EC Sends Statement of Objections To Microsoft For Violating Anti-Trust Agreement 173
dkleinsc writes "Three years ago, Microsoft came to an agreement with EU regulators that required them to provide users with a choice of web browsers. Last July, they found Microsoft in breach of that agreement. Today, they announced that this will result in charges, potentially resulting in fines as large as $7 billion."
Microsoft gets one last chance to defend itself.
Re:The only way... (Score:3, Interesting)
Corporations never do anything profitable. Just ask anyone in Hollywood. I suggest going after up to 200% of revenue directly or indirectly related.
Re:The only way... (Score:2, Interesting)
Be that as it may, the fine should in my opinion be commensurate with the severity of the wrong. Microsoft has a dwindling brower share of a dwindling platform. It's impossible for it to dominate the internet anymore - as of late, Apple and Google have both proven themselves more adept at doing so. You don't throw people in prison for jaywalking; a fine of billions of euros would seem more like spitefulness than a reasoned response to a minor violation.
what about iphone charger? (Score:0, Interesting)
why EC doesn't sue them for using wrong connector. I thought all mobile phones must use the same one
Re:Fine (Score:4, Interesting)
I would like to see them invalidate their copyrights and patents to put into the public domain. That would hurt more than anything, but unfortunately, it's a pipe dream.
It's a pipe dream because if the EU did that, the U.S. might turn around and do the same with EU companies in the U.S.
Re:Fine (Score:4, Interesting)
I would like to see them invalidate their copyrights and patents
Invalidate their business license. It's as simple as that. I don't know why it isn't done more often. You mess up in a car and your driver's license is in jeapordy with points, suspension or revocation. Hold businesses accountable for their actions via the licensing system as well. QED.
Choice of Browsers is MS's Burden? (Score:1, Interesting)
Firefox: www.firefox.com
Opera: www.opera.com
Safari: www.apple.com/safari
WTF? I can find dozens of other browsers with a cursory google search. Why is it up to MS to pre-package a bunch of browsers and let the user choose one that will no doubt already be an out-of-date pile of security holes by the time the PC hits the desk?
Have people become so lazy (or stupid) that they can't even go download a browser by themselves?
Fuck sake people. Me thinks this is just another big government money grab. After all, EU governments have a lot of mouths to feed.
Microsoft's bad decisions just keep coming (Score:5, Interesting)
It was a bad decision to tie the IE web browser function into the Windows operating system. It was a bad decision to fight the anti-monopoly folks when they came calling. It was a bad decision to drag their feet about offering browser alternatives in Windows. And, now, it has been a bad decision by Microsoft to blow off the EU regulators when they were ordered to include browser alternatives. Microsoft was gifted with their Windows monopoly thanks to being in the right place in the right year with the right software. Now, however, the world has moved on and the Windows monopoly is tottering. Microsoft should have just quietly enjoyed their monopoly while planning for its eventual demise rather than attempting to enjoy it in perpetuity. Now, the entire Microsoft 'empire' built on the Windows monopoly is in jeopardy...and the end will probably come much sooner than anyone thinks. It was stupid back a few years to ignore the EU and it is even more stupid now, given the new market realities that Microsoft faces. Microsoft needs new leadership...they need it really soon...and even then it might be too late.
Apple not doing what is at issue with MS (Score:4, Interesting)
No. First, because "someone else is also breaking the same law" is not a legally valid defense (in some cases, it may be a strategy to avoid or reduce charges you are facing, if the other someone is perceived by the government to be worse than you, and your cooperation actually makes it easier to hold them accountable.)
Second, because there doesn't appear to even be a colorable claim that Apple isn't doing what Microsoft is accused of doing, to wit, violating an agreement with the EU that was entered into as part of the settlement of a past antitrust action. The specific browser choice requirement Microsoft faces isn't a generally applicable rule, its a special restriction that Microsoft agreed to as part of settling charges of illegally leveraging a monopoly in the past.