Jan 14, 2008, 16:57 GMT
Brussels - The European Union on Monday launched two new probes into complaints that Microsoft is using its dominant position to block rival web browsers and office software developers.
The European Union on Monday launched two new probes into complaints that Microsoft is using its dominant position to block rival web browsers and office software developers. . EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT
The move comes less than four months after the European Court of First Instance ruled against Microsoft in a similar anti-trust case concerning its media player, and upheld EU fines totalling 777 million euros (1.15 billion dollars at current prices) for behaviour that damaged consumers.
Microsoft in a statement said it would 'cooperate fully with the Commission's investigation and provide any and all information necessary.'
'We are committed to ensuring that Microsoft is in full compliance with European law and our obligations as established by the European Court of First Instance in its September 2007 ruling,' Microsoft said.
The first of the new probes targets Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser, which is sold as standard on computers which use Microsoft's Windows operating system.
According to a complaint made on December 13 by Norwegian-based web browser maker Opera, the fact that Microsoft automatically sells Windows with Explorer attached makes it difficult for other software developers to sell their products.
In a statement, the EU Commission said Opera's complaint 'alleges that there is ongoing competitive harm from Microsoft's practices ... that would reduce compatibility with open internet standards and therefore hinder competition.'
Opera welcomed Monday's decision by the EU executive.
'We are happy to see that the commission has moved so swiftly and listened to the two things we complained about: the tying of Internet Explorer to Windows and the lack of support for commonly-accepted web standards,' Tor Odland, communications director at Opera in Norway, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Odland also noted that Opera's complaint had already prompted Microsoft to announce that they would support 'a specific test for web standards.'
Microsoft, in a reaction to Opera's initial complaint last month, had said that while it was willing to cooperate with the inquiries, it believed that 'the inclusion of the browser into the operating system benefits consumers, and that consumers and PC manufacturers already are free to choose any browsers they wish.'
The second case announced by the EU on Monday focuses on the claim that Microsoft is refusing to give rivals access to codes that would allow their products to work effectively with Microsoft programmes such as the Office suite, which includes the Microsoft Word text editor and Excel spreadsheet.
That complaint was launched by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), an industry body which includes companies such as IBM, Adobe and Sun Microsystems.
The EU investigation will 'focus on allegations that a range of products have been unlawfully tied to sales of Microsoft's dominant operating system,' the commission's statement said.
Windows is run on an estimated 95 per cent of the world's personal computers.
The commission stressed that the opening of formal proceedings did not necessarily mean that the complaints were justified.
'The initiation of proceedings does not imply that the commission has proof of an infringement. It only signifies that the commission will further investigate the case,' the statement read.
In 2004, the EU fined Microsoft almost half a billion euros after rivals complained that the US giant had tied its own media player into Windows, and had not allowed them fair access to codes which would have allowed their products to work effectively with the popular operating system.
Microsoft challenged that fine in the CFI, but on September 17, 2007 the court ruled in the commission's favour, upholding both the initial fine and a further 280-million-euro penalty for failing to comply with its orders.
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