[Am-info] Billie's propaganda machine in Massachusetts

[John Poltorak]

On Thu, Mar 14, 2002 at 08:53:40AM -0500, Erick Andrews wrote:
> The spin doctors are hard at work again.
> See:
> http://www.businesstoday.com/business/business/soft03142002.htm
> 
> -- 
> Erick Andrews
> 
> =======================================
> Reilly's plan for Microsoft gets panned:  Group:
> Penalties would backfire on Mass.  , Thursday,
> March 14, 2002
> 
> In his prepared statement, Reilly noted that the
> nine states "are asking the federal court to order
> remedies that will restore competition in the PC
> operating system market and curb Microsoft's
> unlawful practices.  


It's interesting to see the use of the word 'curb'. The correct word is 
'stop'. It's almost as if Micosoft's unlawful practices are accepted and 
some effort should be made to restrain them or prevent them getting any 
worse, ie so that they are not quite so unlawful. This is ridiculous. A 
business practice can't have degrees of lawfulness, either it is or it 
isn't.  I have nothing in any settlement which even remotely suggests that 
any of their unlawful practices will stop.

I have always been under the impression that if you break the law you get 
punished, yet there has been no punishment for Microsoft. There is 
absolutely no reason to think that any competition will be brought into 
the computer industry as a result of the four year charade of a trial 
which has at least confirmed that Microsoft has broken the US Anti-Trust 
laws.

-- 
John