States Claim There is No Match for Microsoft

Bergkamp10 writes "State antitrust regulators have dismissed companies such as Google and Mozilla Corp, and software technologies such as AJAX and SaaS as "piddling players that pose no threat to Microsoft's monopoly in the operating system and browser markets". According to the report ten US states, including California, New York and the District of Columbia have called for an extension of monitoring of Microsoft's business practices until November 2012. They claim that little has changed in the OS and browser spaces since the 2002 antitrust case ruled against Microsoft. In their most recent brief, the states countered Microsoft's contention that Web-based companies — Google, Salesforce.com, Yahoo, eBay and others — and new Web-centric technologies constitute what Microsoft dubbed a "competitive alternative to Windows." Not even close, said the states, claiming that while these companies' products provide functionality for users they still rely on Operating Systems and browsers — the two spaces where Microsoft dominates. Experts were apparently even more damning, claiming competition in the market has not been restored since 2002 and that the collective powers of Google, Firefox and Web 2.0 are about as effective as a one legged man in a butt-kicking contest when it comes to unsettling Microsoft's monopoly of the market."

Comments

Re:DC a state?

[larry bagina]

S. 1257, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007, came 3 senate votes short of unconstitutionally granting DC full representation in the house. I'm glad to know anonymous cowards understand the Constitution better than cosponsors Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, or Barack Obama.

Re:No OS competition?

[zaivala]

How competitive IS Apple? Last I heard, Bill Gates owned 50% of the company's stock...

Re:There we go again, shooting ourselves in the fo

[WK2]

This country is going to hell in a handbasket economic wise and these technological industries are one of the US's last hopes. What I find ironic is our own government is trying to stifle a major breadwinner for this country, while the rest of the world thrives at our expense. Wake up America. Compete and embrace our home grown successes or go out of business, not to mention Microsoft uprooting itself and moving to a more economic friendly country.

But where does Microsoft's money come from? Mostly from American companies and American people. Where does the money go to? I bet most of it stays here in America, but a lot of it goes to foreign stock holders. So, does more money go out, or come in? Even if more money comes in, or it is neutral, that is probably overwhelmed by the lack of efficiency in the exchange. Nobody makes 100% profit. And don't forget all of the American money lost due to cracking MS systems, sales lost due to reliability problems, and man-hours lost due to maintenance issues. And how much money would the competition make, if they were allowed to exist?

heh?

[someone1234]

Why IE7 and Vista security are so fscked up then?

My Linux doesn't ask stupid questions every time I use it.
Firefox is much more usable than IE7, hell, even IE6 is more usable.