US v Microsoft

[Jason Stokes]

hamlet at en.com wrote in message <38e17b68$0$1374 at news.voyager.net>...
>I think that what many people lose sight of in defending Microsoft is
>that any concentration of power of this magnitude has the potential
>for being abused. I think that this litigation has been very broadly
>based and courageous; I respect the government lawyers for using the
>rule of law to attempt to check the tyrannical exercise of power.


Actually the US federal government is largely interest simply in pursuing
the interests of Microsoft's competitors, who have been the largest
contributors to the lawsuit, after all.  There is a consumer protection
angle, but I think it's clear that if that was all there was I suspect
there'd be zero interest in pursuing the case.  If they were really
interested about consumer protection, why haven't they gone after AOL?

Strategically, the lawsuit is useful, but let's not romanticise the US
government's intentions.