RE: [xml-dev] "Open XML" et al... Blech... Re: [xml-dev] Microsoft buy

["Michael Kay" <mike@saxonica.com>]

> > Microsoft has been paid more than enough for Office and Windows.
> 
> According to who?  You?  And what gives you this right?

It seems odd to challenge someone's right to make a statement, rather than
challenging what they are saying. If you disagree with the assertion, please
explain why.

Office and Windows are good products and are highly successful because they
meet user needs, but they are also outrageously profitable. The high profits
are derived essentially because (a) there's a natural tendency in the user
community to converge on a single product, thus creating an effective
monopoly, and (b) the beneficiary of such a monopoly also benefits from the
existence of a copyright law that was designed to reward individual
impoverished writers but now allows mega-corporations to exploit the very
individuals it was designed to protect.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/