Denys  Beauchemin Wrote:
>You guys are all missing the point.  The Federal government has now stepped
in
>and will regulate the computer software industry.  We will come to rue
Friday,
>5 November 1999.  It will become known as Black Friday in the IT industry.
 >This is what this whole thing is about. Government control of software
>development.  Our only hope now is that Bill Gates will have the fortitude
to
>see this through, all the way to the Supreme Court if need be, and that in
the
>end this judgment gets overturned.  Another reason why the upcoming 2000
>election is going to be very important.

I will not address  Mr. Beauchemin's ideas about the future but I can
address history. Every new technology or development has had its allowable
share of robber barons/captains of industry. There comes a point at which
the people, through the peoples government, rein in these technologies.

The break up of Standard Oil did not ruin the oil industry. It certainly did
not ruin the Rockefellers. In our own times we see that the break up of AT&T
did not ruin the telecommunications industry.

I would be less worried about government control (i.e. control in the hands
of the people) than I am about control in the hands of a corporate monopoly.
The government can never stifle development as well as the private sector
can. The names Tesla, Tucker, Jobs and beta are carved on the monument to
lost technology.

An unscrupulous government's life span is limited. An unscrupulous
corporation can live forever.

I am proud to be associated with this list and its diverse opinions. Thank
you for letting me express mine.