Comment A Modest Proposal (Score 1) 362
There's been much speculation on how to best penalize Microsoft for its illegal behavior, most of which seems to demand radical restructuring of the company or the enforcement of elaborate legal injunctions. I suggest a far simpler alternative that would require no government intervention at all.
Microsoft has been found guilty of abusing its monopoly power in a predatory and anti-competitive manner. It is the US Federal government that has granted Microsoft this power and I see no reason why it should not simply take it away. Microsoft's monopoly is maintained by the legally enforceable copyrights it holds on Windows and Internet Explorer. Invalidating these copyrights would eliminate Microsoft's strangle-hold on the industry and force it to compete on a level playing field open to all industry players. Rather than dictating limits on Microsoft's future activities by judicial decree, this simple denial of copyright protection would allow the natural forces of the marketplace to determine Microsoft's ultimate fate.
Microsoft has been found guilty of abusing its monopoly power in a predatory and anti-competitive manner. It is the US Federal government that has granted Microsoft this power and I see no reason why it should not simply take it away. Microsoft's monopoly is maintained by the legally enforceable copyrights it holds on Windows and Internet Explorer. Invalidating these copyrights would eliminate Microsoft's strangle-hold on the industry and force it to compete on a level playing field open to all industry players. Rather than dictating limits on Microsoft's future activities by judicial decree, this simple denial of copyright protection would allow the natural forces of the marketplace to determine Microsoft's ultimate fate.
