Valid point, there aren't any major European competitors for Microsoft at the moment. However, I dredged up Airbus v. Boeing not to show how the EU deals with anything resembling competition from American companies, but more to show that the EU regulatory commission is far from the impartial arbiter of justice that people seem to be touting it as. It's a political body more than it is a judicial body, which was the point of that analogy.
However, the suit doesn't just have to be to foster European competition -- anything that hurts a company which is obviously the favored child of the US government (after that joke handling of the antitrust case, who could doubt that) is considered beneficial to the EU. Don't believe the politics are that petty? Read the Airbus v. Boeing case.
By the way, I love the troll moderation on my original post (I have no idea if it was by surfingmarmot or not, just a general comment) since you disagreed with my ideas. Read the moderation guidelines, please.
Okay, to clarify, I'm not a fan of M$. They obviously have been involved in anti-competitive practices in the past, and I don't doubt that if they get the chance to use their market dominance to thwart competition again, they'll do it. However, there's a bigger issue than that involved; namely, the EU regulatory commission has an incredible anti-American bias. Basically, it's oldschool nationalist protectionism.
Does anyone even pay attention to Airbus vs. Boeing? The EU complained vehemently at the relatively mild import taxes leveled towards Airbus in the United States, while Boeing has had to deal with extraordinary protectionist import tariffs for years, as well as the fact that Airbus was SUBSIDIZED by the EU to the tune of several BILLION dollars. Micro$haft is anti-competitive for bundling its software package together in an OS, yet it's not anticompetitive for the EU to level huge (as much as 60% in some cases) import tariffs on Boeing while subsidizing Airbus for billions of Euro? And then they had the gall to complain about US tariffs? Come on, folks. Let's not let the utter hatred of M$ get in the way of seeing that this is more international politics at work than anything.
The EU and the Euro were created to fight the United States' financial power and the US dollar's financial power, respectively. The Euro has done remarkably well against the dollar except for a brief period right after its inception, and the EU's market power continues to grow. The fact is, though, they're not satisfied with their increasing market power; the EU has every intention of making it very difficult for American companies to hold substantial market share in Western Europe. It's the politics, ladies and gentlemen, not the monopoly.
How can you folks not smell the rat? It's been decaying for weeks in the vents, the whole house smells like death, and you guys are concerned that someone left the chinese takeout in the trash. Faites attention, s'il vous plait.
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Valid point, there aren't any major European competitors for Microsoft at the moment. However, I dredged up Airbus v. Boeing not to show how the EU deals with anything resembling competition from American companies, but more to show that the EU regulatory commission is far from the impartial arbiter of justice that people seem to be touting it as. It's a political body more than it is a judicial body, which was the point of that analogy.
However, the suit doesn't just have to be to foster European competition -- anything that hurts a company which is obviously the favored child of the US government (after that joke handling of the antitrust case, who could doubt that) is considered beneficial to the EU. Don't believe the politics are that petty? Read the Airbus v. Boeing case.
By the way, I love the troll moderation on my original post (I have no idea if it was by surfingmarmot or not, just a general comment) since you disagreed with my ideas. Read the moderation guidelines, please.
Okay, to clarify, I'm not a fan of M$. They obviously have been involved in anti-competitive practices in the past, and I don't doubt that if they get the chance to use their market dominance to thwart competition again, they'll do it. However, there's a bigger issue than that involved; namely, the EU regulatory commission has an incredible anti-American bias. Basically, it's oldschool nationalist protectionism.
Does anyone even pay attention to Airbus vs. Boeing? The EU complained vehemently at the relatively mild import taxes leveled towards Airbus in the United States, while Boeing has had to deal with extraordinary protectionist import tariffs for years, as well as the fact that Airbus was SUBSIDIZED by the EU to the tune of several BILLION dollars. Micro$haft is anti-competitive for bundling its software package together in an OS, yet it's not anticompetitive for the EU to level huge (as much as 60% in some cases) import tariffs on Boeing while subsidizing Airbus for billions of Euro? And then they had the gall to complain about US tariffs? Come on, folks. Let's not let the utter hatred of M$ get in the way of seeing that this is more international politics at work than anything.
The EU and the Euro were created to fight the United States' financial power and the US dollar's financial power, respectively. The Euro has done remarkably well against the dollar except for a brief period right after its inception, and the EU's market power continues to grow. The fact is, though, they're not satisfied with their increasing market power; the EU has every intention of making it very difficult for American companies to hold substantial market share in Western Europe. It's the politics, ladies and gentlemen, not the monopoly.
How can you folks not smell the rat? It's been decaying for weeks in the vents, the whole house smells like death, and you guys are concerned that someone left the chinese takeout in the trash. Faites attention, s'il vous plait.