Not many people realize that the model of "computing" we have, as well as the computer industry of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that led to the personal computer, the Internet, the free software movement, etc., was due to a Department of Justice consent decree with IBM in 1956.
In 1952, the US government brought a suit against International Business Machines under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The resulting consent decree required that IBM, among other restrictions,
Copyright 1999-2007 Mark Wahl. All rights reserved.