Cope With Tech - by Eric John Emberda

I have been trying to access Microsoft's website at http://www.microsoft.com since last night but was never successful. At first I thought there was something wrong with my wireless router again so I tried looking at the hardware. There was no problem at all. I tried pinging other website and they responded. That was the time I concluded that Microsoft's website was down. Are they doing maintenance? I wanted to download the .net framework 3.5 service pack 1.

It was to be expected (in my opinion). The Wallstreet Journal reports that Yahoo's board plans to reject Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid by sending a letter tomorrow stating their position. Although I don't agree with them that the proposal undervalues Yahoo that much. I do agree that Microsoft has taken advantage of Yahoo's recent weakness in share price. An interesting scenario they picked up though: "Search Advertising Partnership with Google Inc." Hmmm... wouldn't that be quite a monopoly?

In my previous post, I talked about Google vs. Microsoft and how Microsoft's bid for Yahoo might cause them to face antitrust issues again. But what is antitrust? I don't know how to explain it in simpler terms but antitrust is a law that seeks to regulate business competition. It exists to lessen if not eliminate monopolies (one company has exclusive possession or control over a market of products or services). Microsoft was accused of monopolizing the PC operating system market. They were also accused of monopolizing the Internet Browser market because they bundled Internet Explorer with their Windows operating system. I don't know what this recent unsolicited action would lead them. Antitrust lawsuit for monopolizing the Internet market? There is a great possibility.

In response to Microsoft's $44.6 B bid for Yahoo, Google through its senior vice president and its chief legal officer Mr. David Drummond said: "Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies -- and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets." http://googleblog.blogspot.com . Microsoft has been known to face Antitrust charges in the Software industry. Albeit facing these issues, Microsoft continues to dominate the Software industry. Now another antitrust issue is being raised--the Internet. Will the Internet community allow this to happen? While this union (in my opinion) can definitely put up a fight with regards to Internet advertising making prices more affordable, my question would then be, how about the open source community? What effects will t...

Wow. This is a very interesting news. Just recently, Microsoft, a software giant made an offer to Yahoo to acquire their outstanding stocks for $31 per share. This would be equivalent to $44.6 billion total equity. Yahoo's closing price as of January 31, 2008 was $19.18. This makes Microsoft's offer equivalent to a 62% premium. The question is, would Yahoo's board of directors consider the offer? If this union proceeds, will it have a great effect on Google's economic performance? Google right now is on top of Search Engines and on-line advertisement. Will the Microsoft-Yahoo tandem end this dominance?