For better or worse, Microsoft Corporation plays a prominent role
in the accessibility of information technology. Accordingly, I
think many of us interested in this subject will find relevant the
conference described below.
Jamal
----------
Yahoo! - Nader Opens Campaign Against Microsoft
Tuesday October 7 2:57 PM EDT
Nader Opens Campaign Against Microsoft
WASHINGTON - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader has denounced what he
labeled Microsoft's "intimidating tactics" and said he is
opening a campaign to educate the public about the costs of the
software company's "monopolistic techniques."
Nader said in an interview that he will convene a conference
Nov. 13 and 14 in Washington to discuss "Microsoft and its
Global Strategies."
Nader called Microsoft's efforts at expansion "unprecedented."
"We need to have a coherent appraisal of the monopolistic
techniques they're using," he said. "John D. Rockefeller wanted
to dominate oil, but Microsoft wants it all -- you name it --
cable, media, banking, car dealerships."
Nader said speakers at his conference would include himself, Sun
Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy, former Federal Trade
Commissioner Christine Varney, Silicon Valley antitrust lawyer
Gary Reback and Roberta Katz, who is the general counsel for
Netscape Communications.
Nader said he had also invited Microsoft CEO William Gates and
Vice President Al Gore.
However, Nader said that some people were afraid to attend the
conference. "There's too much fear and intimidation," he said.
"A lot of people in the business community are afraid to speak
out."
Copyright, Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved
----------
Ralph Nader Announces
"Appraising Microsoft" Conference
-----------------------------------------------------------------
October 6, 1997
Contacts: Caroline Jonah or John Richard at (202)387-8030
Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader announced today plans for the
"Appraising Microsoft and Its Global Strategies" Conference to
be held on November 13 and 14 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in
Washington, D.C.
Scheduled participants include Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun
Microsystems, Former Federal Trade Commissioner Christine
Varney, Gary Reback of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati and
Roberta Katz, General Counsel of Netscape Communications and
others.
In separate letters to Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and Vice
President Al Gore, Nader invited both to attend the conference
and make presentations.
In his letter to Gates, Nader urged the Microsoft executive to
share his insights "as one of the dominant corporate architects
and philosophers of the information highway" and to dialogue
with the conference participants who are among the few still
willing to speak publically of their concerns, findings and
recommendations.
Nader also noted serious concerns raised by Microsoft's
overwhelming market power. "Self-censorship brought on by the
detailed fear of Microsoft retaliation - itself seen as a many
pronged cluster- is not healthy in any economy," he wrote.
The two-day conference aims to bring together industry leaders,
academic specialists, writers, consumer activists and government
officials to discuss and debate the business practices of
Microsoft and the impact of those practices on our society.
Conference topics to be discussed include: The Microsoft
Antitrust Decree, A Consumer Framework for the Digital Age, The
Federal Government and Antitrust Enforcement, The Digital
Commerce Toll Road and The Theory of Increasing Returns.
Conference participants include Garth Saloner of Stanford
University, Morgan Chu Esq. of Irell & Manella, Vice President
for Huntington Bancshares William Randle, CEO & President of
NetChannel Philip Monego, Caldera CEO Bryan Sparks, Audrie
Krause of NetAction, Bill Wendle of The Real Estate Cafe, Ralph
Palumbo Esq. of The Summit Law Group and Steve Susman Esq. of
Susman and Godfrey among others.
For more information about the conference and registration
materials, go to www.essential.org/appraising/microsoft
----------
Ralph Nader
P.O. Box 19312
Washington, D.C. 20036
October 2, 1997
Mr. William H. Gates
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
Dear Mr. Gates:
The customary executive mind receiving a letter such as this
would be inclined toward prejudgment and denial, instead of
anticipation and affirmation. But as a dominant corporate
architect and philosopher of the information highway--note your
expressed desire in your book, The Road Ahead, to open the
dialogue about how society should shape its future in an age of
tremendous technological change--you should be willing to
include in that dialogue--Appraising Microsoft and Its Global
Strategy.
That, as it happens, is the title of a conference in Washington,
D.C. on November 13 and 14, which Essential Information and I
are sponsoring and to which you are invited to make a
presentation. Let me describe briefly what has led to this
unique event.
As you may know, our various groups work in the consumer safety
and environmental protection areas with a dual focus on both
corporate and government accountability. We also have been
pioneers in advancing freedom of information standards in
government and widening the access to justice by all citizens.
Concentration of economic power, along with its abuses, has long
been a concern of ours and we have worked with many people of
conscience inside companies, some of whom became effective
whistle-blowers. Recently, people in many different kinds of
businesses have been expressing fear and criticism about your
company's business practices and strategies. At first, we were
prone to dismissing such complaints as reflecting envy toward
the dominant company. But as the private criticism became more
diverse--flowing from downstream commerce well beyond software
and hardware companies and from more disinterested scholars,
commentators, writers, public officials and customers, it became
an incentive toward further public exploration.
