On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 16:36:37 +0200, "Peter T. Breuer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
>> Yes, it certainly is. However, it is also Microsoft's right as a seller >> to refuse discounts to those who also sell competing products. You may not It was not a discount. I was being denied the right to buy from any wholesaler. The "deal" MS offered was that I as an independent retailer had to by ALL my MS OS products retail if I wanted to sell even one machines without Windows. That would have been easily enough to put any retailer out of business if he did not comply. Even in retrospect, when I kick myself for abandoning my principles, It would still be a tough decision. 1. I had eight people working for me who would have become unemployed. 2. The city would have lost one of its most ethical retailers. 3. Microsoft would STILL have won. 4. I would have had to put up taunts from people calling me crazy for destroying my business in what they would see as a vainglorious attempt to stop the Microsoft juggernaut. What MS did was put me in a position where felt I had little choice but to violate my OWN moral code of conduct. That is what has me so pissed. It is bad enough to be extorted from. It even worse to be forced into a racket to extort others. If any one here considers what MS did acceptable I am glad by their public stance they have warned others off ever having business dealings with them because their low standards of conduct. -- Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green. http://mindprod.com Java custom programming, consulting and coaching. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
