Although I am not in agreement with some of Microsoft's anti-competitive practices around the world, the fact that Microsoft is an American company and its past anti-competitive practices were dealt with at length and settlements reached in United States jurisdictions; besides, with "so-called" increasing competion from Open Source products such as Apache, OpenOffice and the Linux operating systems... one should think that with the EU's current focus on "intellectual property" issues... the matter of Microsoft being apparently being bullied into "disclosing" information to rival makers of workgroup servers to enable their products to be interoperable should not be complied with.
Why doesn't the EU countries develop their own products - Can't "Linux" and other open source applications do the job of matching an underdeveloped class of Americas computer products! As a matter of fact the EU should just give back the $653.3 million they took from the US company. Are they trying to raise more money for Airbus or what!
EU subsidizes European businesses so that they can compete with American companies. They've taken over $600 Million out of the American economy to boost the European economy just in this case alone. The case has already been tried in the US and now the EU want's MS to disclose trade secrets that will once again be used to help european companies compete. Europe is clearly becoming a socialist economy, run by the EU. Too bad they can run it well enough to avoid using the courts to take money away from other countries just to keep them afloat. Capitalism is a better system, which is why they must take from the US just to survive.
I say maybe because they sell the product in the UK.
However Microsoft has the option of not selling Windows in the UK. Not good business practice, but hey so goes life.
Although I'm sure that none of that money will every probably go to those who lost business because of Microsoft, but that doesn't mean they can just shrug it off. I personally think it is justice. Maybe not fair justice, but justice all the same. I can only think of all the illegal way that Microsoft has used to put competitors out of business. I don't know if it's right or wrong to force Microsoft to open up it's protocols to let others connect to their OS's and I don't really care.
At the end of the day it's no more going to hurt Microsoft than any of the US cases did. I think they look at it as the cost of doing business. They will continue to do things that are anti competitive and they will continue to get sued. I have no doubt that they will still make more money than they loose.
What should the "Sikorsky" Helicopter Company that cannot compete for business in the EU do if these are cases of EU business practices thaat are inimical towards American based business and its economy?.
Also, what is all the concern over such a "dumb" system as some people think it to be?. Frankly, I think the EU is dwelling in the past, with Longhorn due next year some Windows protocols could be sunset by then in the push towards Web Services Interoperability (Extensible Mark-up Language -XML, BPEL...).
Those who are familiar with IBM's OS/2 know only too well what was happening in this scenario - it was a waiting game for the OS/2 Win-OS/2 APIs and by the time the few OS/2 Applications were ready to go-to-market they saw the exhaust systems of the Windows Applications. The EU needs to focus some more at the available Open-Source products and to make their request for product information to champion countries and not seek product information from one that that finished in 17th place in the recently held international collegiate programming contest! If they do this would they not be "dumbing down" their products and services!
I'm curious... if you commit a crime from your office here in America that potentially affects customers around the world, is it "justice" when each country in the world puts you on trial and each country issues a different remedy?
Now... assume these countries got together and decided that businesses would only be tried once, in the country of their origin. This is the situation we are in. Then imagine one country decided to sue an American company after that company had already been tried in their country of origin.
I still question the US judgement on Microsoft. Why is Microsoft bad for bundling IE and now WMP when Apple does the same and more? When will Apple be charged?
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Why doesn't the EU countries develop their own products - Can't "Linux" and other open source applications do the job of matching an underdeveloped class of Americas computer products! As a matter of fact the EU should just give back the $653.3 million they took from the US company. Are they trying to raise more money for Airbus or what!
:-D ;-)
However Microsoft has the option of not selling Windows in the UK. Not good business practice, but hey so goes life.
Although I'm sure that none of that money will every probably go to those who lost business because of Microsoft, but that doesn't mean they can just shrug it off. I personally think it is justice. Maybe not fair justice, but justice all the same. I can only think of all the illegal way that Microsoft has used to put competitors out of business. I don't know if it's right or wrong to force Microsoft to open up it's protocols to let others connect to their OS's and I don't really care.
At the end of the day it's no more going to hurt Microsoft than any of the US cases did. I think they look at it as the cost of doing business. They will continue to do things that are anti competitive and they will continue to get sued. I have no doubt that they will still make more money than they loose.
Also, what is all the concern over such a "dumb" system as some people think it to be?. Frankly, I think the EU is dwelling in the past, with Longhorn due next year some Windows protocols could be sunset by then in the push towards Web Services Interoperability (Extensible Mark-up Language -XML, BPEL...).
Those who are familiar with IBM's OS/2 know only too well what was happening in this scenario - it was a waiting game for the OS/2 Win-OS/2 APIs and by the time the few OS/2 Applications were ready to go-to-market they saw the exhaust systems of the Windows Applications. The EU needs to focus some more at the available Open-Source products and to make their request for product information to champion countries and not seek product information from one that that finished in 17th place in the recently held international collegiate programming contest! If they do this would they not be "dumbing down" their products and services!
:-D ;-)
I'm curious... if you commit a crime from your office here in America that potentially affects customers around the world, is it "justice" when each country in the world puts you on trial and each country issues a different remedy?
Now... assume these countries got together and decided that businesses would only be tried once, in the country of their origin. This is the situation we are in. Then imagine one country decided to sue an American company after that company had already been tried in their country of origin.
Do you still consider this justice?