Monday, May 12th 2008
Microsoft Appeals Against the Record 899 Mln Euro EU Fine
Microsoft spokesman Jesse Verstraete announced it was appealing against the record 899 million euro ($1.39 billion) fine imposed by the European Commission for not providing key code to rival software makers and prolonged misbehaviour allegations. "Microsoft today filed to the (EU) Court of First Instance an application to annul the European Commission decision of February 27," the U.S. software giant said in a late Friday mail. "We are filing this appeal in a constructive effort to seek clarity from the court," it said. Microsoft has been fined a total of 1.68 billion euros by the EU for abusing its 95 percent dominance of PC operating systems through its Windows operating system. The Commission had initially fined Microsoft 497 million Euro in March 2004 for deliberately damaging rivals by offering its Windows Media Player with Windows. The second fine of 899 million Euro followed in February 2008, that's also the biggest ever fine imposed on a company by the EU committee.
Source:
EETimes.uk
81 Comments on Microsoft Appeals Against the Record 899 Mln Euro EU Fine
Ballmer may look like an idiot but he is not that stupid. A lot of european companies and public institutions are already changing to Linux, free and open-source sofwares. Also, PS3 and Wii sales are kicking xbox's ass.
M$ needs, but more importantly: "wants" to fight those tendencies. Do you think Ballmer and M$ worry about piracy at schools and students? They tolerate it, because it's a way to students to get used to their software. When they grow up they already know how to work it THEIR software. Those learning programs for kids are not for the good cause, that's an excuse to make contracts with companies and to make huge marketing campaigns. How about those stupid "Vista Ready" stickers? How about the Vista itself and their prices?
M$ doesn't really cares much about fines if they are making more money with those and other more "soft" strategies. They pay the fines but they gain a lot more during others processes.
At the end it's all about profit, whatever it takes.
On topic though why do people get so uptight when this comes up like it makes a difference to the average guy, ok maybe ( big what if ) the price of Windows goes up by £10 $20 but like thats a huge thing every few years or so, unless u buy 10+ copys of vista everyday.
Cheers
Gam
It's amazing how many people don't know this.
I argee that Microsoft should just pull out of Europe long enough for the EU to drop the charge. It was 400 million Euros 2 years ago, 900 million euros this year, what's next? 2 billion euros?? Even though Microsoft is large, it can't afford to keep paying these ridiculous sums of money for no reason. The 900 million would be better spent on poor African countries.
Well then, have fun when Microsoft stops putting up with Europe's shit and pulls out of the market.
It would be a big loss for them, but Bill would certainly be happy knowing that 95% of all computer owners just got pwned. I certainly would.
Microsoft deserves every cent they get, their software is not the best, but the only one we have that can do "everything", from editing, to gaming, to casual use, to office work.
All power to Microsoft.
And don't bring Bush into this argument. He has nothing to do with it. But to answer your question, no, there's not much I agree with Bush on.
And until Microsoft redeems themselves somehow (unlikely), I'm going to view them in the very same skeptical light as I would all ex-cons. If someone brings up charges against Microsoft, I'm going to believe the plaintiff (considering Microsoft's history), unless Microsoft can eventually prove otherwise.
As someone pointed out earlier, they shouldn't be allowed to flout the anti-competition laws just because they are a US company. The laws exist for a reason and MS have had plenty of warning, including a few lawsuits a few years ago. They know the stakes and the penalties and they still continued with anti-competitive practices.It's a simple concept but unfortunately it totally unrealistic in the real world. I'm far from socialist but I can accept that unfettered capitalism benefits nobody about from Microsoft company directors. To make things better for you and me, we need competition in the marketplace.
I sure hope you're trying to be sarcastic, cause our government hasn't really done much to make a crap of difference in government run organizations and plans. They have yet to address any of the Social Security issues that were brought up 8+ years ago; they haven't made any beneficial improvements to the medicare system . . . for those that need the help from medicaide, it's extremelly difficult to obtain it, and even then they give you typically below what you need . . . the poor have become poorer, the rich have become richer, and the middle class has been crunched to the point where they're giving up necessities left and right just to make ends meet while falling further and further into debt - 1 in 7 americans currently have no form of health insurance, and can't afford health care without it, and those numbers continue to grow - and the majority of those uninsures all belong to the middle class.
For the last 8 years, our government has been run by a team of inept, inane, moronic idiots that care more about their own coffers and pockets than where this country is going . . .
/rant
as to the OP, although I don't think MS should have to pay out for their property, they are operating within a different market, and there are laws that govern that market just as there are here . . . and MS needs to play nice, so . . .
but, that kind of ruling has happened here in the US before, too, but only typically happens when one company has a corner on technology or intellectual property that all of a sudden becomes necessary for the rest of the market and their competitors. I can think of when the US fuel economy finally went over to unleaded fuel as being mandatory and de-facto, Amoco Fuels was forced by the government to share their knowledge of how to refine petroleum to that state, as no other fuel company knew how to do that yet.
