agitator iamicus_curious wrote:
"Rjack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
amicus_curious wrote:
"Rjack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Microsoft is not the result of many mergers and acquisitions, rather
the product of a rapidly growing market for computers in the home and
workplace.
True but you missed the point.
"... And in seven
years, the Bush Justice Department has not brought a single
monopolization case." -- Statement of Senator Barack Obama for the
American Antitrust Institute
http://www.antitrustinstitute.org/archives/files/aai-%20Presidential%20campaign%20-%20Obama%209-07_092720071759.pdf
"Monopolization case" as in:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
Section 2. Monopolizing trade a felony; penalty
Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or
combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize
any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with
foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on
conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding
$10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $350,000, or by
imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments,
in the discretion of the court.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
With the Bush administration gone we could see competitors emboldened
for the first time since 1998.
I understood the point to be as stated in your original post, i.e. that
Microsoft will find itself in the crosshairs of the Obama
administration's DOJ. But Obama's thoughts seem to be contained in:
"The consequences of lax enforcement for consumers are clear. Take
health care, for
example. There have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10
years. The
American Medical Association reports that 95% of insurance markets in the
United States are now highly concentrated and the number of insurers has
fallen by
just under 20% since 2000. These changes were supposed to make the
industry more
efficient, but instead premiums have skyrocketed, increasing over 87
percent over the
past six years."
Where he refers to the lack of oversight for mergers and acquisitions as
the culprit. Microsoft has grown to its monopoly position via
development of its core product and not through such mergers. I don't
know if healthcare insurers are bad or good, they do seem to compete
with one another even when there are only a handful of big ones. But
the money there is a lot. My company and I together pay about $700 per
month for coverage. I buy a new computer about every three years and
may end up indirectly paying Microsoft $50 or $100 for Windows.
Healthcare (and auto insurance and just about everything else) is a much
bigger fish to fry than the embedded cost of the OS in a PC.
I may be that the Obama administration won't initiate action
spontaneously but you can bet that Big Blue will stir the pot
any way it can. IBM is the biggest agitator in the EU and I'm sure
they'll test the waters with the new Obama administration.
Sincerely,
Rjack :)
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