p2pnet news | Product News:- Norwegian web browser company Opera has decided to take the fight to Bill and the Boyz in the browser war.

The first to come up with the revolutionary tabs concept, a major factor in Firefox’s success which was also picked up by Microsoft, it yesterday filed a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission, ” to give consumers a genuine choice of Web browsers,” it says.

“The complaint describes how Microsoft is abusing its dominant position by tying its browser, Internet Explorer, to the Windows operating system and by hindering interoperability by not following accepted Web standards,” says Opera, continuing:

Opera has requested the Commission to take the necessary actions to compel Microsoft to give consumers a real choice and to support open Web standards in Internet Explorer.

Opera wants the Commission to, “implement two remedies to Microsoft’s abusive actions,” it says.

First, it requests the Commission to obligate Microsoft to unbundle Internet Explorer from Windows and/or carry alternative browsers pre-installed on the desktop.

Second, it asks the European Commission to require Microsoft to follow fundamental and open Web standards accepted by the Web-authoring communities.

The complaint calls on Microsoft to adhere to its own public pronouncements to support these standards, instead of stifling them with its notorious “Embrace, Extend and Extinguish” strategy. Microsoft’s unilateral control over standards in some markets creates a de facto standard that is more costly to support, harder to maintain, and technologically inferior and that can even expose users to security risks.

“The European Court of First Instance confirmed in September that Microsoft has illegally tied Windows Media Player to Windows,” says Opera general counsel Jason Hoida.

“Our complaint is necessary to get Microsoft to amend its practices. We are simply asking the Commission to apply these same, clear principles to the Internet Explorer tie, a tie that has even more profound effects on consumers and innovation.

“We are confident that the Commission understands the significance of the Internet Explorer tie and will take the necessary actions to restore competition and consumer choice in the browser market.”

Absent “Microsoft’s abuse,” Bill and the Boyze, “would have been forced to compete on a level playing field with Opera and other browsers.,” says Opera, adding:

“Instead of innovating, Microsoft has locked consumers to its own browser and only recently begun to offer some of the innovative features that other browsers have offered for years.”

Slashdot it!

Also See:
Opera - Opera files antitrust complaint with the EU, December 12, 2007

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 10:44 am and is filed under Product News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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