EU regulators cool on Microsoft open-source move

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Let me explain ...

@Loverock Davidson

Let me explain. It's not *that* hard to follow.

Both the EU and the US have legislation on the books called "anti-trust" laws. Both the and EU have received complaints against Microsoft, from its US competitors, about Microsoft abusing its monopoly position in the software market.

Both the EU and the US have investigated those claims. The US went first (remember judge Jackson?), and found that: yes, Microsoft does have a monopoly position, and yes, it does abuse it in contravention of applicable anti-trust laws.

Then it was election time, and the current administration (our esteemed president G.W. Bush) took office. Queue a total collaps of the DOJ interest in the case and "sactions" consisting of a limp slap on the wrist for Microsoft. Can't go harming a National Champion now, can we? France wouldn't have done so either, right?

Unfortunately for Microsoft, the EU did essentially the same investigation again, mindful of judge Jackson's findings of fact, which were never so much as challenged, and also found Microsoft guilty ... of the very same offenses.

This was very unfortunate for Microsoft because over there, it lacked the political cronies to make the suit go away.

After being given a couple of years to comply with anti-trust legislation, i.e. to publicise sufficient information to allow others (notably Open Source competitors) to become inter-operable with Microsoft's carefully obscured client-server protocols, with no noticeable results (except posing and PR), Microsoft were fined. A couple of hundred million dollars.

They appealed the fine, lost, and caved in. They finally decided to make the specs available (to the tune of $10,000 per copy). Thus giving the lie to their earlier claims that it was not in fact possible to document their protocol.

Did that mean that Microsoft suddenly became model corporate citizens? Far from it! They continue to flout laws wherever they aren't directly challenged. Unfortunately for Microsoft, some competitors have directly challenged them, and the validity of those claims is being investigated.

I know ... it's so damned unfair. To find out that being pulled over and fined for speeding doesn't mean you get a free pass for reckless driving and double parking. Ooooh those bastard commmie regulators!!!

One day Microsoft will perhaps decide it's better to simply comply with the substance of anti-trust regulations than to dodge them and try to obscure the fact through a smokescreen of PR gimmicks and partial disclosures.

Microsoft has unfortunately lost its credibility, and now faces a regulator that assumes they're lying (as they have always done) unless it can find that they were speaking the truth.

Oh yes ... and about the offer of source code. Got you confused with that gimmick too eh? Well ... you and lots of others. Let me explain ... the EU *never* asked for source code. Never. Want to know why? It's because even Microsoft's commercial competitors called it "poisoned offerings". You wouldn't have a clue why, would you eh? Well ... that source code would be accompanied by a license ... and the one that Microsoft proposed had one single purpose: make it impossible for Open Source to use that code. Ever. Because it demanded a (modest) license fee per copy. And that is a demand that Open Source can never fulfill. Not it it wants to remain Open Source. Nice try on part of Microsoft ... because any *commercial* competitor can be bought out or crushed through unfair competition. As Microsoft had done again and again and again. Only Open Source worries Microsoft, and that's why they won't allow OSS to be interoperable in a Windows environment. Well ... they lost that one.

The only problem with that is that it's the EU doing that to a US company ... otherwise it wouldn't even be news.

And no, for Microsoft it's not an option to pull out of the EU. Want to know why? Because they're making money there. Lots of it. Any CEO pulling Microsoft out of the EU would be assassinated by all-American shareholders here in the US.

Posted by: Golodh2   Posted on: 02/22/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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