

Personally, I'll be blasphemous and say that if Microsoft keeps doing
what it does so well, I hope to see much harsher/stricter copyright
and patent laws for computer algorithms, concepts, interfaces, and
other intellectual properties to protect real innovators. I'd hate to
be one who actually does innovate, and then have Microsoft come in
like a huge vulture and use their brute mass (development staff,
marketing, etc) to get fat off of my innovation. I don't have all
that much sympathy for Apple's complaint against Microsoft, since
they just took the ideas from Xerox's PA Research Center when the
Federal government forced Xerox to disclose their patents over
antitrust fears. However, for other companies and individuals who
have a great idea, yet get it "borrowed" by larger corporations who
can afford to quickly bring it to market, without any licensing from
the original innovator, I feel much sympathy.

Larry