We hold these truths to be self evident

In any social structure man evolved, he recognized the need for an order-keeping mechanism. Government, as the name implies, is a social mechanism whose sole purpose is to 'govern' society; to ensure that the underlying order which our society and economy operate in. As such, it is a device that must walk the fine line between too little control, where the individual can take advantage of others and impede on their freedoms and livelihoods- and too much, where the controlling mechanism itself can take advantage of others and impede on their freedoms and livelihoods. So what does this have to do with computers? Everything.

As computers become increasingly important in society, the government is increasingly confused about the role it must play in directing their integration into society. Computers are a new type of animal- one where there are new definitions to intellectual property, and where products are not 'real' in the sense of physical property but rather ethereal 1s and 0s driven by manipulating electricity. This fact also makes culture changes infinitely faster than with a physical technological cataclysm, and the government is struggling to update its own pace to match. And so, we're in a brave new world of Microsofts, Apples, AT&Ts, and Ciscos.

I mentioned those four because those are/were overwhelming giants in the niches they carved out to themselves- although there are certainly more, and to differing degrees. All those companies grew faster then any companies did before the age of the microcomputer. They became so large and powerful so fast because they were quick to understand and capitalize on social trends in technology before anyone else did in their field- and in a world with rapidly shortening product cycles even being 3 months behind your competition usually means certain death. So they innovated, grew, and produced product until they reached their critical mass in their field, and then were able to crush any upstart that challenged them (yes, this applies to Apple as well. Some of you may remember Franklin Computers.) And so, as the new compu-folklore goes, these new players, free of government intervention, became quintessential American success stories.

As all other success stories, the process of them becoming success stories involves countless victims that were standing in the path to glory. The government, slow and sure, finally got whiff that something is rotten in Denmark (I think I had an English professor once who told me too much allegories and cliches were badÖ but I like em, dammit!) and now seems bent on doing something about it. Apple managed to miss the government intervention, as their own mismanagement in the 90s caused them to fade- there is little point to pursuing someone who seems more like a victim than a victimizer. But Microsoft didn't. Intel didn't. And now, the government is frantically trying to walk the line between protector and oppressor. How do you govern the computer industry? The technology moves too fast for the government to keep up, but this is no excuse for these companies to take advantage of the situation and become above the law? Assuming these companies become so powerful in their industry, how is the line to be drawn between entrepreneurial, capitalist success and predatory, monopolistic abuses? And the last question, perhaps the most important one- How is the government to determine legal remedies to prevent and punish the latter without squashing the former?

I have learned to look to xlr8yourmac's readership for a certain uncommon technical and social maturity (Kudos, Mike!) so I pose these questions to you folks. Many of you have intricate fascination and dependency on computing for your livelihood and your lives, but have varying life experiences and professional backgrounds that make you far more qualified to answer these questions then some government lawyer. If you have the time, patience, and inclination, I am asking for answers, opinions, and otherwise rantings My goal is to collate your thoughts, and while I'm certainly going to publish them here I would like to forward those to the US Department of Justice as well as The House Judiciary Committee. I don't really have much idealism left that we could somehow change the world, but I certainly would like to try to make our opinions known to those who can.