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pokoko on 12 March 2013
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zumnupy10 said:
pokoko said:

I have no problem with it.  Microsoft still does their best to force people to use IE from time to time, even if some hate the thing.  It's not like you can delete it.  They'd make it completely required if they could get away with it.  I have little sympathy for fallout over Microsoft's business practices given their past history.  We've seen exactly WHY a browser monopoly is bad in the past with Internet Explorer, why people would want that again, I don't know.  Personally, I ignore IE, but from what I understand, they actually try to make it good now that they have competition and can't ignore convention.  The garbage that was IE6 screwed up the internet for a long, long time.  Anyone really want to return to that?

As for the fine, it does seem excessive.  However, Microsoft had a glitch that voided an important, highly publicized agreement and it went undiscovered for an entire year?  Uh huh, right.

I agree with you, but MS isn't making it imposible for anyone to install another browser from competitors.

MS is being fined for not promoting competitor's browsers ?   That's why I think this penalty is stupid.

It's really a matter of practicality.  It's more about what's best than about what's right.  Most people will defend the idea of a monopoly from a philosophical standpoint but when the reality hits, when they start feeling all the negatives that come with a monopoly, they will often complain that "they shouldn't be allowed to do that".  I suppose it comes down to the idea of preventing monopolies or breaking them up after they've damaged the market.

Internet Explorer's monopoly of the browser market was bad, very bad.  I don't know that you'll find anyone who would dispute that.  Microsoft forced content developers to ignore accepted convention and to code for IE's way of doing things.  They ignored security problems and new innovations.  Then, bam, we have competition spring up and suddenly Internet Explorer is good.  That's not coincidence at all.

Really, Microsoft brought this on themselves by trying to use their OS monopoly, which no one can do anything about, to leverage a browser monopoly.  They did their absolute best to force people to use IE.  If they'd succeeded, Internet Explorer would probably STILL be garbage.

Should they have to do this?  Probably not.  Do I think it's for the best that Microsoft isn't being allowed to force a monopoly at will?  Absolutely.  People run into anti-monopoly laws everyday without even know it.  It's important for the consumer that they are there.  I can't have a problem with that.