Wojtek Sokolowski wrote > There is an article on antitrust legislation and its enforcement in > ther last issue of the Dollars and Sense. One view they menation is > that all this antitrust schmooze is a diversion from more serious > issues, such as publi/private ownership of key industries. That is getting to the heart of the matter. From a user's point of view, having the browser integrated with the operating system makes very good sense, as long as there are ways to install competing user interfaces. Forcing MS to sell it separately will increase user costs, not reduce them, and probably lead to a more clunky system. What is needed is sufficient regulation or public ownership of these key assets such that they can't be used for profiteering or cutting out the competition. Anti-trust actions don't really attack the problem, if they end up splitting up what should be an integrated system, and keeping these bits of software together is an advantage. I don't have great faith in the long-term effect of anti-trust actions to boost competition in any case. Bill Bill Rosenberg, Deputy Director, Computer Services Centre University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ph 64 3 3642801. Fax 64 3 3642332. Room 211, Ext 6801
