rant about Qwest + Microsoft

[Kevin Brown]

They aren't forcing anything.  Only users of Qwest.net who do not switch to
another ISP (but still have Qwest for the DSL line) will be switched to MSN.

> Am I the only moron around that thinks it's Really STUPID -- and possibly
> ILLEGAL -- for Qwest to be forcing their DSL customers to switch to use
> Microsoft as their ISP???  I mean, here's one of the largest RBOCs in the
> country forcing all of its accounts to switch to a company that has been
> found guilty on the District Court and Appellete level of violating the
> Sherman Antitrust Act.  And right there in their page explaining that
> "Customer Service is our Top Priority" is says "In order to switch to MSN,
> you MUST be running Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/Me/XP/2k as well as Internet
> Explorer".  Hullo?  Is anybody in Legal Land out there?  Since when does the
> type of service (eg., DSL) dictate that a particular operating system and
> web browser be used???
> 
> I don't think people would react so innocently if Qwest announced they were
> partnering with the Ku Klux Klan to help manage their personnel
> administration...  Microsoft is no less biased in their approaches than the
> KKK is in theirs.  Yet I've seen absoluely nothing in the media addressing
> this perverted alliance!
> 
> I don't have a problem running Windows (I already do), but I do have a
> problem being FORCED TO SWITCH, as well as adopting use of a browser that is
> the target of most internet-based attacks.  The purpose of the Sherman
> Antitrust Act was to foster competition -- presuming that would lead to
> greater choices for consumers.  Would this deal be happening if Microsoft
> weren't a monopoly???  Is there any coincidence that, in order to avoid
> getting forced to switch to MSN, you have to disconnect your DSL service,
> wait a couple of weeks, and then reconnect with another provider (over the
> same wires and equipment) for a higher monthly cost?  They call this CHOICE?
> 
> The biggest reason why it doesn't make sense is because OfficeWorks
> customers and those running non-Windows systems don't have to switch!  (At
> least, not right now.)
> 
> Is anybody up to filing a class action suit against Qwest for consipiring to
> aid and abet an established criminal activity?  This alliance wasn't
> announced until after the Appeals court rejected Microsoft's claims and
> referred the case back for re-sentencing.
> 
> I wrote a letter to the State Corporation Commission about this, and got a
> canned reply back saying that they do not regulate DSL service, so they
> aren't the right people to complain to.  (This doesn't make sense, because
> they regulate the wires and equipment and everything else that Qwest does;
> so why is it that a different kind of transmission service over the same
> wires and equipment isn't under their purview?)
> 
> So who the heck do we complain to about this insanity?