Even this accumulated criticism did not suffice to warrant a
gathering to explicitly explore the many forays and practices of
your company's business strategies, which you must agree, have a
range of ambitions and ongoing initiatives in more industrial
and commercial directions locally to globally than possibly any
business entity in modern history. What tipped the scale was the
fear of speaking out by thoughtful people in the business world
who otherwise have the position, energy and the resources to do
so. Self-censorship brought on by the detailed fear of Microsoft
retaliation--itself seen as a many pronged cluster--is not
healthy in any economy. Especially when this fear is not
imagined but rooted in past and current actions which are
described and attributed to your company's high velocity
momentum.
On the other hand, you and your associates are described as so
fearful of becoming another Digital Equipment or IBM missing a
"big bend in the road", as you put it, that you are moving to
position yourself as the "new middleman" on every lane of the
information highway possible. To some observers, Microsoft
playing the insecure and challenged role, as depicted in an
article you may have relished on the cover of Barron's
(September 15, 1997), assumes an irony of King Kong proportions.
Seasoned executives are quaking before the relentless Microsoft
wave in such lines of commerce as banking, real estate,
insurance, car dealers, travel services, cable television,
newspaper media and entertainment. The June 5, 1997 issue of the
Wall Street Journal reported a detailed Microsoft strategy
memorandum, deepened by interviews with your executives, that
foreshadowed the "first a partner then a competitor" approach.
Your critics assert that using a bundling strategy, together
with tactical free offerings, made possible by monopolistically
garnered profits, and a punitive "stick" response to your
challengers makes Microsoft a leading candidate for antitrust
action if only the enforcement agencies had the up-to-date
knowledge, willpower and resources to apply these necessary laws
for a free, fair and competitive economy.
The conference participants are among the few who are still
willing to speak openly of their concerns, findings and
recommendations. Many plead for an open, not closed,
architecture, for a digital future that is a patrimony, a
commonwealth within which the best and the most
consumer-sensitive will have an opportunity to prevail. They
seek an information highway that is ungated where they see such
a highway increasingly become gated.
You, Steve Ballmer and Nathan Myhrvold have what you believe to
be formidable responses to these declarations. Responses that
are both specific and that rise to the level of national public
policy regarding the information infrastructure in the economy.
Focusing on the "Big Kid on the Block"--Microsoft--addresses the
core concern directly and avoids the nuanced generalities and
abstractions that have no operational realities attached to
them.
The agenda for the conference is being completed and includes
the enclosed topics with the speakers who have confirmed their
presence. Other presenters will be added in the coming days. In
the interest of joining the issues, your presentation should
come near the completion of the conference on November 14. We
intend to have a serious, coherent and consequential conference
that will lead to greater public understanding of the trends and
the issues that will affect business and the general public as
you wrote about in The Road Ahead. Your industry is thrusting
toward increasing arcane language, acronyms and specializations
that are narrowing the public or lay audience which, ever
enlarging, is critical in making this technology serve the
broadest of human interest and well-being.
We are inviting Vice President Albert Gore, your friend and
information highway colleague, to participate in the conference.
Being an open gathering and near his office, his presence would
neither entail the cost, time and closed-door nature of his
earlier visit to your 100 executives meeting near Seattle. This
should increase the likelihood of his acceptance, one might
hope.
Should you wish to discuss this invitation further, please call
me or John Richard of Essential Information at (202)387-8034. Of
course, you may wish to have other Microsoft executives attend
the conference and they are welcome to come and absorb the many
currents of information and activity, both in the formal
sessions and in the informal corridor and coffee break
discussions that are often so valuable. While there is a
conference fee, there is no outside funding or sponsorship to
inhibit or compromise the integrity of the proceedings.
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Enclosure
----------
Ralph Nader
P.O. Box 19312
Washington, D.C. 20036
October 2, 1997
Mr. William H. Gates
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
Dear Mr. Gates:
The customary executive mind receiving a letter such as this
would be inclined toward prejudgment and denial, instead of
anticipation and affirmation. But as a dominant corporate
architect and philosopher of the information highway--note your
expressed desire in your book, The Road Ahead, to open the
dialogue about how society should shape its future in an age of
tremendous technological change--you should be willing to
include in that dialogue--Appraising Microsoft and Its Global
Strategy.
That, as it happens, is the title of a conference in Washington,
D.C. on November 13 and 14, which Essential Information and I
are sponsoring and to which you are invited to make a
presentation. Let me describe briefly what has led to this
unique event.
As you may know, our various groups work in the consumer safety
and environmental protection areas with a dual focus on both
corporate and government accountability. We also have been
pioneers in advancing freedom of information standards in
government and widening the access to justice by all citizens.
Concentration of economic power, along with its abuses, has long
been a concern of ours and we have worked with many people of
conscience inside companies, some of whom became effective
whistle-blowers. Recently, people in many different kinds of
businesses have been expressing fear and criticism about your
company's business practices and strategies. At first, we were
prone to dismissing such complaints as reflecting envy toward
the dominant company. But as the private criticism became more
diverse--flowing from downstream commerce well beyond software
and hardware companies and from more disinterested scholars,
commentators, writers, public officials and customers, it became
an incentive toward further public exploration.
