Monday, January 19th 2009
Microsoft's Official Statement Following EU Commission Objections on IE with Windows
It is not the first time that Microsoft has had run-ins with the European Commission. The problem that keeps coming up is what the commission believes to be anti-competitive practices, being that Microsoft is bundling its own software with Windows instead of offering them separately. As has been seen with Windows 7, Microsoft has tried to keep them happy this time, by only including Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer. The rest can be downloaded free of charge, by what Microsoft has named the Windows Live Suite. It seems that this is not enough however, despite Internet Explorer being included in Microsoft's operating systems for over ten years, they have decided that this is an anti-competitive move by Microsoft, and as such have issued a Statement of Objections. The commission has given Microsoft approximately two months to respond, the official statement from Microsoft follows:
Sources:
Hexus.net, Microsoft
Yesterday Microsoft received a Statement of Objections from the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission. The Statement of Objections expresses the Commission's preliminary view that the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows since 1996 has violated European competition law. According to the Statement of Objections, other browsers are foreclosed from competing because Windows includes Internet Explorer. The Statement of Objections states that the remedies put in place by the U.S. courts in 2002 following antitrust proceedings in Washington, D.C. do not make the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows lawful under European Union law.
"We are committed to conducting our business in full compliance with European law. We are studying the Statement of Objections now. Under European competition law procedure, Microsoft will be afforded an opportunity to respond in writing to this Statement of Objections within about two months. The company is also afforded an opportunity to request a hearing, which would take place after the submission of this response. Under EU procedure, the European Commission will not make a final determination until after it receives and assesses Microsoft's response and conducts the hearing, should Microsoft request one.
87 Comments on Microsoft's Official Statement Following EU Commission Objections on IE with Windows
Why should those of us that like the additional free add in's have to be penalized. Yes I use Firefox but I want the choice and I want the convienience of having net access right out of the box.
Let the great E U software O S company (who??) sell in the E. U.
This is not meant as a slam to E U residents but your E U reps are nuts and are not helping you.
Basically, you were stuck with IE taking up all your clicks from any external program, no matter which browser was set as default.
And btw, the IE Browser Helper Objects remain the greatest security threat to this day. It's how you get infected with almost all the trojans out there. It can be invoked externally, even if you browse using a different browser.
I'm not saying the EU commission is right on this one, because they're not, but let's not think that Ms's monopolistic practices have done us, the end users, any good. It's probably the reason the attacks on Windows machines have become so popular... Most of the IE userbase (read novices) has no idea what a vulnerable and outdated piece of crap it's using.
ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/president/contact/mail/index_en.htm
I think one of the main reasons IE is so "vulnerable" is because it is so used. Same with Windows vs Apple and viruses. Hackers will attack the most used target.
Bundling any other one companies browser should also be considered anti trust, by their stance. Why not have every Web Browser vender pay MS a fee to have their browser included and fix this problem, LOL. I'm sure Google won't mind ; P
A great feature that would make everyone happy would be for MS to give users a choice of browser to install upon setting up Windows. Even if it mean connecting to the internet to download a non ms browser. M$ wouldn't do this tho as they want as many users as possible to use IE > More money for them.
regardless, how would the option of installing it help? that doesn't make any sense, it is no different than them having the option to double click the IE icon.
I think what the commission means, is that M$ should bundle an alternative instead of explorer, like opera, or firefox, not ship without an os.
political correctness needs to be kicked in the head...
or to the more extreme, the laws need to be reformed so that they actually make sense and are fair