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Future of innovation on the line as Microsoft case goes to trial

by Administrator

In an interesting case, Microsoft finds itself defending the right to innovate. At the heart of the case is an issue that has dogged Microsoft for years. The charges are basically the same: Microsoft, due to the power of their monopoly in operating systems, has used the leverage unfairly and illegally to put smaller competitors at an unfair trade advantage. In fact, the case from the EU is the most sweeping one ever, and probles Microsoft very hard for what might be considered to be there modus operandi.

The Commission will argue that a four-year investigation found abundant evidence that Microsoft cut off information and used other tactics to grab market share from successful software rivals and drive them out of business.

Last year, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told Germany’s Manager Magazin: “We needed the first years to conquer the PC and those following to be ahead in the server business. In the upcoming years we’ll conquer the Internet.”

Their conquest is at the very center of the controversy. The EU is distrustful of both Microsoft and Ballmer’s fiery rhetoric. In fact, they sent him a letter recently asking him point blank if Windows pending Vista O/S was compatible with EU laws. This case is by no means settled, and the seeds are already sown for a follow up confrontation.

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