My initial reaction to the article was: a) Is it enforcable. How weill M$ satisify the EU - placate them. b) How will the EU know if M$ is really complying, especially in light or the XP/.NET/HailStrom roadmap - When they get cracked and a scenario such as you forecast come to fruition. c) When it is realized that M$ has pulled another fast one how will the EU respond? I see lawsuits, a precipitce fall in comsumer confidence, a fall in M$ stock and (like you said) a mass exodus of M$ execs. And, maybe, just maybe the corporates will take heed - only when a public outcry forces them to. Anything or anyone that threatens the corporate bottom line becomes the enemy. M$ is already poised to be top dog on hit list of companies not to be trusted. When they outlive their usefullness then you'll see the real headlines coming about the evils of M$. Just my 2 cents. Curtis Rey On Wednesday 23 May 2001 08:44 pm, Matthew wrote:

I predict that some EU government (most likley Britain...) will lose some data to Russian crackers, who will then flaunt this on some website. This will spell the end of the .Net strategy. MS will end up with its head spinning, not knowing what to do and eventually most heads at MS will resign due to lack of faith on the part of the shareholders.

I cannot believe any government would be stupid enough to believe that signing a piece of paper constitutes any guarantee of any kind.

Matt

Fred A. Miller wrote:

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Microsoft Will Sign Safe Harbor Agreement

Microsoft has announced it will sign the US/EU safe harbor agreement that requires adherence to strict data privacy standards. This is especially significant because a large number of other US companies have not signed the agreement. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,43800,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5930589.html?tag=prntfr