[Thermodyne]

Gator installs software without the expressed permission and consent of the user. This is against the law in many states,

The RIAA is an evil solution, but the industry was left few alternatives. If the current situation continues, there will be little or no music industry left by the end of the decade. People and business have to make a profit; such is what makes to world go round. And the owner of a song or movie or code is entitled to charge for its use. Most bands make very little money as it is, and P2P has already adversely impacted the ability of new Groups to break into the industry. Just look at what has happened to the music industries profits and then graft it to CD-R sales and P2P net use. Do you want new music, or free oldies? That is where we are heading.

Microsoft is a well run company and is at best over aggressive in finding and protecting markets. But current law is sufficient to control them. Personally, I would like to see American industry adopt MS’s management strategies. Very few corporations are looking past the next few dividend checks these days. It should also be noted that MS was able to gain control of many of its smaller competitors with the lure of quick money; so much of the current situation was brought upon the industry by its own greed. I think things will continue as they are for now. And it should be noted that MS is investing more money in its next OS than any American company has ever invested in a new product in the history of America. Now to drop the other shoe, I would like to see product liability law applied to software. Not just MS, but all software. That is the protection that the consumer needs at this time.

Who gives a rats behind about what McD’s sells. You eat there or you don’t, so what. You could package doggy doo and sell it as health food; someone would be stupid enough to buy it.

No, public referendum is an evil perVersion of democracy. It was seen as such by our founding fathers, and more than a few of them warned of it in their writings. Public opinion is far too susceptible to manipulation, and far too small a percentage of the population is capable of having an independent thought or opinion. There is even a smaller percentage that can reason events out in a responsible reasonable fashion. The counter to this has always been delay. The government delays action and waits for public opinion to change; changes were only made if the support for an idea continued to carry a majority over a long period of time. Sure this has been to the displeasure of some, but to swing the other way would end up being to the displeasure of many. An American example would be prohibition. An American experience would be pot and tobacco. On the smaller scale of the question, if it were that way, Toyota would be out of business, their early cars and service sucked. The Vega would have been the end of GM. And Ford would have died with the Mustang II and Fairmont. Every company that dared to bring a new cutting edge technology to market would end up being disbanded. Anyone remember the first cell phones (bricks). Heck, what about the internet and 12k or less dial up. And let’s not forget the crud that passed for color TV back in the day. No, I think it is best left to the open market and the courts as to how long a corporation survives. Think about it, if public opinion ruled, the IRS would be gone long ago. And with it all resemblance to the America as it is today. Electricity would be free; there just wouldn’t be any to be had. Same with food and every thing else. What people want, and what is workable, just don’t often go together.