Depends on your world view. He was asked about that "mistake" on a 60 Minutes interview. His response was, paraphrasing, "mistake? Perhaps, but we make better polar fleece than any of our competitors, and we are more innovative with auxillary ideas!"

So, not staking out a bridge from which he can troll license fees while hindering progress, he keeps the playing field level and maximizes advances (innovation) while allowing the consumer to enjoy the fruits of competition. To me, that is an excellent business plan.

No doubt, the current ethic would have recommended that he take the $300 million in insurance and retire, cutting off his employees at the knees and letting them vend for themselves. Sorta Enron like.

Ya, Ken Lay is really a 'good businessman' isn't he? He is such a role model for the current crop of corp execs...

JLK