Firefox Founders: "We want to make money..." 10157

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1

On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 07:05:06 -0500,

as I pointed out, by the time the feds got rolling, Standard Oil was already losing what monopoly position it had. It was a temporary monopoly, as they pretty much all are.

yeah, it woulda happened, if it had only happened.

Of course, if it hadn't been AMD, it would have been TI, or some other manufacturer. At no point did Intel have a monopoly on CPUs.

That's life, and it's far from perfect. But if you expect to be able to eliminate those problems by govt fiat, you are mistaken. Lets focus on what we are talking about here.

Is a monopoly a problem? generally, yes. What do we do about it? Is it better to have the govt step in and regulate a business? or let the market handle it? Since the govt is the creator of most monopolies, I am loath to trust them to control same, They caused the problem in the first place!

Do monopolies exist outside of govt fiat? There are some that come close. (ALCOA, as previously mentioned) but they continue to exist as long as the don't drive prices above the point at which compebreastors arise. In fact, they are impelled to keep prices *low*

Is MS a monopoly? not really. Although they certainly have a majority of one relatively small market, valid consumer choice exists, and is being excersized. Has MS engaged in unethical business practices? yes, and the best remedy for that, is exposure. Constant, and wide spread.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU-Linux)

iD8DBQFC87DKd90bcYOAWPYRAkKqAJ0Uo1UNdjaVJHYfhLLuzaHBhdPVqQCgnHXM zwOlQiAXfyqzCcp7CYNb+aQ= =9cr9 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

-- "Microsoft Wheel. Now with 8 sides for a smoother ride." -- The Ghost in the Machine, in COLA