EU Slap Down Wouldn&#39;t Be Worst Thing for Microsoft
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Opinion: Unbundling integrated pieces of Windows just might be the bitter pill that Microsoft needs. There&#39;s no Christmas present that Microsoft officials want more than the European Union&#39;s remedies to be
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BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union threatened Microsoft Corp. on Thursday with fines as high as $4 million a day, claiming the software company was still not offering a fair deal to rivals seeking to make their products more compatible with Windows.
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Microsoft Corp. said Monday it is ready to put a stripped-down version of Windows on the market if it fails this week to persuade a judge to suspend a landmark European Union antitrust decision.
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Microsoft suffered a big setback this week in Europe. Should other large tech companies be worried?
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The ruling will state whether Microsoft is free of the sanctions imposed on it by EU for violating anti-trust laws. LUXEMBOURG: A European Union judge told a closed meeting he planned to rule within a month
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Microsoft Corp. said Friday that small companies and their customers would suffer most if it is forced to remove its digital media software from Windows, while the European Union accused it of being &quot;paternalistic
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(InfoWorld) - European Commissioner for competition Neelie Kroes Tuesday denied she is conducting a personal vendetta against Microsoft. Her comments came in response to what she called âa coordinated campaignâ by Microsoft against Europeâs top antitrust regulator. âFar from pursuing a vendetta against Microsoft, the Commissionâs actions are guided by the desire to create the most innovation-friendly business climate in Europe to the ultimate benefit of European consumers,â Kroes wrote in a letter in Tuesdayâs Financial Times. Earlier this month Microsoft warned that ongoing antitrust problems in Europe mayÂ delay the European launch of Windows Vista, the new version of the companyâs flagship operating system. It accused the Commission of not giving it sufficiently clear guidance on whether Vista would pass muster under European antitrust law. It also presented research it had commissioned that showed that hundreds of thousands ofÂ jobs in the European IT industry were at stakeÂ if Vistaâs launch in the region was delayed. âThere appears to be a co-ordinated campaign to portray the Commission in a negative light,â Kroes wrote. âFor example, I have seen it suggested that the Commission may seek toÂ prevent Microsoft from improving the securityÂ of its operating system. This is categorically not the case,â she wrote. The Commission has been giving feedback to Microsoft since the spring about how to avoid similar antitrust problems with Vista that it experienced with its predecessor, Windows XP. The Commission warned Microsoft that its plan to equip Vista with its own security software may amount to bundling and it urged the software company not to shut out rivals in the security software market. In 2004 the Commission found Microsoft guilty of shutting out rivals in the media player software market by bundling its Media Player with Windows. The company was also guilty of abusing its position in the workgroup server OS market. Microsoft was fined almost â¬500 million ($633 million) and was required to release a version of Windows without Media Player. In addition, Microsoft needed to make its server products better interoperate with competitors' offerings. Earlier this year it wasÂ fined an additional â¬280.5 millionÂ for failing to reveal details about the workings of Windows, as it was ordered to in the 2004 ruling. Microsoft has now submitted the information, which the Commission believes is necessary for restoring competition in the market for server operating systems. The Commission will decide in the coming months whether the information is sufficient. Meanwhile, the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg is considering an appeal of the 2004 antitrust ruling lodged by Microsoft. The Court follows no strict timeframe. Most observers expect a ruling by next summer.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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Microsoft MSFT.O said on Tuesday   that it hopes the European Commission will not require the   removal of important security features in Europe for its new   Windows Vista operating system.
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US software giant Microsoft said it will abide by whatever ruling is handed down by a European appeal court hearing due to start this week against an EU condemnation for abusing its market dominance.
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Opinion: Microsoft&#39;s global battles, such as its appeals hearing that&#39;s about to start in Luxembourg, should teach regulators that they need to address the company&#39;s behavior before it creates problems.
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BRUSSELS -- Microsoft Corp. will be ready to comply with the European Commission's demands for changes to its Windows operating systems if a European court rejects its request for the measures to be suspended, a spokesman for the company said Monday.
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The world&#39;s software giant Microsoft Corp. said it would comply with the European Commission (EC) &#39;s orders if it fails this week to persuade the European Court of Justice to suspend the EC&#39;s decision.
