{OT}Beginner Question

[Gerard Seibert]

On Wednesday November 21, 2007 at 08:18:13 (AM) shuttlebox wrote:

> Isn't that exactly what they are doing and even been convicted for on
> several accounts? However, I think it's called murder when it's the
> other guy that dies.

<rant>

Actually, no they have not. They have been accused, and in some cases
convicted of using their market share to unduly influence the use of its
products over a competitors. Whether that could be construed as "good business"
or "ethically challenged" is open for debate. The US filed suit under the
Sherman Anti Trust Act, which is really funny since that statue was designed
to control the railroad and oil barons of that era. The European nations,
using a typical socialist scenario, want to level the playing field, so they
have enjoined into this legal attach on a legal corporation.

No one puts a gun to your head and forces you to by a Microsoft product. It is
not like gasoline, where the options are not as varied. A small group of
individuals can control the price of petroleum. Conversely, software can be
written with virtually no overhead involved, and distributed at zero or low
cost. No one forces you to use any particular OS or software product. Well,
maybe your employer does; however, that is a totally different situation.

The goal of any business person is to produce a product, distribute it
successfully, and make a decent return on their investment. In our society
today, it is easier to bring legal action against a successful corporation
than it is to create a better product. At one time there was axiom that stated
in part that if you make a better mouse trap, someone will make a better mouse.
In today's business climate, if you make a better mouse trap, the mice will
sue.

Just look at Google. When they stated, they were all the rage. Everyone, well
almost everyone, loved them. Now they are constantly being attacked. I read
where Sun Microsystems was contemplating legal action against them. There are
already several lawsuits that claim Google is unduly discriminating against
certain web sites for a varied list of reasons. It just never ends. People
want the courts to do what they are unable to accomplish through hard work.

As to your comment regarding murder; just because the other individual dies
does not constitute a criminal act. Remember the short lived battle between VHS
and BetaMAX. Or how about GAF v. Kodak? The natural selection of the fittest
is just the way it is.

</rant>

-- 
Gerard