THE CASE AGAINST MADONNA
krr126
that someone actually took the time to write this shit. Get a life.
Brad Aisa <ba...@NOSPAMbrad-aisa.com> wrote in message...
> 1999-11-18 ver 1.0.0
>
> THE CASE AGAINST MADONNA
)|( Madonna_Rulez18 )|(
even bother wasting my time reading this load of crap. Just goes to show you
how much time some people have got on their hands!
krr126 wrote in message <8150gd$14...@r02n01.cac.psu.edu>...
Joe Cool
Brad Aisa <ba...@NOSPAMbrad-aisa.com> wrote in message
news:3835E5DC...@NOSPAMbrad-aisa.com...
> 1999-11-18 ver 1.0.0
>
> THE CASE AGAINST MADONNA
>
> by
>
> Brad Aisa
>
>
> Now that regulation or even breakup of Microsoft seems assured,
> it is time for the U.S. Government to direct its attention to
> another insidious monopolist: Madonna.
>
> The parallels between Microsoft and Madonna are striking:
>
> Both are monopolies. Microsoft has a monopoly on Microsoft
> Windows. Madonna has a monopoly on, well, Madonna.
>
> Both overcharge the consumer. Microsoft considered selling
> the Windows 98 upgrade for $49 but chose to sell it for $89 in-
> stead, to maximize its returns (all figures in US$.) Well, given
> that CDs only cost about a buck to make, I'm sure Madonna and her
> record company could make a decent profit selling them at, say,
> $7 -- but they are sold for more like $13, doubtless to maximize
> the returns.
>
> Both engage in unfair competition. Microsoft gives away its
> Internet Explorer browser software, undercutting its competitor,
> Netscape. Madonna and her record company subsidize her glossy,
> expensive videos, unfairly competing with new artists who don't
> have that kind of cash.
>
> Both have substantial bases of locked-in customers. For
> example, no record store could afford to stop selling Madonna
> albums -- it would lose the business from all of Madonna's fans.
> The same applies to dance clubs, pop music stations, MTV, and so
> on. Madonna is absolutely essential to all these endeavors -- she
> has complete customer lock-in at the wholesale level, regardless
> of the existence of other pop acts.
>
> Even at the consumer level, Madonna probably enjoys a sub-
> stantial degree of user lock-in. Of course Madonna might try to
> argue that consumers have alternatives, such as Cher or Ricky
> Martin (just as Microsoft had cited Mac OS and Linux.) But this
> is disingenuous. When you want Madonna you want Madonna -- Ricky
> Martin just can't scratch that itch.
>
> So what remedy should be sought in an antitrust action
> against Madonna? I would suggest that many of the remedies
> proposed for Microsoft are equally applicable to Madonna.
>
> Madonna could be forced to license her music at low cost to
> any and all comers -- this would provide alternative sources for
> her recordings, thus providing competition and driving down
> prices. She could likewise be ordered to license (and perhaps
> even train) professional Madonna impersonators. This would create
> competition in the area of videos and live performances.
>
> Or, as has been suggested for Windows, Madonna could be
> declared an "essential facility", on account of her ubiquity,
> monopoly status, and importance to her millions of users. A
> public commission would be set up to control the prices of all
> Madonna products. This would bring an end to the Madonna price
> gouging and monopoly exploitation, and bring the benefits of
> Madonna music to even the poorest user.
>
> Now, far right-wing pro-capitalist extremists might argue
> that the charges in both these cases are specious and irrelevant,
> and that the proposed remedies are an outrage. They might claim
> that antitrust is arbitrary, non-objective, and, as *ex post
> facto* law, legally invalid. That "competition" is a derivative,
> non-essential attribute of a free economy, not a fundamental
> feature or necessity. That the real issues governing commercial
> law should be individual rights, property rights, and the full,
> unrestricted, unregulated freedoms of expression, production,
> association, and trade. That "level playing field" is really a
> code phrase for "level killing field." That antitrust is, in
> short, a grotesque abomination that should be completely and
> irrevocably abolished.
>
> Well, they're wrong. Most economists and businessmen defend
> antitrust -- are they all wrong? Hell, even Bill Gates (who is
> obviously no dummy) has stated that we have "the right amount [of
> antitrust law]". Who are the right-wingers to argue with its
> validity?
>
> Besides, (can we be grown-up?) antitrust isn't really about
> competition or consumer benefit at all. (That should be pretty
> obvious when the only "harm" the judge in the Microsoft case
> could find was that users had to put up with an Internet Explorer
> icon on their Windows desktop.) Microsoft is being whacked down
> because it is prodigious, successful, unapologetic, arrogant, and
> seemingly interested in nothing but its own self-interest. And
> that pretty much describes Madonna too, doesn't it? Case closed.
>
> Antitrust is the twentieth century's answer to the
> Inquisition -- it is the tool for exorcising the timeless evils
> of Pride, Independence, and Willfulness from men's souls. Let
> Microsoft, Madonna, and all others guilty of these sins be
> subjected to antitrust's purifying remedies.
>
>
> [Brad Aisa is a computer consultant and writer living in Toronto,
> Canada. He is a long-time satisfied Microsoft and Madonna user.]
>
> (c) 1999 by Brad Aisa <tc...@brad-aisa.com>. All rights reserved.
>
>
> LICENSE
> -------
>
> May be freely copied for private, non-commercial, personal use.
>
> Permission is granted to reproduce and republish this article
> for public or commercial purposes, provided that:
> * it is published unedited, in its entirety, including the
> bio-line (but without the license),
> * is published under copyright (either that of Brad Aisa or
> of the publisher)
> * the publisher issues the following disclaimer:
>
> "This article was published under a free-use license granted
> by Mr. Aisa -- he has not endorsed its publication herein."
>
> (Article is 721 words, bio is 22 words.)
>
> Payments, honorariums, and donations may be sent to:
>
> Brad Aisa
> 49-6A The Donway W.
> Suite 1901
> Toronto, ON M3C 2E8
> Canada
Mirco Cimarelli
And, yes, you complain saying that CD's cost $13, thinking it's too much,
right?
Well, come to Holland, here they cost $23 in the shops.
Brad Schmidt
wonder what it is that's missing which leaves that free time?
> Brad Aisa <ba...@NOSPAMbrad-aisa.com> wrote in message
> news:3835E5DC...@NOSPAMbrad-aisa.com...
> > 1999-11-18 ver 1.0.0
> >
> > THE CASE AGAINST MADONNA
--
________________________
We've compromised our pride, and sacrificed our health
We must demand more - not from each other, but more from ourselves
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James Williams
> Finally, someone who sees the Truth! And, he ain't even "Amuhricun"!
> May Almighty God Bless and Save The only Free Republic in North America,
> Canada, who from Her Pure and Fruitful Womb has Brought Forth Brad Aisa to
> Bring Light to the bitter, self-hating, self-preoccupied, self-devouring
> flagellists who dwell in Yankeedom and Dixie!
> Madonna Save Us!
> Bill Save Us!
> We have no King but Ceaser! ~~~Jimmy
> Brad Aisa <ba...@NOSPAMbrad-aisa.com> wrote in message
> news:3835E5DC...@NOSPAMbrad-aisa.com...
> > 1999-11-18 ver 1.0.0