Rambus in Violation of Monopoly Laws

surfingmarmot writes to tell us that in a recent ruling the Federal Trade Commission declared that Rambus had unlawfully monopolized four computer memory technology markets. From the article: "In an opinion by Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour, the Commission found that, through a course of deceptive conduct, Rambus was able to distort a critical standard-setting process and engage in an anticompetitive 'hold up' of the computer memory industry. The Commission held that Rambus's acts of deception constituted exclusionary conduct under Section 2 of the Sherman Act and contributed significantly to Rambus's acquisition of monopoly power in the four relevant markets. The Commission has ordered additional briefings to determine the appropriate remedy for 'the substantial competitive harm that Rambus's course of deceptive conduct has inflicted.'"

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Front page filled with crimes against computing

[From A Far Away Land]

The Slashdot front page is filled with crimes holding up progress in the field of computing.

- Vista tries to pretty up the PC case to shove DRM down our throats, by requiring the purchase of new DRM ready hardware like PVP screens.

- Rambus conspired to muddy the RAM providing market, so motherboards are made obsolete sooner rather than later, since we have to settle on one RAM standard to upgrade. If we don't have it, then we have to change the whole motherboard and probably CPU too. If it's in a mass produced computer, the consumer has to pitch the computer to upgrade.

- Apple's DRM found to be hindering customer use of media.

I wish we'd stop letting companies plan to build in failure mechanisms in their product. I'd pay 20% more for a computer that I knew would have new parts available in 5 years when it starts to legitimately wear out. That extra money could go to the collection of old computers and reusing or recylcing the materials in them in an ecologically sound way.