But, even when a company is forced to cough up their intellectual property, that doesn't mean they need to tell everyone exactly how they do it, just what needs to be done. MS could have easily coughed up code that gets the job done, but it didn't have to exactly how the do it . . . meaning they would've had some use for the last decades worth of spaghetti code they've written . . .
Like I said, the US spends more taxpayer money on healthcare than any European country. The US spends almost 2x as much per person and you're right - it is a total shambles.
i think rhino said it bestand on the plus side, ONLY A FEW MORE MONTHS OF BUSH!!!:toast::rockout::laugh::toast:
now that has been said, lets try and get away from this whole US socialism thing, doesn't really have any relevance to the topic at hand
but, in regards to that, if they had to share, MS would be perfectly legit releasing spaghetti code that gets the job done, but not effectivelly or efficiently - let the other guys figure out how to do that. So what if the code MS coughs up gets tha job done by processing through a wireless router to another computer that processes only half the code, then sends the file back to the originating machine, which then has to factor in the time of day, the tide cycle, the alighment of Vega to which solar latitude to calculate to the nth+178st digit of Pi so that final processing can be done to a float degree of 25+n decimal places? It gets the job done, and that's what the other companies are bitching about, right? That they couldn't figure that out to begin with?
Give them the baseline of how to get it done, and let them figure it out themselves; MS should be able to keep and protect their method of implimentation.
The government can only truly address the social security and Medicare/aid conundrum by getting rid of these programs entirely. By slowly phasing out Medicare/aid and Social Security and allowing the free market to dictate medical prices, we can ensure that everyone who wants coverage gets covered because they will pay whatever the market deems the right amount for it. Health care isn't a right. Nowhere in the declaration or Constitution is there anything about one's health being guaranteed by the government. Worse of all though, our current system is severely underpaying physicians, causing many to turn away from the field. If you want a full explanation of our current system and solutions to it, pm me. My main point is that the government is creating an artificial command economy by regulating health care prices and this should be fixed by turning it back into a market economy.
On topic: MS has every right to protect their stuff.
Although I understand your point that health care isn't a given right within the constitution - neither is it a given right in any of the governing basis of laws of any of the leading 25 industrialized countries . . . the countries that do have some form of basic health care though, look at it as providing a needed service to their citizens. I'm not saying that any government should have to pay for 100% of all medical expenses for every citizen, but we should at the very least be able to offer basic medical care. Anything that would require specialized treatment or otherwise should be up to the individual, IMO, and that's where health insurance could easily pick up the slack. There's no need for a contributing, productive member of society to have to shell out $150+ for a 15min office visit simply because they don't have insurance, and I firmly believe that no single individual should be turned away from any medical institution because they don't have coverage, either (and sadly, the number of people turned away from even hospitals is growing as well).
Partly, I believe the growing rates of doctors (although for the most part underpaid - they make a lot, but have to shell out a ton for malpractice insurance) is due to the malpractice insurance they have to pay - and those rates are due to the numbers of incompetent morons who're willing to bring a malpractice lawsuit against a doctor because they went in with cold-like symptoms, the doctor thinks they have a cold, and turns out it's the flu and they ahd to go back for a second visit - oh, well, you're still alive, you got over it . . . it just took longer. Doctors are only human, and make mistakes as well.
We need to crack down with an iron fist on frivilous lawsuits - seriously, we need a panel of judges that reviews cases before they even go to court, and just throw stuff out left and right. Call them "common sense analysts" - if it falls under the category of a lack of common sense, it's not worth the time to hear it.
Our government has done little to nothing to regulate health care costs, especially for those who have pre-existing conditions. Why should someone, fully productive and contributing to society, have to pay 3x as much, or more, than the next guy, simply because they have a pre-existing condition? That's biased and discriminatory; or what about the health care companies that want to play doctor and deny legitimate claims as soon as they land on their desk?
:banghead:
sorry bout the rant, and the jumping topic again, but . . . and to keep from further de-railing this thread, I'm just gonna stay out of this thread from here out
Read more. Talk less.:laugh:
Iraq war was useless and I said that before we went in, and you will learn that by the time we are out, hopefully.
The Afghanistan War needs more attention than its getting. That is the correct place to fight because thats what caused 9/11(terrorist training camps built with Saudi Arabian Funds).
Iraqi's did not cause 9/11, and neither did Saddam. If you didn't realize that, you need to read more on the issue.
Name me the thing(s) Bush did well....... then compare that short list with the long list of what he did wrong.:shadedshu