Why use Open Source when Microsoft products are so cheap... 10007

I'm not going to go on a anti-DeBeers rant (perhaps it's already too late) but since fits in too nicely with the anti MS-monopoly stuff that gets talked about here all the time. There is LOTS of info on DeBeers on the web. But this paper has a decent summary.

"Diamonds are understood to be rare, but in actuality there is an enormous supply. Edward Epstein, during a PBS special, said..."

"To keep diamonds "rare," DeBeers's real business became restricting what came out of the ground, restricting what was discovered, and restricting what got cut ("The Diamond Empire" 1). Today, they still control what is available to the jewelers, which allows them to remain powerful."

"DeBeers's headquarters is located in London, England. The company cannot operate in the United States because it is a monopoly and the United States has anti-trust laws (''The Diamond Empire" 1). Despite the ban, almost all of the diamonds in the United States have been provided by DeBeers and jewelers have to travel all the way to London to buy diamonds."

"Jewelers fly to London about once a month and buy strictly from DeBeers ("The Diamond Empire" 1). "Each buyer sends an application for the diamonds he wants to buy a few weeks before the sights. On the basis of these applications, the boxes are prepared" (van der Laan 95). The company sets a price for the box of diamonds that will be sold. When the buyer arrives, he is shown into a room where he finds the box prepared for him and the price he will have to pay for it. After he inspects it, the buyer indicates whether he buys it or not. There is no negotiation about the price or the contents because the price is fixed, and the prospective buyer can only inspect his own box (van der Laan 96)."