Posts by Paul Wilzbach

Watchdog calls for Google break-up

look if you want but don't touch

Google is a lawful monopoly with no lock in. End of story.

Opera's Jon Von Tetzchner on browser choice, the iphone and Google

Having a monopoly is not illegal

It's not illegal in the U.S. to have a monopoly or a near monopoly. It is illegal to abuse that position in anti-competitive ways as spelled out by the body of U.S. anti-trust laws. Judge Penfield Jackson found Microsoft to be both a monopolist and criminal, but I think the latter was negotiated away in a Consent Agreement with the U.S. Court of Appeals.

@Haydies

Microsoft had it's U.S. Court supervision period extended twice because of their anti-trust non-compliance. It's currently scheduled to end May 2011.

As an aside, three countries (U.S., Germany, and France) have warned it's citizens against using Internet Explorer for security reasons.

Google will build 1Gbps fiber networks to the home

@won't happen anytime soon

Tell that to the asshole telco that put a fiber box on our easement without regard to our ingress/egress.

But bless the evil bastard Google for trying to nudge broadband in the US. Maybe they should have promised to no good.

Windows 7 lessons - the must know before you buy

XP and netbooks

"We are in an awkward situation now because they are giving away XP in the netbook market - they are literally giving it way to OEMs," he claimed then and sticks to now

For a monopolist, isn't this (illegal) predatory pricing?

Mozilla invites all comers on post-tab future

Innovation pretender

What worked in the past should do. Just wait to see what Opera comes up with and copy it.

IBM lubricates Obama's IT stimulus

@Makes sense?

Damn that IBM for trying to cut costs, grow revenue streams, and increase shareholder value.

Dell develops ultra-efficient server power supplies

Pretty happy with Dell

Don't know what some of you are getting in the UK, but in the US, Dell ships a pretty decent desktop pc. Consumer Reports, for instance, consistently ranks Dell in the top three for fewest repairs and best service (Apple, Dell, IBM/Lenovo).

My business PC experience starts in 1983, and I've been placing Dells exclusively since the Pentium 3. I've had no reason to look elsewhere. If you're talking broken PCs sitting in the trash, it wouldn't be Dell I'd be pointing a finger at.

Consumer group slams 'unfair' software licenses

EULA analyzer

@Joe Drunk:

>>I believe software companies have been getting away with this because few people take the time to disseminate these ELLA's and just click "I AGREE".<<

FWIW, the program EULAlyzer (free for personal and educational use) will 'analyze license agreements in seconds, and provide a detailed listing of potentially interesting words and phrases.' Does NOT provide legal advice.

@Ben Johnson

>>This will never be looked at in the USA because the software lobbyist's pay a lot of money to the government officials.<<

Software EULAs have been an active topic in U.S courts. Unfortunately, the interpretations have been conflicting. The Second Circuit court said you own a copy of the software you bought, while the Ninth Curcuit Court confirmed you owned only the license to use it and that license may trump 'fair use'. In Adobe vs Softman a US District Court judge ruled consumers can resell unsed bundled software regardless of what the EULA stipulates.

Microsoft scoffs at antitrust extension seekers

@what's the point

Microsoft was slated for breakup and then George W. Bush happened. MS was nailed, but Bush's DOJ dropped the breakup in 2001 and sought a settlement that in a sense left MS in a stronger position than before the trial.

When Joel Klein was prosecuting the case before Thomas Penfield Jackson, I think it was understood among the hopeful that if the case failed (for political reasons), then the last resort would be the EU. We've been waiting for you.