Commission takes stand against Microsoft's server policy
The US firm Microsoft Corp has been sent a statement of objections by Mario Monti, European Commissioner for competition, outlining alleged abuse of its dominant position in personal computer operating systems in the server software market. The move, which constitutes the first step in European antitrust investigations, gives Microsoft two months to reply in writing to the objections. Following this, and possibly an oral defence, the European Commission can give a final decision and accompany it with fines of up to 10% of the company's global revenue if necessary. 'The Commission welcomes all genuine innovation and advances in computer technology wherever they come from - as highly positive developments for consumers and industry alike. Effective protection of copyrights and patents is most important for technological progress,' said Mr Monti, announcing the decision. 'However, we will not tolerate the extension of existing dominance into adjacent markets through the leveraging of market power by anti-competitive means and under the pretext of copyright protections. All companies that want to do business in the European Union must play by its antitrust rules and I'm determined to act for their vigorous enforcement.' The case comes following complaints from Sun Microsystems, which claimed that the interface information, which is required for a client using a Microsoft operating system (OS) to be able to use non-Microsoft server software, was not released to certain Microsoft competitors, including Sun. Failure to release such information, it was claimed, meant that a client would be obliged to use Microsoft server software, thereby creating a dominant market position in the server market on the back of a pre-existing dominant market position in the OS market (where it has a 95% market share). The basis for the Commission's complaint is that Microsoft did not carry out its obligations to disclose all relevant interface information to competitors. It revealed details on a selective basis, refusing to give details to competitors like Sun. Microsoft remained confident of a positive outcome to the procedure yesterday. A statement from the company claimed that the information being requested was widely available. This Commission's move is separate to the probe it launched in February this year, which centres on alleged Microsoft abuse of dominance linked to the Windows 2000 software. It is also unconnected to the US Department of Justice's case against Microsoft, which was based on Microsoft alleged weakening the positions of Netscape and Sun (and protecting its own dominance) in the PC operating systems market. A US court has already found that Microsoft had attempted to monopolise the Internet Browser market.