By Simon Zekaria - 26th March 2004
US politicians and officials have been lining up to question the decision taken by the European Commission to fine software giant Microsoft €497 million and change its business practices.
EU commissioner Mario Monti defended the landmark antitrust ruling, saying the decision taken “restores the conditions for fair competition in the market concerned and establishes clear principles for the future conduct of a company with such a strong dominant position."
But enthusiasm across the Atlantic for the commission’s end-point to the five-year inquiry is not quite so strong.
US antitrust regulators have pursued their own legal run-ins with the computer titan over the years, and have expressed concern that the ‘remedies’ imposed by Brussels are overly stringent.
While disclosing server programming codes has been integral to the US regulatory position on Microsoft, the ‘unbundling’ off software add-ons from the Windows desktop operation – as proposed by the European Commission – has not been demanded with such force.
Hewitt Pate, the US Department of Justice antitrust chief, said the decision showed the EU "pursued a different enforcement approach by imposing a 'code removal' remedy to resolve its Media Player concerns".
He added in a statement that “liability on the basis of product enhancements and imposing 'code removal' remedies may produce unintended consequences” and that “sound antitrust policy must avoid chilling innovation and competition even by 'dominant' companies”.
American politicians have been more damning about the decision.
"The commission's ruling, if allowed to stand, will cost us thousands of jobs here in the US precisely when we need them most," said Republican senator John Ensign.
Brussels charged the company on two counts: interoperability of lower-end servers and the tying of Windows Media Player to the Windows operating system to the exclusion of rival audio/visual providers.
The EU claims Microsoft’s non-disclosure of interface information – necessary for competing servers to properly ‘talk’ with Windows PCs and servers – pushed client support in the direction of the US giant.
Second, it adds that software bundling weakens competition in favour of Microsoft and squeezes consumer choice.
The company has already said it will appeal the decision in the EU's Luxembourg-based courts.
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