David Maynard nospam private.net wrote:

Mxsmanic wrote:

David Maynard writes:


The Netscape matter is interesting because they began by giving
their browser away then, when they had 84% market share, began
charging for it, which would seem to be an exercise in
monopolistic power... but maybe no one sued. Then, when Microsoft
gives away their browser, Netscape brings suit against Microsoft
for doing the same thing they had done to get an 84% market
share.

Amusing, eh?


Netscape wasn't seen as the bad guy; Microsoft was. The
difference between subjective perception and reality is sometimes
enormous.

You betcha. So much for 'blind' justice

You have a strange idea of justice. Netscape wasn't on trial. Some
people love to base their judgments on their feelings about the
entity instead of the facts.


It gets even more interesting when you look at the 'ICON on the
desktop' issue. One could always install Netscape on a Windows
machine, and sell it that way, but what Netscape wanted was for
OEMs, with, one imagines, a bit of prodding from Netscape, the
holder of monopoly power in the browser market, to be able to
*remove* I.E. from Microsoft's own product, not simply coexist,
and sell it with Netscape *only*.

Besides being corrupt, that's false.

In fact, original equipment manufacturers OEMs wanted to sell
Windows without Internet Explorer. Original Equipment Manufacturers
were forced by Microsoft to include Internet Explorer and to keep
the Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop. Original Equipment
Manufacturers reluctantly did not include Netscape because
Microsoft's requirement of having to Internet browser icons on the
desktop would lead to consumer confusion, more calls for technical
help, and therefore less if any profit on each PC sold.

The chief appeals court justice asked why Microsoft didn't put
Internet explorer in the Add/Remove Programs area. Microsoft's
attorneys began by making light of the judges lack of understanding.
The judge made clear that he was dead serious. And he was right. We
all know that the browser does not have to be an integral part of
Windows (any more than Windows Media Player has to be an integral
part of Windows). I've used Windows and Internet Explorer for years
in such a way that Internet Explorer functions just like any other
program.


One way of looking at it might be to say that Netscape was
complaining about Microsoft 'infringing' on their 'free use of
monopoly power'

Maybe Netscape Navigator was a monopoly, but it was Microsoft's
monopoly power that was misused in order to force Netscape Navigator
out of the personal computer Internet browser market. So is it wrong
to use monopoly power to dislodge another monopoly? Yes. Holding
monopoly power is not illegal. Using monopoly power to gain another
market share is illegal.

The problem with the appeals court decision is that they don't
understand the virtue of separating the operating system from the
applications. Or maybe the prosecution didn't gear their
case that way.









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From: David Maynard nospam private.net
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.basics,sci.electronics.repair,alt. comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Subject: The truth about OS/2!!! [ Why aren't computer clocks as accurate as cheap quartz watches?]
Date: Fri, 04 Nov 2005 19:42:55 -0600
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