[Am-info] What is a Monopoly?

[Paul Rickard]

========== On 2002.11.20 10:32 AM, T. Guilbert typed: ============

>"|I thought it might be something like controlling 50% of a market,
>"|but  can't find anything definitive...
>
>Which assumes that you think "market" itself can be defined; usually
>once the market is defined, a monopoly is easy to spot. 

    Bingo. Microsoft would have you believe that it is not a monopoly 
because on other platforms it's not so dominant. Servers, desktops, 
handhelds, washing machines with CPUs, game consoles... If you count any 
computer system as part of the market, Microsoft is not a monopoly. But 
if you narrow the market too much, say they have a monopoly on x86 
desktop operating systems, you're also saying other companies, like Apple 
(monopoly on PowerPC desktop operating systems), are just as bad. The 
market is hard to identify precisely, especially when you're an elderly 
semi-senile judge or legislator who has a secretary print all his e-mail 
every morning.



======== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign =======
--------------------------------[ Http://www.msboycott.com ]-----------

  Your mouse has moved. You must restart Windows for these changes
   to take effect.