Those companies were able to clone the IBM PC because IBM made the mistake of allowing its partner, Microsoft, to license a virtually identical version of its PC-DOS operating system to any takers.

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Steam, with its 40 million users is leading the PC game distribution site, making it an attractive partner for publishers who want access to that vast audience.

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In news from the media industry, whose fortunes are also tied to the consumer and broader economy, Modern Media of China said yesterday it would hook up with licensing partner Bloomberg to offer Businessweek via mobile phone and tablet PC (see related story here).

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"It's a very legitimate question to ask, should I try to find a way to get under the 50-employee threshold, " says Alden Bianchi, a partner with law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC in Boston.

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