Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:34:54 -0800 From: "David Schwartz" <davids@webmaster.com> To: <tedm@toybox.placo.com> Cc: Rob <bitabyss@gmail.com>, FreeBSD Chat <freebsd-chat@freebsd.org>, Andrew Falanga <af300wsm@gmail.com> Subject: RE: Suggestions please for what POP or IMAP servers to use Message-ID: <MDEHLPKNGKAHNMBLJOLKMEJHIPAC.davids@webmaster.com> In-Reply-To: <BMEDLGAENEKCJFGODFOCKEDNCFAA.tedm@toybox.placo.com>
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> David, this is getting really tiring. Do you have such much as a shred > of evidence to support your assertion that Microsoft was really > afraid of anything? Yes or no. If you have no evidence, go away. If you > have > evidence, present it. > Ted Nothing would satisfy you except perhaps a video tape of Bill Gates being nervous. When we talk about a corporation being motivated by fear, we know that a corporation is not a human being and has no feelings. It can't actually be afraid of anything. However, tons of evidence from that time period suggests that Microsoft feared that the Internet could pose a threat to its Windows monopoly in various ways. Tons and tons of evidence supported this view, and the antitrust trial (which Microsoft lost) was about precisely this. I don't deny that Microsoft later found ways to profit from IE. I don't even deny that these ways may have motivated later actions. However, there is no evidence whatsoever that Microsoft saw root key inclusion as a way to profit from IE during the browser wars. There is simply not one shred of evidence to support this view. If Ted had any, he'd present it. I don't deny that it's possible. I don't deny that had Microsoft thought of that at the time, it likely would have motivated them. I simply deny that Microsoft thought of it at the time. This would require a kind of foresight on Gates' part that he simply didn't have. It really doesn't matter whether Bill Gates genuinely feared that the Internet could topple his OS monopoly by making OS unimportant or if he was just covering his bases. The fact is, he acted to leverage his Windows monopoly to kill IE and the only reason with any evidence at all to support it was that it is that this was to protect Windows. You may find some evidence to suggest that Microsoft thought that the browser might be a way to control other markets. For example, if your browser defaults to your portal, then your book selling site might have an advantage over a competitor's. It's quite possible that this also motivated Microsoft to think winning the browser wars was important. There is just no evidence that root key issues had any role in the browser wars. Ted insists they did against all evidence. DS
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