Microsoft charged with monopoly use again by EU
Microsoft was formally charged with monopoly abuse by Europe’s top antitrust authority, the European Commission, over the way it bundles the Internet Explorer browser with Windows.
The move follows an unsuccessful attempt by U.S. authorities nine years ago to strip Internet Explorer (IE) of its unfair advantage over competing browsers. European authorities were more successful in their prosecution of Microsoft over similar antitrust offenses five years ago, fining the company over €1.6 billion and ordering it to change the way it does business.
The Commission’s charges were delivered to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, last Thursday in the form of a formal statement of objections. The company is studying the charges and will respond within the next two months, as is usual in European antitrust cases, it said.
The new charges are the first of many anticipated against the company in the wake of a failed court appeal by Microsoft last year against the original European antitrust ruling.
The latest statement of objections follows a relatively short investigation, one year long, sparked by a complaint from Opera Software, a Norwegian browser developer.
Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner welcomed the Commission’s decision to press charges. “It’s clear they are taking this very seriously,” he said in a phone interview on Saturday.
More at http://www.itworld.com/
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