For some baffling reason, I was thinking tonight of the Microsoft – US DOJ settlement of a few years back.
I recalled sending a submission in to the Department of Justice (hah) just after that settlement …. although I ‘m not a US citizen. And the beautiful thing about life in the 21st century is that words, once digitized, disappear reluctantly.
A quick Google search brought up this page – good thing Google caches sites, because the submission is supposed to be here, but has since been archived/buried/lost (pick your favorite).
In any case, thanks to Google, I can preserve the words of my 2001 me:
From: John Koetsier
To: Microsoft ATR
Date: 1/20/23 11:00am
Subject: This Microsoft Settlement Is BadThe Microsoft settlement is bad for consumers, bad for business, and bad for government.
The slap on the wrist so far extracted from Microsoft in no way compensates for the many and serious harms this company has caused tocompanies such as Netscape, Apple, innumerable others, and consumers all over the United States and beyond.
Also, any settlement by which Microsoft simply has to distribute MORE ofits products in the marketplace … one of the very problems that occasioned this entire legal battle … is simply too ludicrous to credit. A proper settlement would be paying for installations of competing products such as Linux servers and Macintosh computers.
Microsoft argues that the US economy would suffer if it was restrained. The opposite is true. Rid the marketplace of Microsoft’s stranglehold,and you will see a flowering of creativity, investment, start-ups, and ideas the like of which we haven’t seen since the glory days of the dot-coms. This renaissance, however, would have a chance to take root and flower.
john koetsier
That’s comment number MTC-00016342, and now it’s also archived for posterity here. I’m not 100% sure posterity cares … but I do!
😉