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The European Union on Thursday threatened Microsoft Corp. with fines of up to $4 million a day, claiming the software giant had failed to live up to promises for providing affordable and useful information that could help rivals make software for workgroup servers compatible with its Windows system.
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: Microsoft Corp. today said that small companies and their customers would suffer most if it is forced to remove its digital media software from Windows, while the European Union accused
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The European commission, which fined Microsoft a record â¬497m (Â£345) this year for abusing its dominant position, yesterday vowed to continue pursuing the US software group through the courts for anti-competitive behaviour.
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(InfoWorld) - With Microsoft's antitrust appeal now decided, the next U.S. technology company to get a place on the European Union (EU)'s regulatory hot seat may be Apple, an antitrust expert said Tuesday. "The decision by the Court of First Instance is a clear signal to the European [Competition] Commission that it has the leeway to go ahead," said Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and a noted antitrust scholar. "[The commission] now has a license to go ahead, and they have a pretty aggressive posture. I think this bodes ill for some companies." Among those already facing investigations or accusations from the EU antitrust agency, which is led by Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands, are chipmakers Rambus and; Qualcomm, a wireless technology vendor; and Apple. Apple, in fact, will face two days of hearings before the commission starting Wednesday to answer charges that it and its four music label partners are violating EU laws with the pricing structure and purchase restrictions of the iTunes music store. In early April, the commission confirmed that it had sent an SO (Statement of Objections), the agency's term for an official complaint, to Apple and partners EMI, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and Universal Music. The SO claimed consumers are restricted in their choice of where to buy music -- because each country's version of iTunes only accepts orders from customers who live in that country -- and at what price. ITunes tracks sales for varying amounts, depending on the country. But the commission steered clear of calling Apple another Microsoft in April. "The Statement of Objections does not allege that Apple is in a dominant market position," the group said in a statement at the time. Yesterday, Kroes downplayed any link between the court's rejection of Microsoft's appeal and possible action against other U.S. technology companies. "You may hear scare stories about the supposed negative consequences of this ruling for other companies," she said during a news conference Monday afternoon. "Let me be clear. There is one company that will have to change its illegal behavior as a result of this ruling: Microsoft." Microsoft, however, thought different. During his own news conference yesterday, Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, repeatedly pointed to Apple. "Apple has something like a 70 percent market share for digital music," said Smith. "ITunes is far and away the leading source for music on the Internet; the iPod is far and away the leading hardware device for digital music." Even the U.S. Department of Justice weighed in. Thomas Barnett, the assistant attorney general for antitrust, yesterday said: "We are concerned that the standard applied to unilateral conduct by the CFI [Court of First Instance], rather than helping consumers, may have the unfortunate consequence of harming consumers by chilling innovation and discouraging competition." Hovenkamp was confident that yesterday's decision would embolden the commission. "This was a landmark decision and a landmark case," he said. "It stands for a couple of important things. First, it's a declaration of independence, a statement that their anticompetitive policy is not going to be dictated by U.S. policy. Second, it clears the way for the commission to pursue new cases. "You're going to see a more aggressive commission that will go after high technology companies, especially those that are involved with networks or standard setting," Hovenkamp said. "Rambus and Qualcomm, certainly," he said, are among the companies at risk from a combative commission. "Intel? Perhaps. As for Apple, there are some undeveloped issues there." In Apple's favor, he said, are European antitrust traditions that may let the iTunes operator and iPod maker off the hook. Europe's antitrust agency has typically looked differently at two kinds of pricing discrimination. The one where a company prices products differently in different countries in order to squash competition -- pricing products lower in nations where rivals exist, higher where competitors are lacking -- is usually treated harshly, said Hovenkamp. The other type of pricing discrimination, where a seller prices products based on what it thinks a particular country's buyers can bear -- more in Germany, for example, less in Portugal -- are not generally considered a competition problem. "If Apple is pricing differentially because of economies and consumer buying power," said Hovenkamp, "it is probably safe. But if [it is] doing this to suppress competition, the commission may act." Among the possible results of the hearings: fines levied to the tune of 10 percent of global net revenues. Kroes' agency could also dismiss the SO after the hearing. "Europeans are much more comfortable with regulation," said Hovenkamp. Apple did not reply to a request for comment on the court ruling yesterday or on the hearings that kick off tomorrow in Brussels. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate
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A ruling against the European Commission in the Microsoft antitrust case could affect its ability to regulate competition.