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EU Considering Another MS Antitrust Suit
mesozoic writes "Yahoo! News is reporting that the European Union is considering *another* antitrust suit against Microsoft, this time having to do with anticompetitive behavior in the market for mobile phone software. While I haven't seen any signs Microsoft is going to dominate the industry here in the States, cell phones are a much bigger deal in Europe, so I can understand why they'd be nervous."
the point is that you can't boycott a monoploy. if microsoft gains market dominance in mobile phones there shall be no choice. unlike pc's its quite hard to change the software on your phone. a antitrust cast may be the only way to stop this.
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well, I totally disagree with this current lawsuit, but double jeopardy doesn't come into account.
Double Jeopordy refers to criminal action, all these anti trust suits are civil action (based on prior criminal acts tho)
Also, even if it was tried under criminal code, the suit is for a seperate market, which would presume seperate actions, which would be triable. (Just because you get off on a murder rap doesn't mean you can murder someone else for free).
Thirdly, Double Jeopordy is primarily a US thing (though much of europe has it as well. However, UK recently introduced legistlation weakening or canceling double jeopordy (Though I think it hasn't been signed yet, and may have been killed in process)
see : http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:JeAJHIKSZIQC
Neither KDE/Linux nor MacOSX users are forced to use bash, so your plan is doomed to fail...
Check out this phone - it looks pretty good.
Hardware: * 206MHz Intel SA-1110 StrongARM system-on-chip processor * Memory: 32MB or 64MB RAM; 32MB Flash * 16-Bit color, 320x240 pixel LCD with backlight * RS232 serial port * USB port, configurable as either 'host' or 'client' device * Bluetooth wireless LAN * GSM/GPRS cellular communication * Biometric fingerprint sensor * Size: 5.4 x 3.1 x 0.8 in. * Weight: 8.8 oz. Software: * Linux operating system (2.4.x kernel) * GUI environment and PDA app suite based on Trolltech Qtopia and Opera browser * IPSec VPN protocol & security algorithms * IBM DB2E database and Websphere software * Power management to extend battery life
Get your own free personal location tracker
I work for a company in the mobile phone market, based in the UK, and theres no chance of M$ getting anywhere fast in the mobile market:))
That would make things worse for Microsoft.
If that were to happen, not only would most governments and companies in Europe decide that depending on Microsoft would be too risky, but many governments and companies throughout the world would arrive at the same conclusion.
Home users will make different choices as they always do, but Microsoft would lose it's status as the de facto standard.
Microsoft thrives on being the "safe" choice. It will do nothing to jeapordize that.
When someone might yell at me, it has to be OpenBSD.
I can't speak for the others, but Nokia isn't using Microsoft's os as they have their own (Symbian) and it seems that most phone-providers are actually switching to this one. Sendo is a good example of this, as told in a previous slashdot story.
.NET as far as I can tell, have reported a lot of serious problems with the os. It constantly crashes and freezes (no, this is not a joke nor a flame, this is a fact), something that is driving more and more of them over to the Symbian OS.
The companies that have been using the Windows Smartphone, now known as Windows CE
To conclude, there are many companies that have decided to use the Microsoft alternative, but more and more of these are ditching it in favour of the more commonly used Nokia os.
--
\ Christian A Strømmen
As M$ would probably point out, group boycotts are illegal under American antitrust law.
Norman Hawker Western Michigan University
Yeah. Maybe an established UK IT company, familiar with pocketable computer systems, could develop an operating system particularly suited to running on mobile phones and other pocketable devices...
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I'm not familiar with the SEC action you're referring to, but the SEC has nothing to do with antitrust law.
Nor do I accept your premise that antitrust law was used to reward or punish M$ for giving or failing to give campaign contributions to either party.
The Clinton Administration prosecuted M$ because they believed antitrust law promotes and protects competition. The Clinton Administration's prosecution became more, not less, vigorous with time.
The Cheney Administration believes in the "Chicago School" of antitrust which - after you peel away the rhetoric - holds that the purpose of antitrust law is to increase the net wealth of society. (Actually, I believe Cheney, Bush et al. are plutocrats, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here.)
M$ clearly engaged in anticompetitive behavior, but it is not clear that the net wealth of society has been reduced. Consequently, Cheney's people don't believe the M$ did anything wrong, even if the conduct was illegal.
Norman Hawker Western Michigan University
Microsoft lost $177M in three months on the xbox. They couldnt of done that without the desktop monopoly cashcow.They can just shovel money at anything and get away with it, further expanding their monopoly, making them more money..
Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
But as someone thats read the M$ smartphone spec they arn't doing anything particularly propietory in terms of messaging or protocol support. Neither would the cell networks buy such units if they did.
Quoting the artical...
"The companies contend that Microsoft is bundling its corporate e-mail software, called Titanium, with code that ensures servers have better connections to Windows-based wireless devices than to competitors' devices, according to the article."
Which is about wireless networking in the LAN scope e.g. WiFi... now as much as the cell network operators may think its evil its different to GSM so wheres the conflict?
Unless said operators are frightening of large scale WiFi networks removing their market to sell GSM/GPRS for data users.
Great, that's Portugal and that was really a nice market but what about Microsoft's role in the new economies of eastern europe and the balkans where they were literally buying their way to government contracts?
It's the old Microsoft gift to equip all government computers with their suites in return they get lifelong dependants end licenses.
Many countries like Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Bulgarian, Byelorussia, Ukraine and so on had
a very pro Linux technical reports yet all you have to do in many of these countries is a carefully placed incentive (Like some minister's son's new company will be first licensed to to service Microsoft products and wont push for individial MSCE training certificates.)
Im happy that some backwards country like Namibia could say no to the Redmond trojan horse but many inhabutants of other countries are getting pushed into Microsoft dependance because of Microsoft's business practices and not the product
(said the man who still owns a Betamax and a Mac.)
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In the US its ok to use and abuse a monopoly if it doesnt hurt the comsumer. The law doesnt take other companies in account that may be killed off by abusive monopolies.
Eu law in the other hand is all about keeping a level playing field among the companies themselves. Microsoft has more to fear from that law. Many European companies have been slapped with very big fines for much smaller offences than MS have made.
Then again i dont know if we should worry. All MS can succed in if they continue alienating their customers and locking people into Windows etc. is a total fork of the internet. Geeks on one side on open systems and Windows users locked into MSN and NET servers. I dont know if that should be so bad. I could live with it but could MS?
HTTP/1.1 400
What the computer software industry needs very badly is fair and open markets.
/. is precluded from participation. Only if you are willing to donate your time without compensation can you participate.
ONLY fair and open markets will bring vibrant competition.
And, that has been effectively removed from many markets as a direct result of illegal Microsoft Corporation activity.
You want to develop a better browser? Only if you do not want to be paid.
You want to develop a better media player? Only if you do not want to be paid.
You want to develop a better messaging system? Only if you do not want to be paid.
Right now there a many key markets that everyone who reads
And, why is that?
It is the direct result of illegal Microsoft activity.
Developing a good product is not illegal. Forcing 400,000,000 people to buy it is.
Only idiots think applications are operating systems because that would force the sale. And, only idiots think that a branded product (assuming it is even wanted or needed by consumers) should be forced upon any of them.
Salesman try to convince customers to buy their brand.
Idiots lie like hell and demand that consumers be forced to buy it. And, if you bought any OS from Microsoft in the last 6 years or so, you were in fact forced to buy a number of key applications. And, you paid cash money for them. That is a fact.
And, because of that (if you are a developer) you have been illegally precluded from those markets. Even the idiots at the DOJ know that is true. They wanted to preclude you.
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