“The judge in the Microsoft antitrust trial compared the
software giant to a large Wal-Mart store in a small town on Tuesday
and wondered if it amounted to a “benevolent despot,” or a
“monopoly.”
“The judge’s comment came as he questioned Richard Schmalensee,
dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of
Management and the expert economic witness for Microsoft Corp.”
“Schmalensee… said the Linux operating system was attracting
capital and writers. And Schmalensee said applications that run on
the World Wide Web are also a threat to Microsoft, and that leading
Internet service provider America Online Inc. may offer those.
“Schmalensee also said Web appliances present a threat to
Microsoft.”