CHAPTER 13 Computers in Society: Today
The First Signs of Protectionism? A Texas judge has told Ford Motor Company that they will be no longer allowed to sell used cars over the Internet in the state of Texas. Texas has a state law that precludes automobile manufacturers from selling cars directly to consumers. Ford maintains that its customers purchase the cars through the dealer, but the judge says that Ford establishes the price and would be considered the dealer. This is but one of many sticky issues yet to be resolved regarding e-commerce. We can expect more controversy as e-commerce continues to expand into new business ventures.
Who Ultimately Pays for Microsoft's Questionable Business Practices? The United States government filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft Corp. Now a federal judge has ruled that the company must split into two companies, one that produces operating systems and another that produces applications software. The question is who is the real loser in this very controversial antitrust battle? Pension funds, mutual funds, and millions of individual stockholders have seen Microsoft lose billions of dollars in market value--their dollars. Also, market analysts attribute the decline in value of many other companies to the unfavorable ruling for Microsoft. The controversy will continue as people attempt to decide who actually pays the antitrust settlement.