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MS vs EU: Microsoft does not control Windows anymore
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| From an European point of view at least they don't. You see the way the EU
| and the US deal with monopolies is completely different. In the US the state
| reaction when faced with a monopolistic company is to break it apart,
| something that almost happened to Microsoft during their first US antitrust
| investigation.
|
| The EU doesn't break up companies, in fact they are usually quite OK with
| monopolies. For a long time water, power, cable and telecoms have been
| monopolies in most European countries and most people were OK with that. Of
| course there is a catch: in almost all cases the government owned a
| controlling share of those monopolistic companies and actually imposed some
| policies on them.
|
| Now that most industries have been liberalized the state operate in a similar
| but subtly different way: You are entitled to operate a monopoly or
| quasi-monopoly as a private company, but you are expected to let the state
| have some control over your company in exchange. In other words from an
| European point of view if Windows is a quasi-monopoly then the state has the
| right to impose features and restrictions on Windows, as simple as that.
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http://www.tech-no-media.com/2009/06/ms-vs-eu-microsoft-does-not-control.html
Recent:
E.U. mulling ordering Microsoft to carry rival web browsers
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| In its regulatory filing in the U.S. submitted late January, Microsoft said
| that the commission is considering ordering Microsoft and computer makers
| to "obligate users to choose a particular browser when setting up a new PC."
| That might include a requirement that computer manufacturers "distribute
| multiple browsers on new Windows-based PCs," Microsoft said in the SEC
| filing.
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http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/eu-mulling-ordering-microsoft-carry/story.aspx?guid={0400E025-7A4B-44CA-9F9C-D0E0D9F1F443}&dist=msr_1
EC to Microsoft: We may still fine you
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| In a statement earlier today, European Commission spokesperson Jonathan Todd
| is quoted by two sources, the International Herald-Tribune and the AFP, as
| having publicly renewed the EC's warning to Microsoft that it could impose
| more fines and force the company to offer competing Web browsers as an
| alternative to Internet Explorer, for the company's European edition of
| Windows 7.
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http://www.betanews.com/article/EC-to-Microsoft-We-may-still-fine-you/1235513297
EU May Order Microsoft To Carry Rival Web Browsers
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200902240924DOWJONESDJONLINE000353_FORTUNE5.htm
EU Mulling Ordering Microsoft To Carry Rival Web Browsers
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200902240721DOWJONESDJONLINE000284_FORTUNE5.htm
Microsoft fears EU fine over browser
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/24/technology/msft.4-437077.php
Mozilla: Sometimes govt. is answer to Microsoft
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| Despite this success, Baker believes that government, and in the European
| Commission in particular, has a role to play in further leveling the playing
| field. As she notes in a recent blog post, government entities would perhaps
| have less relevance but for the antitrust activity that resulted in
| Microsoft's dominant market share in the first place:
|
| Microsoft did not obtain its (Internet Explorer) hegemony solely through
| competition on the merits of IE. A number of illegal activities were also
| involved in creating IE's market dominance...The idea that Microsoft is
| an innocent victim (of European Commission intervention) is deeply
| flawed.
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10167433-16.html
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