Microsoft Admits Japanese Monopoly Battle Hurting Image

News for nerds writes "The head of Microsoft Corp.'s Japan unit, Michael Rawding, acknowledged that the battle with Japanese anti-monopoly authorities over a controversial licensing clause has hurt its corporate image. But he said the company will continue to oppose a Fair Trade Commission ruling ordering Microsoft to retroactively remove the clause from its licensing agreements, as similar investigations in the United States and Europe found it 'lawful and appropriate' according to him, though Longhorn faces another delay. Commission officials are not certain any patents have been violated by Microsoft. But several Japanese electronics makers have complained about suspected patent infringements since December 2000, especially regarding multimedia technologies (VC-9 and H.264/AVC, anyone?). Major Japanese CE companies that are partners with Microsoft include Sony, Toshiba, and Matsushita."

Comments

Specifics about the JFTC ruling

[Pahalial]

HTML Version of the recommendation

Specifically:

Microsoft, when licensing Windows OS to personal computer manufacturers (hereinafter "PC manufacturers"), has concluded agreements with PC manufacturers containing certain provisions that a licensee covenants not to sue, bring, prosecute, assist or participate in any judicial, administrative or other proceedings of any kind against Microsoft, its subsidiaries, or other licensees for infringement of the licensee's patents. Such conduct by Microsoft shall be construed as dealing with PC manufacturers on conditions which unjustly restrict their business activities, which the JFTC concluded correspond to the Subsection 13 of the Unfair Trade Practices, violating the section 19 of the Antimonopoly Act.

So Microsoft is forcing people it deals with to stay quiet if MS happens to infringe on their patents? I don't think there's any doubt whatsoever who is (*should be) in the right here. Of course, the frightening part is the US & Europe both found this perfectly normal.

Re:Double Standards?

[the quick brown fox]

Is that really true?

A google search for "microsoft patent lawsuit" comes up with a ton of examples of them settling or losing lawsuits where they're the defendant, but I don't see any where they're suing someone else for infringement.

Re:Lets See...

[James Turpin]

The question is not so much whether they are a monopoly, but what (and how much) illegal activity they have done. And even more importantly, in what way (and how much) will Microsoft be penalized. Since anti-trust laws vary from country to country, this must be determined individually by each country. In fact, the US and Japan have very different anti-trust laws. For instance, Japan allows businesses in the same industry to cooperate in ways that are illegal in the US (such as pooling R&D resources). The laws Microsoft violated in the US do not necessarily apply in Japan, and visa versa.