ZDNet: Open-source antitrust penalty for Microsoft?

“The damage that counts is already done. Microsoft has been
judged to be an outlaw corporation; what’s up for debate now is the
nature of the punishment. In its long record of being sued for
unfair practices, the company has settled and lost more than it has
won. And despite some residual hero worship on the part of some who
see ruthless greed and lawlessness as a virtue, the bloom is
clearly off this rose.”

“As for the punishment, if the U.S. and/or state government
really want to stick it to Microsoft, they need do nothing
to Microsoft. They merely need to adjust their own
practices. The worst damage governments can do to Microsoft is to
give open source consideration for use in public software
projects.’

“I’m not asking for governments to give specific tax funding
to open-source projects. All I’m suggesting is that governments, as
their ultimate punishment of Microsoft, do what it takes in their
own procurement and IT policies to make open availability of source
code a desirable feature in future requests for proposals (RFPs)
and other software-related tenders.”

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