Microsoft formally denies European antitrust charges
Microsoft has officially challenged a European Union ruling that its bundling of Internet Explorer violates competition laws in the region. The case will now go to a formal hearing.
According the the European Commission, the EU’s administrative wing, Microsoft made a formal response last night. Neither side is saying anything about what was in Microsoft’s defense, other than it has exercised its right to a full hearing.
The response followed what’s known as a ‘ruling in principle’ in January in which the Commission gave the preliminary conclusion that Microsoft including Internet Explorer in Windows gave the browser an unfair advantage over its rivals. The investigation followed complaints from the Norwegian-based manufacturers of the Opera browser.
Had Microsoft not responded, the ruling would have been automatically upheld, leaving the firm liable to fines or a forced change of behavior. It appears Microsoft was either unsure whether to challenge the ruling, or wanted to put together a rigorous defense – it successfully requested an extension to the original deadline to respond, and even the new deadline was supposed to expire last week.
Another possibility for the delay is Microsoft’s recent announcement that it will make Internet Explorer an optional feature in Windows 7, which can be ’switched off’. The firm may well have been waiting to see if this would be enough to satisfy regulators. However, the Commission hasn’t given any indication of its feelings on the matter and simply suggested Microsoft mention it in any formal objection.
Microsoft has noted that, as well as financial penalties, it could be forced to include other browsers in copies of Windows sold in Europe and allow customers to choose a default browser when installing the system. It’s not clear if this note, which appeared in a financial filing, was simply cautious lawyers noting every possibility, or if such a penalty has been floated by the Commission itself.
The hearings could be pretty lively as both Google and Mozilla (producers of the Firefox browser) have applied to be parties to the case, meaning they can get access to otherwise confidential case documents, and even give evidence.
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May 6th, 2009
As I have previously stated here, the European Commission must also call Apple to account for the bundling of their own internet browser with the Mac, if they are to have any real objectivity.
Similarly, they must also force every other purveyor of a commercial operating system to stop automatically installing a “default” browser, on the basis that it too would be unfairly advantaged over other choices.
If Microsoft do get a fine, how does the ECC actually enforce it? How can they ban Windows from being sold? What stops an individual from buying it online, or via mail order from abroad?
And just in case someone accuses me of being a Redmond stooge, this is being posted from a linux box running Firefox…