>From: Matt Gingell <mjg223@is7.nyu.edu>
>Reply-To: extropians@extropy.com
>To: extropians@extropy.com
>Subject: Re: what if microsoft disobeyed the breakup?
>Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 05:23:20 -0400
>
> > Suppose I started selling dirt, at the price of 30$/ounce. I set up an
> > internet business, dirtforsale.com, and take credit cards, and ship dirt
>to
> > whoever wants it. I'd assume that nobody thinks that I should not be
>allowed
> > to do this. Obviously, it's a stupid idea, but there's no reason I
>should
> > not be allowed to do it. But then assume that people start to buy it. I
>do
> > an IPO, I become a billionaire, and people spend maybe 5% of their
>incomes
> > on my dirt. They're using it to decorate the floors of their homes
>suppose.
> > I make deals with construction companies telling them that if they want
>to
> > put Haradon Dirt in any of the homes they construct, they have to put it
>in
> > every single one. I imagine that at this point, there would be a suit
> > against me by carpet manufactureurs for anti-competitive practices, and
> > accusations that my dirt is unfairly priced, which would also be the
>basis
> > of many suits.
> >
> > So at what point would my freedom to produce and sell a product be a
> > secondary consideration to the effect on society that it has?
>
>It is a fuzzy line - at what point does free speech become incitement
>to riot or libel or whatever? The exclusionary contracts in your
>example start getting you into the grey area between your freedoms and
>everybody else's, but it's not like anybody really _needs_ a chic dirt
>floor or they couldn't buy it from someone else. So long as you're not
>the sole supplier of some magical anti-cancer dirt, or you've bought up
>all the economically exploitable sources, I'm content to let you do
>whatever you like with it.
>
>-matt
Then how is this different from the situation with MS? There are plenty of
other OSs, and anyone who wants to write one can do so.
---------------------------------------------------
Zeb Haradon (zebharadon@hotmail.com)
My personal webpage:
http://www.inconnect.com/~zharadon/ubunix
A movie I'm directing:
http://www.elevatormovie.com
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