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http://www.macnn.com/articles/02/06/04/nader.suggests/

Nader suggests US Government changes SW

updated 04:40 pm EDT, Tue June 4, 2002

 
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Ralph Nader has suggested that the US Government use its purchasing power to fight Microsoft's dominance in computer software. "By changing its spending habits, the federal government could accomplish what it had failed to do in the long-running and costly antitrust case against the Redmond, Washington-based software giant." Unlike big-ticket items, which are bidded on from a number of possible producers, office software is just purchased without competive bidding. One suggestion from Nader is that "the government could require the software giant to make its proprietary formats work smoothly with products from Apple Computer."


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  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/04, 04:48pm | report spam | Reply |

    oh yeah...

    Go Nader.

    :thumb up:

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/04, 05:01pm | report spam | Reply |

    Yea

    Thats why I voted for him in 2000...he's not afraid to speak his mind.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/04, 05:37pm | report spam | Reply |

    RE: Yea

    plus, it seems he's pro-Mac ...

    always a plus in my book =)

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/04, 06:15pm | report spam | Reply |

    Nader rocks!

    I almost forgot why I voted for him.
    ;)

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/04, 08:21pm | report spam | Reply |

    The best solution

    to the Microsoft monopoly is three or four-way divestiture with identical product lines, no executives or employees who are simulataneously on more than one of the baby bills' payrolls or own option grants in more than one of said baby bill's payrolls, no private contracts between the baby bills, and evenly split benefits currently enjoyed by the Microsoft monopoly - that means no exclusive contracts between baby bills and OEMs may be negotiated for at least three years.

    The result? Platform fragmentation that will force the baby bills to either abide by or properly document file format, networking, and api standards in full public view.

  1. outlyer

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    06/04, 11:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    I agree, kinda

    I agree with Nader on his idea that the government should be pushing for open standards, however, which formats don't work on a Apple computers?

    Office works; IE rendering works (though the app itself leaves a lot to be desired); wmv/wma works, MSN Messenger works.

    I think the focus should be on whether it works on ALL platforms - Linux, Solaris; especially Linux, because if the government is truly for the people, Linux is the closest thing to democracy in that sense.

  1. chas_m

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    06/05, 12:15am | report spam | Reply |

    Thanks a lot, Ralph!

    I have made this same suggestion -- that the government itself is the key to breaking Microsoft's stranglehold on the OS market by auditing itself and, where possible, replacing Windows with other OSes (perhaps SOMEBODY can make one that is strictly government-strength on encryption!) -- in this very forum several times.

    Sadly, now that Ralph Nader has articulated it, the chances of it coming to pass are zero. Frustrating. :(

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/05, 01:59am | report spam | Reply |

    Congress needs to pass

    a law that bans the purchase of products by convicted antitrust violators using taxpayer funds.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/05, 02:43am | report spam | Reply |

    Nader Rocks

    One of the only politicians who speaks his mind and refuses to be bought by corporations.

    For his integrity he is punished by the voters. Nobody wants integrity, they want spin, PR, and BS heaped high. That's why Dubya is so powerful, because Americans would rather have a man owned by big oil running the country, than a man owned by nobody and beholden to no one.

    Nader answers only to himself and for that reason he is a threat to America's corporate government.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

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    06/05, 09:57am | report spam | Reply |

    Good Idea wrong Spokesman

    Mr. Nader had a good idea but he is the wrong spokesman.

    He got very little of the vote because most people don't want someone that off center to run the country.

    I will admit he has some great ideas but overall he is way to radical for most peoples taste.

    Actually he is not as promac as you would like to think. He is just anti-big business.

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