why it should be unbundled.  
  
     Jamie
  
  
  
  Hans Reiser wrote:
  > 
  > James Love wrote:
  > 
  > > Microsoft's defense is that MSIE4.0 will *be* part of the operating
  > > system in Win98.   Indeed, if you install MSIE4.0 in Win95, and include
  > > the active desktop, it replaces the standard file manager with the
  > > browser.  For DOJ's actions to meaningful, DOJ has to prevent MS from
  > > achiving by product integration what it is a seeking to do through
  > > tying.   Jamie
  > 
  > Do you folks think that I am correct in saying that for the DOJ argument to
  > be logically consistent DOJ must make the argument that any OS component
  > that has a competitor must be untied if it is feasible to do so?  That is
  > what I found disappointing in reading the DOJ's argument, that they haven't
  > owned up to what this logically necessitates.
  > 
  > Fortunately, modern software technology makes it extensively feasible to
  > perform this untying, and to allow consumers to configure the components
  > they want from the vendor they want, download them over the net, and
  > recompile the OS (e.g. Linux does it in a way that requires sophistication
  > and effort, making it work for average users without a lot of time for
  > system administration is technically quite feasible).  You could not do
  > this effectively with assembly line factory work, and that is why we don't
  > force GM to offer us a choice of all possible mufflers.   Anti-Trust
  > policies must change with the technology.
  > 
  > On a different topic, is it correct to think that section 6 (forfeiture) of
  > Sherman Anti-Trust cannot be requested by a private action?  Or is it
  > merely not usually done?
  > 
  > Hans
  
  -- 
  James Love | Center for Study of Responsive Law
  P.O. Box 19367 | Washington, DC 20036 | http://www.cptech.org
  voice 202.387.8030 | fax 202.234.5176 | love@cptech.org