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--------------------------- WarpCast -------------------------
Source: D Gartner (dgwhiz@earthling.net)
Moderator: Trevor Smith (editor@os2ezine.com)
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TO: Users of all major platforms; consumers who want more choices
    in computer services and products, higher and more open standards,
    increased cross-compatibility, and better access to technology.
 
I've been working on an official IACT response to the recent
complaint made to the DOJ, signed by 26 companies then released by
Microsoft to the press last Thursday (4/30). On Tuesday (May 4th),
mainstream and computer journalists reported that Microsoft had 
staged a "media event" at an office building in NYC's Manhattan,
to give further publicity to the complaint filed with the DOJ.
They also hired reps to give out pro-MS leaflets in the New York
subway! For some observers, the event apparently backfired, giving
Microsoft the image of a dictator, using propaganda to force its
views onto the public.

Of course, MS also has forced its software upon the public, as you
know if you yourself are using one of the "alternative" platforms such
as Linux, OS/2, BeOS, BSD, Mac, etc..
 
In response, I've prepared an IACT Action Letter, available at
our web site (through our "Connections" page at
http://pages.cthome.net/iact/iact-tell.html), along with a full
reprint of the complaint signed and sent by the 26 companies in
Microsoft's camp. If you haven't already, please visit our web site
to see the complaint for yourself. If you'd like friends/associates
to see the Action Letter and/or complaint, then by all means, please
pass along our website URL to them.

The Action Letter clearly states that "The real question here is why
new hardware won't support the multitude of operating systems not made
by Microsoft. It is a broader question of compatibility and standardization
... Any new hardware that does support the Windows 98 environment also
should support standard, compliant operating systems."

On the same topic, our IACT position is that "consumers already are
being deprived of their right to obtain the most innovative OSs! [...]
This is hardly the picture of a free, open and innovative marketplace!"

-[and]-

"To those who scoff at this by insisting that the market is free and open,
let's dare them to walk into any nation-wide computer retail store, and
purchase a new PC without Microsoft and Intel."


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