In article <[email protected]>, JEDIDIAH <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 2009-01-25, ZnU <[email protected]> wrote: > > In article <[email protected]>, > > Rjack <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> With the advent of the Obama administration, it is generally > >> expected that the Justice Department and the FTC will become much > >> more aggressive in antitrust enforcement matters. > >> > >> With Microsoft's OS share hovering around 90%, > >> > >> http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=8 > >> > >> how can Microsoft best subtly assist OSX and Linux in order to > >> avert antitrust prosecutions under the new administration that > >> will resemble those in the EU? > > > > I don't think you're going to see the new administration come down > > on Microsoft as long as Microsoft maintains the status quo. If > > Microsoft decides to pull a new stunt of similar scale to > > "integrating" IE, then you might see some action. > > ...they don't need to. > > Just the fact that they use Macs will leak out to the wider world and > that alone will have some impact. There also may be some impact that > comes from accomodating those Mac users within the current IT > infastructure at the White House and elsewhere. > > The government doesn't need to "punish" Microsoft or any other > abusive corporation. They can simply choose to stop buying from them, > or perhaps make them work for it more. Using a few Macs in the White House isn't going to make much difference. But it's true that the US federal government can wield enormous influence through its own purchasing, particularly when you consider that federal government technology adoption influences what government contractors use, which influences what their other customers and their suppliers use, creating a ripple effect throughout the economy. At the very least the US federal government should make some noises about moving away from Windows and MS Office in order to get pricing concessions from Microsoft. Everyone else large enough to have substantial bargaining power seems to be doing that. -- "What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works [...]" -- Barack Obama, January 20th, 2008 _______________________________________________ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss
