Microsoft and EU Talks End

Paul Longford writes "Microsoft talks with the EC have collapsed. The competition commisioner Mario Monti just made this statement in which he said: 'I'd just like to inform you that a settlement on the Microsoft case has not been possible. I therefore intend to propose to my colleagues in the Commission next Wednesday to adopt a decision, which has already received the unanimous backing of Member States.' This is bad news for Microsoft - it looking at a considerable fine and possibly being forced to open up Windows. It looks like it will be a harsh decision too. Monti says: 'In the end, I had to decide what was best for competition and consumers in Europe. I believe they will be better served with a decision that creates a strong precedent.'"

Comments

WHO CARES EUROPE SI TEH GHEY

[Anonymous Coward]

I've tried to keep this post serious, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

DING! DONG! The witch is dead, the wicked old witch, the witch is dead!

Where's the Microsoft website URL then?

[gilesjuk]

I'm sure they have some website about how this is "preventing us from competing" and "stifling our innovation".

Even if they do get fined they will keep appealing, they've got the money to keep trying. They've got the money to "sweeten" a few EU MEPs. I'm fairly surprised the EU has done this given how they suck up to big business.

From the HOLD MY HAND DEPT.

[Anonymous Coward]

The ONLY way Linux will succeed is if world governments take away the rights of MS to produce product. Then consumers will be FORCED by these fascist governments to use OSS! Excellent plan you commie nerds!

Re:Harsh?!? Opening?

[Tomji]

I'd rather not be forced to have my Windows "open" to what I consider viral Real and Quicktime Software

Re:A chilling phrase if you're MS

[kwoff]

Rather than pay a $1,000,000,000 fine, why can't they just not sell software in Europe? When Europeans find that they can't live without MS products, MS demands commie Europe pay $1,000,000,000 for the right to suck on MS's tittie.

This is justice?

[FullCircle]

Up to 1bn in fines? Exactly how much money did they make by being corrupt?

This makes breaking the law sound like a good return on investment. I'm sure that any other company would gladly pay 1bn to have control of 95% of all computers.

It is better than the US DOJ letting Microsoft pick their punishment, but come on.

EU now decides how US companies do business

[gelfling]

Now we are being told to accept that the EU now decides how US companies do business WITH ONE ANOTHER.

Getting a little too big for their britches.

Re:EU now decides how US companies do business

[no soup for you]

Now we are being told to accept that the EU now decides how US companies do business WITH ONE ANOTHER. Getting a little too big for their britches.

Hey, I hate Europe as much as the next necent human being, but they're not telling microsoft how to sell their product in America / Lagos / Indonesia / insert_random_place_here. They're saying, if you're going to sell in Europe, you will follow europe's rules.

Checks and Balances

[N8F8]

I'm starting to worry that the EU doesn't have enough Checks and Balances at the federal level. Sure MS may be considered anti-competitive in the area, but the EU seems only too willing to abuse regulation asa tool of striking back at outside competion. Or as U.S. Assistant Attorney General Charles James put it after the GE/Honeywell merger decision,

"We appear to have reached different results from similar assessments of competitive conditions in the affected markets," he said. "Clear and longstanding U.S. antitrust policy holds that the antitrust laws protect competition, not competitors. Today's EU decision reflects a significant point of divergence."

Re:It's about time.

[plugger]

So long as the compiler-compiler was clean in the first place. There would still be room for conspiracy theories.

Re:It's about time.

[bomblaster]

Yeah. And what will you do. Hack the source code??

Jeez, 99% of these fanatics dont even have the aptitude to understand OS code. There are not more than 100 regular contributors to the Linux kernel.

hmmmm

[McCarrum]

"a strong precedent"

I like the sounds of them words!

Re:"Competition" = DoubleSpeak

[Begossi]

Heya Bill, boring day at work?

MS should tell the EU - Up Yours!

[oldwarrior]

EU's claims are ridiculous. MS should also have to pay millions to vendors of competitors to Notepad.exe, Wordpad.exe, Calc.exe, and Outlook Express since other companies do not get a free ride on their installed distribution. This is so insane. Alternative products can be downloaded in the modern world if you don't like the defaults. And if you don't like MS, don't buy it. The EU is just looking for a mugging like the state's AG's. Should Red Hat be forced to include Internet Explorer and .NET/Rotor someday? Anybody agreeing with the EU logic is just a cheerleader for free(loader) software and cheating in normal business competition.

Re:Ding Dong the Witch is Dead..

[minus_273]

you brave little european, still posting as an AC i see. you are french arent you?

Re:It's about time.

[Anonymous Coward]

You are an idiot.

Re:It's about time.

[sadomikeyism]

Oooh, so it's not a matter that anyone has actually proven that consumers have actually been harmed in any way, it's a matter that the uncompetetive european software industry can't compete effectively with MS.

MS gets punished for offering MORE to their customers.

"Hello, thank you for flying with American Rocket Lines from Le Bourget to Moscow. We'd like to offer you pressure suits and escape pods, but the EU Anti-Trust Division says that would be an "uncompetetive act"." Our rockets may be clunky, but we are not allowed to fix the bugs in our rockets, nor are we allowed to sell you any insurance. To purchase escape pods from Airbus, you must order them three months in advance. Oh, and they insist on building them to metric measurements, while our Boeing Rockets are build to Standard. Thanks so much."

Re:It's about time.

[flacco]

Maybe if you were a little less dogmatic and a little more pragmatic about which technologies you're willing to learn, you wouldn't still be searching the jobs in your area..

i agree 100%! to take your point a little further, you could make even more money if you were willing to suck off wealthy older gentlemen on Sunset Boulevard.

Trying my best to find elegant, clean ways to solve the problem at hand no matter what the language or support technology is -- that's where the challenge and fun lies.

once again, you're dead-on. just like Kurt Bischoff's excellent work - he didn't waste cycles on context, he just put his mind to finding the best solution to the problem handed to him. you know, when he designed auschwitz.

Adaptability is a good thing.

it's not the only good thing.