Word: microsoft
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Funny what the threat of a government-sponsored breakup will do to whet a company's appetite for compromise. According to Sunday?s Washington Post, Microsoft has drafted a plan designed to address many of the primary charges brought by the government's antitrust case, while keeping the company whole. If the counteroffer is accepted, its provisions would essentially rewrite the company's disclosure and marketing policies. Among the terms of the offer: Consumers would be able to purchase PCs with Windows operating systems and without Internet Explorer; the company would not require computer makers to promote Microsoft products over...
...many shares of Microsoft...
...also helped on its way by being written to target the ubiquitous Microsoft Outlook e-mail client. "Software standardization is a fertile breeding ground for viruses," said Lev Grossman of TIME Digital. "Writing a virus for one e-mail client can affect every company using that client." Once the virus has established itself on a host computer, it quickly destroys all music and image files and disables the e-mail system, causing irreparable damage at some companies. One European magazine lost its entire picture archive for the past two years. Other companies have had servers crash and data destroyed...
...staff is too harsh in recommending that Microsoft be broken up. The computer industry is very different from a traditional industry. Technology monopolies are extremely tenuous. But, furthermore, they are necessary. In order for third parties to write new software, a standard platform must be established to write to. Otherwise small applications developers will suffer by being forced to take on the additional costs of writing for multiple platforms...
...better solution would be to make Microsoft a slightly regulated monopoly. The possibility of a competitor breaking open the market should be left open, but unless that happens, the government should keep a close eye over Microsoft's shoulder to ensure that none of its practices block potential competition and that it does not take unfair advantage over other companies. Although the staff rejects this possibility due to likely evasions by Microsoft, these evasions would only ensue if the government were not persistent in upholding its standards...