Stratfor.com : The Geopolitics of Microsoft

[ Thanks to Brad
Stewart for this link. ]

“By moving to break up Microsoft, the U.S. Justice Department is
tackling the domestic challenge that the company poses to
anti-trust law. It is unclear whether the company will simply
acquiesce. As important, the breakup of Microsoft could be a
setback for the United States abroad. An unintended consequence of
the company’s success has been the way it has magnified American
power overseas, from the cultural sphere to the dominance of
information.”

“On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department turned over its next
card in the Microsoft anti-trust case. Having already won a ruling
in federal court judging the company guilty of violating anti-trust
laws, the Justice Department asked that Microsoft be broken up. The
government proposed dividing the company into two parts: one owning
the Windows operating system and the other owning everything else,
from Office Suite to Microsoft Mouse.”

“Unless Microsoft simply — and stunningly — agrees to the
breakup, there will be years of litigation ahead and a major clash
between U.S. domestic policy, on one side, and the country’s
foreign policy, on the other. The Justice Department may not be
considering it, but an unintended consequence of the company’s
success has been the magnification of American power. It has helped
spread American culture, the use of the English language as the new
lingua franca and given the country unparalleled dominance in
computing around the world.”

Complete
Story