The sooner, the better. If advertisers want a platform to push ads, they can buy TV time. The Internet has turned into a den of thieves and it's time for the temple to be cleared.
Windows 3.1 deliberately refused to run under DR-DOS, the competitor to MS-DOS at the time. The deliberately vague error was caused by a block of obfuscated code--google for DR-DOS AARD.
First, most of those "millions" of vendors have OEM agreements with MS, in which they (and thus the end-user) pay for Windows even if it is included.
Second, I base the claim of insurmountable friction in a pure caveat emptor on the fact that there is a baseline assumption that sellers will be prohibited from the government from engaging in truly rapacious and dangerous practices (e.g. sale of a "health tonic" containing lead paint chips), eliminating the requirement of careful research and reading thirty pages of fine print for most people.
So we're back to "so long as there's at least one vendor selling a PC without Windows, there's no monopoly." Looks like we're at an impasse. (And having to purchase a monopoly OS/office suite that one needs to do business with others is a form of duress.) "Nobody put a gun to your head" is an oversimplified libertarian (small-L) argument that doesn't hold water in the real world. The market friction that would result everywhere from a pure caveat emptor system where any unconscionable contract was enforcable, because, well, nobody held a gun to your head, would be insurmountable and we'd be back to bartering beaver pelts for corn.
If you buy the *vast majority* of PCs, they come with a Windows license, which you pay for. Are you saying that the 1% that aren't OEMs make a significant difference in Microsoft's monopoly power?!
You think that Microsoft OS is "free?!" The cost is passed through, just like the taxes everyone hates so much. Except that Microsoft gets to collect the tax.
What justifies the government regulating companies with large market share is the overriding interest of the society (that's us) who elected that government in not being price gouged by companies that drive the vast majority of their competition out of business to gain the power to charge whatever they want when they're the only ones left.
Economic theory would agree with your definition--that ther has to be an absolute, 100% monopoly. Practically, though, it is realized that that an overwhelmingly dominant share such as Microsoft has in operating systems and office suites constitutes a practial monopoly. This is also acknowledged by the government's acknowledgement of monopoly power in these sorts of circumstances.
By your definition, there are no monopolies so long as there's some miniscule piece of market share not so covered. While you might cling to that definition, neither economists nor the Justice Department do.
I was listening to talk radio today. Borland Delphi was found dead in its Scotts Valley home at the age of 10. Even if you weren't an Object Pascal anti-Microsoft contrarian raging against the forces of the marketplace, there's no denying its contribution to popular culture. Truly an American icon.
I have an ML-1710 and it works great--correct, though, it's not a PCL printer; it's a GDI printer. Haven't used it with Linux, but it works fine with Win32 and OS X.
If you're worried about spyware, I wouldn't run Quicken. It calls home more than a momma's boy at his first summer camp, and displays targed, in-program ads (in a program you pay money for) right up there with the finest spyware available.
Re:Trillian is nice, but gaim has cross platform s
on
Trillian 3.0 Released
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· Score: 1
Gaim's a good concept, but I need interoperability with Trillian SecureIM. I know that the crypto-fanatics don't like it because the Diffie-Hellman key exchange is vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack. However, I still find it better than sending in the clear, and don't have to sell my contacts on gaim or teach them about key servers and all.
. My bet is that the RIAA investigates their targets carefully first, and avoids going after students with rich families.
I would be inclined to agree, but how would you reconcile this with the number of "John Doe" lawsuits, in which the RIAA ostensibly has no idea against whom they've filed suit?
It's called SET, and has been around in one form or another for over a decade. But the credit card companies obviously decided it was cheaper to deal with the fraud than to implement it.
Hear, hear. They lost their right to be heard as reasonable people when they launched their "warriors" against innocent women and children. May we all live to see their leaders hanged, in their words, God willing.
You're sort of missing the point--what does trademark enforcement have to do with Homeland Security. It sort of just proves that the whole creation of the agency was just a big law enforcement funding and power grab.
No kidding. Eight or nine bucks a month time all the people with Caller ID is too much money to leave on the table by letting it become useless. The question is whether they'll try for a legislative or a technical solution.
Slashdot Mirror
The sooner, the better. If advertisers want a platform to push ads, they can buy TV time. The Internet has turned into a den of thieves and it's time for the temple to be cleared.
Or when you use a cattle prod to keep things interesting to prevent one :).
Windows 3.1 deliberately refused to run under DR-DOS, the competitor to MS-DOS at the time. The deliberately vague error was caused by a block of obfuscated code--google for DR-DOS AARD.
Second, I base the claim of insurmountable friction in a pure caveat emptor on the fact that there is a baseline assumption that sellers will be prohibited from the government from engaging in truly rapacious and dangerous practices (e.g. sale of a "health tonic" containing lead paint chips), eliminating the requirement of careful research and reading thirty pages of fine print for most people.
So we're back to "so long as there's at least one vendor selling a PC without Windows, there's no monopoly." Looks like we're at an impasse. (And having to purchase a monopoly OS/office suite that one needs to do business with others is a form of duress.) "Nobody put a gun to your head" is an oversimplified libertarian (small-L) argument that doesn't hold water in the real world. The market friction that would result everywhere from a pure caveat emptor system where any unconscionable contract was enforcable, because, well, nobody held a gun to your head, would be insurmountable and we'd be back to bartering beaver pelts for corn.
If you buy the *vast majority* of PCs, they come with a Windows license, which you pay for. Are you saying that the 1% that aren't OEMs make a significant difference in Microsoft's monopoly power?!
What justifies the government regulating companies with large market share is the overriding interest of the society (that's us) who elected that government in not being price gouged by companies that drive the vast majority of their competition out of business to gain the power to charge whatever they want when they're the only ones left.
Economic theory would agree with your definition--that ther has to be an absolute, 100% monopoly. Practically, though, it is realized that that an overwhelmingly dominant share such as Microsoft has in operating systems and office suites constitutes a practial monopoly. This is also acknowledged by the government's acknowledgement of monopoly power in these sorts of circumstances.
By your definition, there are no monopolies so long as there's some miniscule piece of market share not so covered. While you might cling to that definition, neither economists nor the Justice Department do.
I was listening to talk radio today. Borland Delphi was found dead in its Scotts Valley home at the age of 10. Even if you weren't an Object Pascal anti-Microsoft contrarian raging against the forces of the marketplace, there's no denying its contribution to popular culture. Truly an American icon.
Easy--Microsoft.
You weren't in our database. But you are now--thanks!
Sincerely,
Choicepoint Privacy Services
I have an ML-1710 and it works great--correct, though, it's not a PCL printer; it's a GDI printer. Haven't used it with Linux, but it works fine with Win32 and OS X.
750 ml. Preferably with the pretty purple bag.
Beautiful :)!
I swear, sometimes the jokes just write themselves!
If you're worried about spyware, I wouldn't run Quicken. It calls home more than a momma's boy at his first summer camp, and displays targed, in-program ads (in a program you pay money for) right up there with the finest spyware available.
Pretty much, yeah. And he's not the only one. The DMCA-wielding jackbooted thugs at Blizzard will never see a dime of my money.
Does it interoperate with Trillian SecureIM?
Gaim's a good concept, but I need interoperability with Trillian SecureIM. I know that the crypto-fanatics don't like it because the Diffie-Hellman key exchange is vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack. However, I still find it better than sending in the clear, and don't have to sell my contacts on gaim or teach them about key servers and all.
I would be inclined to agree, but how would you reconcile this with the number of "John Doe" lawsuits, in which the RIAA ostensibly has no idea against whom they've filed suit?
It's called SET, and has been around in one form or another for over a decade. But the credit card companies obviously decided it was cheaper to deal with the fraud than to implement it.
Hear, hear. They lost their right to be heard as reasonable people when they launched their "warriors" against innocent women and children. May we all live to see their leaders hanged, in their words, God willing.
You're sort of missing the point--what does trademark enforcement have to do with Homeland Security. It sort of just proves that the whole creation of the agency was just a big law enforcement funding and power grab.
No kidding. Eight or nine bucks a month time all the people with Caller ID is too much money to leave on the table by letting it become useless. The question is whether they'll try for a legislative or a technical solution.