Fearing a Silverlight future, seven states extend antitrust judgment against Microsoft
Posted on October 18th, 2007 by bile Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, California, Commonwealth Day, Connecticut, crime, debate, District of Columbia, freedom, Internet Explorer, Iowa, Kansas, liberty, Massachusetts, Microsoft, Minnesota, Mississippi, monopoly, nanny state, Nintendo, politics, property, regulation, server communications protocols, Software, Sony, Washington DC, web browser bundling, your money 2 Comments »California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia have moved (PDF) to extend their antitrust judgment against Microsoft until November 12, 2012. This decree is a modification of last month’s request to a judge that the judgment be extended by five years. The current antitrust decree is scheduled to expire in November of this year.
Firstly, they claim that there have been “continuing problems” with Microsoft’s efforts to document its server communications protocols.
Secondly, the report laments the state of OEM web browser bundling, saying that “no major OEM currently distributes a browser other than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE).”
I’m no fan of Microsoft but it’s laughable to think people actually consider them a monopoly. Sure they own lots of stuff and a whole lot of hardware run their software… but there are dozens of alternatives both for sale in the traditional sense but also free and open source projects. It’s really amazing all this has gone on for so long.
And why aren’t these states going after MS, Sony and Nintendo for having closed platforms? Shouldn’t my 360 game be able to work on my Wii?
