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Euro Microsoft Browser Case Ready for Costly Resolution
Aoife White
October 07, 2009
BRUSSELS – European Union regulators said Wednesday they were preparing to settle a long and costly antitrust battle with Microsoft Corp. with a deal to give Windows users a choice of web browsers.
Microsoft promised the changes after the EU charged it with monopoly abuse for tying the Internet Explorer browser to the Windows operating system installed on most of the world’s desktop computers.
Microsoft’s general counsel Brad Smith said the EU announcement was “a big step” toward ending its antitrust woes in Europe and would allow the company to focus on European regulatory approval for “our agreement with Yahoo, that is objective no. 1.” In July, Yahoo agreed to let Microsoft handle its searches as part of a 10-year deal.
The European Commission said it would on Friday formally seek feedback from computer manufacturers, software companies and consumers on Microsoft’s offer to allow users to pick one of 12 browsers when they install Windows. They have a month to respond to regulators.
If the feedback is positive, the EU could accept Microsoft’s offer, which would two months later turn into a legally binding settlement to last five years. A settlement would end the EU antitrust case on browsers without adding to the euro1.7 billion ($2.5 billion) in fines that the company has already racked up.
Smith said the company had made numerous changes to an initial offer made in July after extensive discussions with regulators over the last month. Regulators were scathing about earlier offers, among which Microsoft’s announcement in June that it might strip browsers entirely from new European versions of Windows to avoid any antitrust problems.
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said “Microsoft’s commitments would indeed address our competition concerns” and they would have a “direct and immediate impact on the market.”
“It would empower all current and future users of Windows in Europe to choose which browser they wished to use,” she said.
She also said she trusted Microsoft to offer developers more interoperability information – data used by other companies to create programs that work on Windows – in a separate deal that will not be enforced by regulators.
“I trust Microsoft. I had contact with (CEO) Steve Ballmer, the (investigation) team is in close contact so there can’t be a misunderstanding here,” Kroes said. “It’s the result of a long discussion over a long period.”
European users of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 – due to launch on Oct. 22 – will automatically be shown a screen explaining what web browsers are and then get a choice of “tell me more” buttons to give them details on what each browser can do.
They can then pick several browsers – listed in alphabetical order – to install along with or instead of Internet Explorer. They can come back to that screen later to change their browser choice.
Bootlegger
about 1 month ago
166 comments
Smoke and mirrors. The entire case was a farce to begin with, you buy a Microsoft product and you get what they bundle with it. If you buy Apple you get Safari, not a choice of Safari, Firefox, Chrome or Opera. Most of the Linux distros I have tried have come with Firefox or a rebranded Firefox such as Iceweasel preinstalled.Microsoft did nothing to prevent users from getting and using a different/alternative browser and most users are still going to default to the blue "e" they have come to know and love as their internet. I applaud MS for being the "bigger man" and including other browsers in their installation. Maybe GIMP or Paint.net should sue MS for including Paint in the default Windows install?
slburkey
about 1 month ago
68 comments
@ Mebop: Go back and re-read the article. The settlement offer is to offer the user their CHOICE of browser at the time of installation. Getting "stuck" with something, as you're complaining about, is exactly the situation we're all stuck with now.
Frankly, I don't see a problem with the settlement as it's proposed now. But I do see a problem lurking in the background. That would be the "Tell me more" buttons - do I trust Microsoft to write an honest review detailing the features of their competitors' browsers? No. Do I trust Microsoft to write an honest review of the foibles and weaknesses of IE? Oh, hell no!
I'm a network administrator with four years of experience in my profession, and over 20 years of experience with MS, Linux, and Apple OSs (in that order) and applications. Never in all these years have I ever experienced unqualified honesty, let alone full disclosure, from Uncle Bill's monopolistic monster.
Mebop
about 1 month ago
24 comments
Microsoft should just stop selling in EU, it wouldn't be long before they asked MS to come back, MS would have alot more money not having to pay a fine everytime they sneezed. If I buy MS software and end up with Yahoo, or Google, I'm going to be a little upset for not getting what I paid for. Which is whats going to end up happening. You buy MS, and thanks to EU regulators I get Yahoo or Google, or Mozzila, something just sounds off in all this.