Microsoft EU Monopoly Appeal Thrown Out

smnicoll writes "The European Court of First Instance has thrown out Microsoft's appeal to have penalties for the abuse of monopoly suspended, reports BBC News Online. 'Microsoft's application for interim measures is therefore dismissed in its entirety,' The court's statement said. 'The evidence adduced by Microsoft is not sufficient to show that implementation of the remedies imposed by the Commission might cause serious and irreparable damage.' The commission's case is mainly focused on Microsoft's integration of Windows Media Player into the operationg system and the effects that has on the ability of Real Networks and Apple to get their rival players used." Similar stories at Bloomberg, CNET, and Reuters (via CNN).

Comments

It's Still a Tricky Issue

[RAMMS EIN]

While I fully agree that removing WMP from Windows does not cause "serious and irrepairable damage", I still find the issue quite tricky. Obviously, Microsoft bundling applications with their dominant operating system gives them a strong advantage over would-be competitors, but should we really prohibit them from shipping applications with it?

Do you also prohibit Apple from shipping apps with Mac OS X? Or Mandrakesoft with Mandrake? Or do you only prohibit Microsoft from doing so, because their OS is so ubiquitous?

And what applications are allowed to be shipped? If none, what constitutes an application, and what is part of the OS? Is the GUI part of the OS? Or the shell? Do you allow certain applications, but not others? Where do you draw the line? Shouldn't text editors, web browsers, mail clients and media players be bundled as a matter of course these days? And what about office software?

I, myself, believe that Microsoft should be allowed to ship whatever the hack they want with Windows. It's their product, after all. If you don't like the browser, install a different one. If you can't, that's a disadvantage of the OS that you have to consider.

As for all the companies whose applications have been pushed out by Microsoft's, tough luck. You couldn't get your software bundled with Windows and couldn't compel users to switch. You simply lost. That's life.

Yes, Microsoft is powerful. Yes, they have stiffled innovation. Yes, they have killed competitors by providing and bundling their own, often inferior products. This is why the Windows platform is in such an abysmal state these days. Other platforms, where innovation has flowed freely, are flourishing. GNU/Linux, the BSDs, Solaris, and OSX are better than ever.

It's not like people _have_ to use Microsoft's products. They choose to. The alternatives have been there.