Even this accumulated criticism did not suffice to warrant a
gathering to explicitly explore the many forays and practices of
your company's business strategies, which you must agree, have a
range of ambitions and ongoing initiatives in more industrial
and commercial directions locally to globally than possibly any
business entity in modern history. What tipped the scale was the
fear of speaking out by thoughtful people in the business world
who otherwise have the position, energy and the resources to do
so. Self-censorship brought on by the detailed fear of Microsoft
retaliation--itself seen as a many pronged cluster--is not
healthy in any economy. Especially when this fear is not
imagined but rooted in past and current actions which are
described and attributed to your company's high velocity
momentum.
On the other hand, you and your associates are described as so
fearful of becoming another Digital Equipment or IBM missing a
"big bend in the road", as you put it, that you are moving to
position yourself as the "new middleman" on every lane of the
information highway possible. To some observers, Microsoft
playing the insecure and challenged role, as depicted in an
article you may have relished on the cover of Barron's
(September 15, 1997), assumes an irony of King Kong proportions.
Seasoned executives are quaking before the relentless Microsoft
wave in such lines of commerce as banking, real estate,
insurance, car dealers, travel services, cable television,
newspaper media and entertainment. The June 5, 1997 issue of the
Wall Street Journal reported a detailed Microsoft strategy
memorandum, deepened by interviews with your executives, that
foreshadowed the "first a partner then a competitor" approach.
Your critics assert that using a bundling strategy, together
with tactical free offerings, made possible by monopolistically
garnered profits, and a punitive "stick" response to your
challengers makes Microsoft a leading candidate for antitrust
action if only the enforcement agencies had the up-to-date
knowledge, willpower and resources to apply these necessary laws
for a free, fair and competitive economy.
The conference participants are among the few who are still
willing to speak openly of their concerns, findings and
recommendations. Many plead for an open, not closed,
architecture, for a digital future that is a patrimony, a
commonwealth within which the best and the most
consumer-sensitive will have an opportunity to prevail. They
seek an information highway that is ungated where they see such
a highway increasingly become gated.
You, Steve Ballmer and Nathan Myhrvold have what you believe to
be formidable responses to these declarations. Responses that
are both specific and that rise to the level of national public
policy regarding the information infrastructure in the economy.
Focusing on the "Big Kid on the Block"--Microsoft--addresses the
core concern directly and avoids the nuanced generalities and
abstractions that have no operational realities attached to
them.
The agenda for the conference is being completed and includes
the enclosed topics with the speakers who have confirmed their
presence. Other presenters will be added in the coming days. In
the interest of joining the issues, your presentation should
come near the completion of the conference on November 14. We
intend to have a serious, coherent and consequential conference
that will lead to greater public understanding of the trends and
the issues that will affect business and the general public as
you wrote about in The Road Ahead. Your industry is thrusting
toward increasing arcane language, acronyms and specializations
that are narrowing the public or lay audience which, ever
enlarging, is critical in making this technology serve the
broadest of human interest and well-being.
We are inviting Vice President Albert Gore, your friend and
information highway colleague, to participate in the conference.
Being an open gathering and near his office, his presence would
neither entail the cost, time and closed-door nature of his
earlier visit to your 100 executives meeting near Seattle. This
should increase the likelihood of his acceptance, one might
hope.
Should you wish to discuss this invitation further, please call
me or John Richard of Essential Information at (202)387-8034. Of
course, you may wish to have other Microsoft executives attend
the conference and they are welcome to come and absorb the many
currents of information and activity, both in the formal
sessions and in the informal corridor and coffee break
discussions that are often so valuable. While there is a
conference fee, there is no outside funding or sponsorship to
inhibit or compromise the integrity of the proceedings.
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Enclosure
----------
Appraising Microsoft and Its Global Strategy
Conference sponsored by Ralph Nader and Essential Information
November 13 & 14, 1997
Omni Shoreham Hotel
Washington, D.C.
Please register by November 5, 1997.
REGISTRATION APPLICATION
Name___________________________________________
Company________________________________________
Address_________________________________________
________________________________________________
City________________State____Zip__________________
Phone__________________Fax______________________
Email___________________________________________
+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
PACKAGE ONE PACKAGE TWO
+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
Conference admittance Nov Conference admittance Nov
13th & 14th 13th & 14th
+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
Hotel accommodations at the
Omni Shoreham Hotel, Nov
12th & 13th
+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
Continental Breakfast and Continental Breakfast and
Lunch included Lunch included
+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
(_) Corporate Rate: $1350 (_) Corporate Rate: $1000
+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
(_) Nonprofit/Gov't Rate: (_) Nonprofit/Gov't Rate:
$850 $500
+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
Payment is required with registration. Send check or credit
card information to:
Appraising Microsoft
P.O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Or send it by fax: (202) 234-5176
Please Charge my credit card $___________
_____ VISA ____Mastercard
Name______________________________________
Card#__________________Exp. Date__________
For more information contact:
Caroline Jonah / Essential Information
P. O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
202-387-8030 tel / 202-234-5176 fax
email: [log in to unmask]
----------
End of Document
|
