NPR: European Court Rules Against Microsoft

European Court Rules Against Microsoft

Boy, it seems like high season for accusations that dominant teams are bending the rules to gain a competitive advantage. Last week, of course, we had the NFL's New England Patriots and "Videogate." Today, we have Microsoft and anti-competitive behavior.

Europe's second-highest court rejected the giant software company's appeal of an earlier ruling by the European Commission that found it had abused its dominant position in the marketplace. The Court of First Instance in Luxembourg ordered Microsoft to pay 80 percent of the commission's legal costs, on top of about $600 million in fines that it had already been ordered to pay.

PC World reports that lawyers are analyzing the ruling but that "already some things are clear." The court backed the commission's order that Microsoft develop a version of Windows without its Media Player. (The original complaint said that by bundling its Media Player with its operating system, Microsoft gained an unfair advantage over rivals like Real Player.) The court also agreed that Microsoft's refusal to share information about its operating system "limits technical development to the prejudice of consumers."

Microsoft did win one small part of the case (and will probably appeal the entire ruling). The court overturned the part of the original decision that had established an independent trustee to monitor Microsoft's behavior.

Hmm. No monitor, eh? That would be like trusting the Patriots' word that they won't videotape again without keeping a close eye on them. We'll have to see how that one works out.

10:41 AM ET | 09-17-2007 | permalink

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