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I do hope regulators take into consideration the source of these complaints. Microsoft is investing a fortune on lobbying groups and PR campaigns attacking Goog

by yanw 14y ago

I do hope regulators take into consideration the source of these complaints. Microsoft is investing a fortune on lobbying groups and PR campaigns attacking Google and this is just another cynical attempt to cripple their main competitor. (Edit: not sure why this was down voted)

scholia 14y ago
Of course they are, but that approach worked for Netscape and Sun etc, who spent a fortune lobbying against Microsoft. This is why Google now spends vast sums on its own lobbying efforts: Learning From Microsoft's Mistakes, Google Invests Heavily In Influence http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/01/learning-from-microsofts-mistakes-g.html http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/01/learning-from-micros... Whether it's a sensible approach is another matter. This warning from the Wall Street Journal is pertinent: In 1999, economist Milton Friedman issued a warning to technology executives at a Cato Institute conference: "Is it really in the self-interest of Silicon Valley to set the government on Microsoft? Your industry, the computer industry, moves so much more rapidly than the legal process that by the time this suit is over, who knows what the shape of the industry will be? Never mind the fact that the human energy and the money that will be spent in hiring my fellow economists, as well as in other ways, would be much more productively employed in improving your products. It's a waste!" He predicted: "You will rue the day when you called in the government. From now on, the computer industry, which has been very fortunate in that it has been relatively free of government intrusion, will experience a continuous increase in government regulation. Antitrust very quickly becomes regulation. Here again is a case that seems to me to illustrate the suicide impulse of the business community." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578266290231304934.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732353980457826... There's an old rule that says Do Unto Others As You Would Be Done By. In other words, don't start whining when the shit you sent around comes around.
- yanw 14y ago
  Difference is that Google lobbies for their own interests, Microsoft lobbies against Google. And one assumes that much of Google's lobbying is to counteract Microsoft's. Also Google's competitors are teaming with Microsoft to destroy Google, their agenda has nothing to do with consumer welfare. Case in point: now they're lobbying against open source software.
  - scholia 14y ago
    So it's the same story as before, just with different names....
    - yanw 14y ago
      No it isn't, none of Microsoft's competitors from the 90s were anything near its size.
      - scholia 14y ago
        In terms of 1995 turnover, IBM was by far the biggest IT company ($71.95 billion) and it was trying hard to kill Microsoft. IBM was followed by HP ($31.52bn), Intel ($16.2bn), Apple ($11.06bn) and then Microsoft ($5.09bn). Sun was bigger as well, but I can't turn up a number. Google's turnover for 2012 was $50.18bn, so Google is 10x the size now that Microsoft was then. And it's much more powerful.

by yanw 14y ago

scholia 14y ago

Of course they are, but that approach worked for Netscape and Sun etc, who spent a fortune lobbying against Microsoft. This is why Google now spends vast sums on its own lobbying efforts: Learning From Microsoft's Mistakes, Google Invests Heavily In Influence http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/01/learning-from-microsofts-mistakes-g.html http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/01/learning-from-micros... Whether it's a sensible approach is another matter. This warning from the Wall Street Journal is pertinent: In 1999, economist Milton Friedman issued a warning to technology executives at a Cato Institute conference: "Is it really in the self-interest of Silicon Valley to set the government on Microsoft? Your industry, the computer industry, moves so much more rapidly than the legal process that by the time this suit is over, who knows what the shape of the industry will be? Never mind the fact that the human energy and the money that will be spent in hiring my fellow economists, as well as in other ways, would be much more productively employed in improving your products. It's a waste!" He predicted: "You will rue the day when you called in the government. From now on, the computer industry, which has been very fortunate in that it has been relatively free of government intrusion, will experience a continuous increase in government regulation. Antitrust very quickly becomes regulation. Here again is a case that seems to me to illustrate the suicide impulse of the business community." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578266290231304934.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732353980457826... There's an old rule that says Do Unto Others As You Would Be Done By. In other words, don't start whining when the shit you sent around comes around.

yanw 14y ago
Difference is that Google lobbies for their own interests, Microsoft lobbies against Google. And one assumes that much of Google's lobbying is to counteract Microsoft's. Also Google's competitors are teaming with Microsoft to destroy Google, their agenda has nothing to do with consumer welfare. Case in point: now they're lobbying against open source software.
- scholia 14y ago
  So it's the same story as before, just with different names....
  - yanw 14y ago
    No it isn't, none of Microsoft's competitors from the 90s were anything near its size.
    - scholia 14y ago
      In terms of 1995 turnover, IBM was by far the biggest IT company ($71.95 billion) and it was trying hard to kill Microsoft. IBM was followed by HP ($31.52bn), Intel ($16.2bn), Apple ($11.06bn) and then Microsoft ($5.09bn). Sun was bigger as well, but I can't turn up a number. Google's turnover for 2012 was $50.18bn, so Google is 10x the size now that Microsoft was then. And it's much more powerful.