EU spurns Microsoft. Again.
Microsoft’s latest attempt to settle antitrust charges has been rejected by European Union regulators, but talks continue nonetheless.
“With a decision from the EU due as early as mid-March, the U.S. software giant has been scrambling to avert what could be a far-reaching order to change the way it packages its dominant Windows computer operating system and reveal more of its underlying code to rival manufacturers,” says an Associated Press story here, going on:
“Representatives of the European Commission and Microsoft declined to comment on a report in Tuesday?s Financial Times that Microsoft had offered to include rival media player software on a CD-ROM packaged with personal computers to help resolve the case.”
Time is running out, however, as a draft decision against Microsoft that has been circulating in Brussels for the past month is expected to go to an advisory committee of national regulators around March 3, says AP. The committee is expected to convene again March 15 to review proposed penalties, with the final decision adopted a day or two later.
“Once that process is set in motion, only dramatically new concessions from Microsoft that clearly meet all the EU’s demands can stop it,” it states, pointing out that in an echo of the landmark US case involving Internet browsers, “the commission?s draft decision finds Microsoft abused its Windows monopoly to gain ground over rivals in the media player market”.
This was settled in 2002 without requiring Microsoft to unbundle IE from Windows. Microsoft says adding new features to Windows benefits consumers, but competitors argue it’s aimed at driving them out of business.
“In the EU case, Microsoft is trying to avoid an order to remove its Media Player, which is gaining market share at the expense of rivals RealNetworks Inc. and Apple Computer Inc,” adds the AP report. “Such an order could also complicate its next planned Windows innovation: incorporating an Internet search engine to compete with Google Inc.
“Last year, EU regulators demanded that Microsoft either sell a stripped-down version of Windows or install rival media players. The CD-ROM offer seeks to satisfy the second option but sources said the commission, which wants all players on the same level, believes requiring installation from a CD-ROM would deter most users.”
