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EU Fines Microsoft $613 Million, Officially
Decaffeinated Jedi writes "As reported by CNN.com, the European Union has hit Microsoft with a record US$613 million fine after a five-year investigation, finding the company guilty of abusing the 'near-monopoly' of the Windows operating system. Microsoft has been given 90 days to make a European version of Windows available without a media player and 120 days to give programming codes to rivals in the server market to allow 'full interoperability' with desktops running Windows. Microsoft plans to appeal the decision." Other readers point to coverage at
the BBC, ZDNet, Reuters (here carried by Yahoo!), and abc.au.net.
And this whole time I thought it's only in America you can sue someone over something so silly as in getting burnt by your hot coffee...
Lets hope this doesn't affect my 90k/y job offer from MS!
Microsoft is the perfect example of how capitalism needs a tight rein for it to work to the benefit of people, not big corporations!
Typical socialist crap.
Microsoft is the perfect example of capitalism in action. Government needs to get out of the way of the free market and business. So what if Microsoft is a monopoly? Maybe that's what the market wants, despite what your obviously superior socialist mind tells you. If something better comes along, then the market will decide if it is acceptable or not.
Really, aside from the military, immigration, and criminal law enforcement, what do we need government for? Certainly not for taking my hard-earned money or limiting what my business can legally do and earn!
I hear they have Weapons of Mass Distribution at Microsoft and they must be stopped
The EU Population in 2003 is 378,988,100 (estimate).
So it is about 1.311 EUR per EU inhabitant.
Not even a single trip bus fare.
Hey, that's my password you are typing
REG:
We're giving Pilate two days to dismantle the entire apparatus of the Roman Imperialist State, and if he doesn't agree immediately, we execute her.
MATTHIAS:
Cut her head off?
FRANCIS:
Cut all her bits off. Send 'em back on the hour every hour. Show them we're not to be trifled with.
REG:
And of course, we point out that they bear full responsibility when we chop her up, and that we shall not submit to blackmail!
COMMANDOS:
No blackmail!
REG:
They've bled us white, the bastards. They've taken everything we had, and not just from us, from our fathers, and from our fathers' fathers.
LORETTA:
And from our fathers' fathers' fathers.
REG:
Yeah.
LORETTA:
And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers.
REG:
Yeah. All right, Stan. Don't labour the point. And what have they ever given us in return?!
XERXES:
The aqueduct?
REG:
What?
XERXES:
The aqueduct.
REG:
Oh. Yeah, yeah. They did give us that. Uh, that's true. Yeah.
COMMANDO #3:
And the sanitation.
LORETTA:
Oh, yeah, the sanitation, Reg. Remember what the city used to be like?
REG:
Yeah. All right. I'll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done.
MATTHIAS:
And the roads.
REG:
Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don't they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads--
COMMANDO:
Irrigation.
XERXES:
Medicine.
COMMANDOS:
Huh? Heh? Huh...
COMMANDO #2:
Education.
COMMANDOS:
Ohh...
REG:
Yeah, yeah. All right. Fair enough.
COMMANDO #1:
And the wine.
COMMANDOS:
Oh, yes. Yeah...
FRANCIS:
Yeah. Yeah, that's something we'd really miss, Reg, if the Romans left. Huh.
COMMANDO:
Public baths.
LORETTA:
And it's safe to walk in the streets at night now, Reg.
FRANCIS:
Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let's face it. They're the only ones who could in a place like this.
COMMANDOS:
Hehh, heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.
REG:
All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
XERXES:
Brought peace.
REG:
Oh. Peace? Shut up!
Hey Microsoft, for future reference: Never do business in a borderline communist pseudo-country.
>>" So let me get this straight. Smokers are not
>>to blame for smoking but the people who provide
>>them WITH WHAT THEY WANT are???"
>correct.
Typical fucking liberal bullshit. Waaa wah waaahh we're all victims of the big ol' meany corporations. Free Mumia! OJ is innocent! McDonalds made me the FATASS I am today!
I could have attempted to post my opinion in a much more controlled and logical manner, but it would not have made a difference. You liberal fucks are so pathetic with your "blame others" mentality.
All MS are doing is giving their free software along with (hopefully not) your OS.
It's like suing a computer seller for including a free keyboard of vendor X and not giving a chance to vendor Y.
Here's some free crack to go with your McBurger!
Come back soon!
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Seriously I will have to look it up later but I wonder what the corrospondence is with house leadership to the stock market as they have much more to do with the stock market than the president does..
Hopefully MS learns that the hand that feeds is bitten often when it comes to eurotrash in the EU and pulls their product and support entirely from Europe. They will crash out in less than a year since open source can't cut it on the desktop or in the home yet. Then they can re-enter the market, passing along the 600+ million cost to them in pricing for product and service and drive out the sniveling, liberal governments enmasse when the people are finally fed up.
Then the EU can be renamed to something more appropriate as they bow down to their new leaders from Seattle.
Agree with all the above.
Having lived in Europe before,I can personally vouch for the rabid, pathological American hatred that runs in most Europeans, born mostly out of jealousy of American superiority and Europesown inability to innovate, compete and create new companies.
Just look at the unemployment rates in Germany and France , running at nearly TWICE what he have in America. Plus economic growth rates in Europe of nearly one tenth that of America.
No surprise the angst filled Europeans are so full of self-pity and hatred!
Increasingly , thats'a about all they can fall on these days.
Europe has a very, very long history of appeasment of dictators.
This latest Spanish capitulation to Al Quaeda is simply a continuation of a strong European tradition of shouting "Uncle" whenever some psychotic crazy threatens them.
Nothing new there.
Most of Europe kissed Hitler's butt anyway.
And as usual, it was the Americans who had to come rescue your sorry butts.