MICROSOFT BREAKUP

One man, with too much power, is dangerous, so the government moves to take his business, away from him, or at least, half of it.

Does this sound like a nation, where 'free enterprise', the ability to pursue your own goals, and use your own initiatives, to become what ever you want to be, is the standard, that has made this nation, the richest in the world???

What separated us from most of the world, is that businesses, can be privately owned. Any idea that you have, you can use it to make money, provided it is legal of course, and be the best you can be.

Bill Gates, is such a man.

He started out with little or nothing, as far as money was concerned, but he had an idea. Being free to pursue it, he translated it in to a multi-billion dollar business, and became, quite easily, one of the top ten richest people in the world, if not the richest.

Just about every computer, that is owned by business, government, and personal, functions the way they do, because of the software, programming that he came up with.. Without it, this world would not be enjoying the economic boon that it is. It is all because of computers, and their related components.

Where would we be, without computers, is anyone's guess.

However, a problem arose, when others, with ideas of trying to achieve their goals, in the computer field, as competitors to Bill Gates, found that he, had set up roadblocks, that kept them from being able to fully realize their ambitions.

In a society like ours, competition is a healthy thing, in that it makes the competitors, strive to make a better, and cheaper product. If one has all the advantages, then it is hard to compete, and ultimately, they will have to quit, or fight. So, that's what they did.

They went to the government, and complained that Bill Gates, had created a monopoly, so to speak, and that he had an unfair advantage, that was making him, more powerful than the government, seeing that their computers, were dependent on his software. There was the possibility, that he could, shut down the whole government, by having control over the software that it needs to run, in all of its critical areas.

People don't know, just how extensive the need for computers, really is. And one man, controlling all of this, was just a bit too much for the government to handle.

Anyway, the market, for computers is taking off, or rather, has taken off, and many want to get in on the action, but Bill Gates, sort of had things so sown up, that no one could get in on anything, without his getting a part of the action.

So, they sued, claiming what he was doing, was creating a monopoly on the computer market, which is illegal.

However, one must ask themselves, just what can this mean to the free enterprise system as a whole??

Sure, Bill Gates took advantage of the system, but he is not the first, and I dare say he will not be the last. Some years back, Kodak cameras started making film, that developed pictures in minutes, to compete with Polaroid. Polaroid had a patent on the process, and it either expired, or Kodak, came up with a different process, that was not patented by Polaroid. After a short time, Polaroid sued, and the courts found in their favor, and Kodak had to stop making their film.

Look at the automobile industry. We have all sorts of manufacturers, competing in that area, and no one is suing, because they can't get in to the market. More and more companies start up, and some die out, but the process still takes care of itself.

So, in the case of Polaroid, and Kodak, and in the case of Bill Gates, and those suing him, we see one case going one way, while another case, goes in the opposite direction.

All of these seem to prove one point, and that is, the law will eventually even things out. But, if the government gets involved, then we may be looking at a sharp curtailing of the free enterprise system as we know it, if someone, maybe you, comes up with an idea, that makes you too rich, or too big of a threat to others, or if others can't take your idea and make money for themselves.

When government gets involved, trouble can't be far behind.

It is my belief that the government, wanted to get him anyway, so they got involved, to make sure that the plaintiffs, had enough money to afford the legal expertise that was necessary to battle Gates in court.

What the end result of the breakup of Microsoft will be, is anyone's guess.

One thing is quite clear, and that is, you can't fully put your trust in others, or their laws, because when it suits them, they will change the laws, to benefit them.

If you are going to put your trust in someone, let it be Jesus Christ. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. His laws, and promises, never change.

This nation, even this world will pass away, but His Word, will stand forever.

*****************************************************************************

APRIL 2000


HOME PAGE

TRACT LIST

NEWSLETTERS

TAPE LIST