Talk to the Man Who Wants to Oversee Microsoft

Imagine "campaigning" for a job that doesn't exist, may never exist, and is sure to be full of heartburn for anyone who takes it on. Stephen Satchell is a self-declared candidate for the three-person committee the Feds might appoint to ensure Microsoft's future good behavior. Satch is certainly qualified; he's been online nearly forever, he's worked with computer operating systems darn near as long as computers have had operating systems, and he's certainly not afraid to speak his mind. But even the best-qualified job candidates need to be interviewed before they are chosen, and Satch has consented to have Slashdot readers conduct the initial interview in this hiring process. One question per interviewer, please. We'll email him 10 of the highest-moderated questions, and post his answers next week.

Comments

What makes you the best man for the job?

[Binestar]

Do you have any special agenda to get across or have anything for/against Microsoft that would make it so you were not impartial in your oversight of any federal rulings? As much as most people hate them this needs to be done in a fair and impartial way. WIll you be able to be fair and impartial?

Re:What makes you the best man for the job?

[Brian Kendig]

To further the point of the previous question:

Microsoft will set a team of lawyers to find every exploitable loophole in the court order which lets you oversee them. They will balk you, they will delay you, they will drag their heels at every possible opportunity; they will give you the bare minimum of help that they're required to give you; and in every situation where you even hint at any possible less-than-upright dealings on their part, they will cry from the mountaintops about how biased you are against them.

Their ultimate goal will be to get you to grumble about them -- and then they can go back to the government and use that as evidence that you're in fact not impartial, and you'll be out of their hair. It worked against a federal judge; it could work against you.

Why do you believe you're up to the task of sitting on the shoulder of this eight-hundred-pound gorilla while it flings monkey dung at you? Why should we believe that you'll be able to work with them, unwilling as they are, and be able to point out their illegal business practices without appearing to be biased against them?

Corruption?

[jamesidm]

What is in place to prevent Microsoft from potentially bribing you or other members of the commitee? Would you turn down 7 figure offers for the good of the computing community?

Re:Corruption?

[Odinson]

Perhaps I could elaberate with my intended question.

Do you think board members should make themselves avalible for financial audits?

If so...

How deep into the board members lives can the audits go and how long after their stay on the board should their financial records be reviewed?

Asking slashdot?

[heyetv]

Are you concerned that tying yourself to Slashdot, a known haven for us *nix freaks that are generally hostile towards Microsoft's actions, will harm your chances of obtaining this position, as it would require that those appointing the position perceive you as "objective" ?

Restrict What?

[JJ]

In what areas/functions must Microsoft be resricted in order for it not to violate anti-trust rules in the future?

Market/Government

[Luke]

In a typical capiltalist world, businesses are kept in check by the market and the government, and can't become monopolies. How do you believe Microsoft surpassed thse checks?

Re:My Question is...

[MrBoring]

What would you define an OS to include. If it includes utilities such as a defragmenter that is also sold separately by another vendor, is that really so bad? In essence, how much of Windows, the OS itself and packaging would you remove to make it not violate antitrust laws?

To boldly go insane....

[jd]

This may seem like a really obvious question, but how do you propose to oversee an organization the size and complexity of Microsoft, by yourself and maybe two others?

Microsoft has managed to avoid scrutiny by companies, courts, governments and even users. Many allegations made in the trial, such as "knifing the baby" remarks alleged by Netscape, would simply not be visible, by simply looking at Official Policy Documents. In fact, probably very little actual policy DOES appear in their Official Policy Documents.

In short, you can't hunt ghosts with an electron microscope. You need knowledge of what the right job is, and then you need the tools to do it.

Do you even remotely imagine that this is even possible?

Your non-technical qualifications

[The Bungi]

Given the abundance of galaxy-sized egos at Microsoft (especially when you start approaching the top), are you at all worried that your ability to deal with these people will be hampered due to plain and simple personality clashes (never mind the natural reticence to even talk to you)? Or are you expecting that your mandate (if and when it comes) will be enough?

Passport

[booch]

Microsoft is leveraging its monopoly with Windows and it's strong position with Office, MSN, and Hotmail to force or coerce everyone to use their Passport service. How can you prevent this leveraging of one monopoly to gain another monopoly? Especially given the fact that Microsoft has already gotten away with such leveraging several times before. (Also, can you comment on Microsoft's statement that they want a cut of every Internet trasaction?)

Would you release Microsoft source code? How?

[Nova Express]

Over the years, many complaints about Microsoft's monopoly power have revolved around the use of hidden/undocumented APIs and features in the source code of Windows and other programs to give Microsoft an unfair competitive advantage. One of the suggested penalties for Microsoft should they violate any future antitrust settlement yet again ("This time for sure!") is release of this source code.

My questions are:

Under what conditions would you support the release of Microsoft source code?

Which programs would you support the release of source code for? Windows XP? All currently shipping versions of Windows? Explorer? Office? Back Office? Or every single product Microsoft sells?

How would you ensure compliance for the release of Microsoft source code?

Would other programmers/companies/geeks etc. be able to use Microsoft source code for their own projects, or would they only be able to use it engineer backwards compatability with their own programs?

Would computer manufacturers be able to compile and load their own version of Windows NT/XP/Whatever on machines without paying Microsoft?

What sort of license would Microsoft source code be released under? GPL? BSD? GNU? Something else?