Whenever I read about the US antitrust case against Microsoft I have to laugh. The focus on Microsoft has always seemed silly to me, with Microsoft simply being the most successful company at utilizing a critically flawed technology law regime which creates an anti-competitive environment. The "Evil Empire" isn't Microsoft, but the US government and governments which follow their "lead".
Some of the key US created problems? Software patents and laws which disallow citizens from making their own software choices such as anti-circumvention, broadcast flag, mandatory watermark detections, and various harmful attempts to "close the analog hole". With the USTR/USPTO pushing these very bad ideas worldwide this "evil empire" is causing harm not only to the US domestic economy but the global economy.
These laws do not work in the way intended as they do not provide incentive for innovation (information/mental process patents) or reduce copyright infringements (the various technology mandates meant to disallow private citizens from owning/controlling their own IT). Both sets of techniques cause considerable anti-competative harm to the global marketplace, creating all the problems we see with companies like Microsoft.
Governments suing companies like Microsoft without fixing the underlying technology law are simply punishing companies for being successful within the flawed rules that the government created. Even if Microsoft was completely broken up, all we would have accomplished is a name-change given any other company can become successful within those flawed rules and harm the economy.
EU court crushes Microsoft's antitrust appeal
This same silliness is going on in the EU. See Reuters article published by C-Net.
I added two comments:
Of course this is protectionism.: reader comment from Russell McOrmond
Posted on: September 17, 2007, 6:14 AM PDT
Story: EU court crushes Microsoft's antitrust appeal
I agree with you that what the EU is doing is protectionist in nature.
Where we may disagree is that the laws that create excessive exclusive rights that are being pushed worldwide by the USTR/USPTO are also protectionist in nature. In the global opposition to free/libre trade and global fair competition, from my observation the worst offender is the United States.
Microsoft isn't the problem. The root of the problem is laws which give exclusive rights on computing interfaces (mis-named anti-circumvention legislation, or any Patent or Copyright on an Interface such as an API, network protocol or file format) or rights on information/mental processes.
While I may put some blame on Mr Gates and his followers for pushing the ideology of "some exclusive rights are good, more is better, and the only way to make money with knowledge is to charge a marginal price", but I do not blame any companies for the obvious failures of this ideology.
Until countries address the underlying problem, they will then be continuously claiming that these companies are "abusing" the law when in fact they are simply (most often foreign) successes at obeying bad laws.
Attempts at solving the wrong problem isn't a solution at all!: reader comment from Russell McOrmond
Posted on: September 17, 2007, 6:03 AM PDT
Story: EU court crushes Microsoft's antitrust appeal
The following is a link to an article I wrote in the context of the US settlement with Microsoft. http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/4157
"The focus on Microsoft has always seemed silly to me, with Microsoft simply being the most successful company at utilizing a critically flawed technology law regime which creates an anti-competitive environment. The "Evil Empire" isn't Microsoft, but the US government and governments which follow their "lead".
Some of the key US created problems? Software patents and laws which disallow citizens from making their own software choices such as anti-circumvention, broadcast flag, mandatory watermark detections, and various harmful attempts to "close the analog hole". With the USTR/USPTO pushing these very bad ideas worldwide this "evil empire" is causing harm not only to the US domestic economy but the global economy."
Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) consultant.