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EU Expands Microsoft Inquiry

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the remember-GE-and-Honeywell dept.

Space cowboy writes "The European Commission is expanding its investigation into whether Microsoft has engaged in anti-competitive practices - now it's not just the browser bundling, but also bundling of audio-visual components (such as Windows Media Player). " There's also a Reuters report - what is worth noting, tho', is that the basis for this investigation is in the market for small servers - *not* the desktop market, from what I can see/read. '

4 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. Bad Microsoft!!! by Paladin814 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I personally cannot believe how Microsoft could do something like this! The bundling of audio-visual components?? An MP3 Player in an OS??? Would NEVER happen in Linux/Mac/BE/etc....

    Oh wait... wouldn't that make it a de facto standard for an OS???

  2. What about AOL? by BalDown · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Let's see, here's the total of add-ons you get from Microsoft: 2 - IE and Media Player. Alright then, now lets look at a simple download of Netscape Communicator produced by AOL: The reason this download is somewhat big is because if you try to get it, you get not only Netscape, but WinAmp (another AOL product), RealPlayer, AOL Instant Messenger (what if I don't want to use AOL's shitty software?), and oh yeah, don't forget the AOL icons that go EVERYWHERE when you install any AOL product. Doesn't that piss anyone off in the least? I don't use Netscape at all as my browser because I think it sucks, and especially since AOL bought it out. I have to use Netscape calendar for work, and when I downloaded the Communicator with Calendar, I was able to tell it not to install Communicator, Winamp, and RealPlayer, but there was no check box for AOL Instant Messenger (which I can't use at work), and all of a sudden, bam, there it is on my computer! That and a nice fat "Sign up for AOL Today!" icon on my desktop. Why would I sign up for a crappy service like that? AOL should be the ones getting looked at for anti-competative nature if your going after these things like Media Player from Microsoft...

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  3. Ouch! [OT] by AJSchu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So George W. Bush is the greatest president in the world?

    Not quite sure where you got that one. Yeah, he happens to be the President of the greatest government in the world, but I would never - never - peg him as the greatest President in the world. He didn't even fairly win the office, and he's done shit with it. $600 tax cut for everybody? Big Fucking Deal: please pay down the debt!

    So no, Bush is not the greatest President in the world.

    AJS

  4. The bootloader question. by TangoCharlie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Has anyone put the bootloader situation forward as an example of Microsoft abusing its monopoly situation? This is the situation where Microsoft can DEMAND that OEM's put Windows and only Windows on PC's. Microsoft explicitly forbids them from dual-booting... allegedly. This point has been raised recently with regards to the BeOS case. The problem is that there is little evidence because the licenses between Microsoft and the OEM's are secret. This is the real scandal, not the browser, media player issue.

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