Fighting Last Century's War.(Brief Article)(Interview)

At the University of California, Berkeley, the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy is at the cutting edge of thinking about the new economy, including the ongoing battles between Microsoft and its many rivals. NEWSWEEK's Tony Emerson discussed Microsoft's global anti- piracy strategy--including its growing force of former FBI and DEA agents--with three Berkeley professors who are also Roundtable leaders: economist Bradford DeLong and political scientists John Zysman and Steve Weber. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Can Microsoft win this war with pirates?

DELONG: It's probably best not to pay so much attention to piracy. One free program running illegally on a machine is an opportunity to sell an upgrade. Two weeks ago, I tried to install a perfectly legal Windows 98 disk over Windows 95. Lo and behold, it says this disk will not install as an upgrade. So Microsoft is using technological code to enforce its property rights in a way that makes my life considerably more annoying.

By building anti-piracy land mines into software?

DELONG: Right.

WEBER: Brad's story shows Microsoft doesn't understand what its real intellectual property is. It is not an obsolete operating system which it was able to sell for $89 two years ago. It has to be in innovation. They should be giving away the old stuff. They should want everyone in the world to have an obsolete version of their system.

ZYSMAN: Can we take a step back? Bill Gates's concern that he has a product that should not be appropriated is a real concern.