backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 155 comment(s) - last by Merry.. on Jul 19 at 9:05 AM
The EU and Microsoft are at it again

Microsoft and the European Union once again do not see eye-to-eye.  An EU committee earlier this week said that Microsoft is not complying with an antitrust decision that will most likely impose heavy fines on Microsoft.  The exact amount Microsoft will be charged has not yet been determined, according to a spokesman for the EU competition commissioner.  However, the fines are expected to be heavy.  The commission is scheduled to speak about the Microsoft fine next Wednesday.        

Microsoft held meetings in late March to try and avoid facing $2.4M USD daily fines from the EU.  The company was ordered to turn over more information about its software, so that competitors are able to create software that is better able to work with Microsoft products.  The same judgment also requires Windows to not come bundled with the Microsoft Windows Media Player media program.  The company claims that they do make changes to try and please the EU, but the commission changes its demands so that Microsoft is always in the wrong.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Where is Masher2?
By mlittl3 on 7/7/2006 12:31:56 PM , Rating: 3
I'm sure he will have something to say about how antitrust lawsuits = the devil. I'm glad that other countries are inforcing antitrust whereas America's government is just letting them to whatever they want. If a government says your product is breaking their laws so stop, then you either stop or sell your product elsewhere. This would be the case in Apple vs. French government. May agree with France that Apple should open up their software or take it elsewhere. Apple is going to take it elsewhere. Microsoft on the other hand wants its cake and eat it too. They will do whatever it takes, use whatever power they have, to continue selling their products in the EU while ignoring the law.




RE: Where is Masher2?
By mlittl3 on 7/7/2006 12:38:01 PM , Rating: 2
Nevermind, I take it all back. Masher2 disagreed with ebay "forcing" its customers to use Paypal by kicking any user from using Google checkout. If he doesn't see the relationship to the Intel/AMD antitrust case, then I guess he is not really debating the need for antitrust laws but is just an Intel Fanboi. Sigh. I thought I was going to get a good antitrust debate from him not a biasiness (a word?) towards a company that he buys products from and must believe that the company (intel) is the right choice. Oh well. :)


RE: Where is Masher2?
By masher2 (blog) on 7/7/2006 7:59:06 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
"Nevermind, I take it all back. Masher2 disagreed with ebay "forcing" its customers to use Paypal by kicking any user from using Google checkout. If he doesn't see the relationship to the Intel/AMD antitrust case, then I guess he is not really debating the need for antitrust laws but is just an Intel Fanboi..."

On the contrary, you misread my post entirely. I stated the Ebay action is prima facie illegal under the Clayton Act, then continued with my disagreement with current law.

> "I was going to get a good antitrust debate from him not a biasiness (a word?) "

It's not a word; "bias" itself is proper English in this context.

> " towards a company that he buys products from and must believe that the company (intel) is the right choice..."

While your statement is an excellent example of an ad hominem debating tactic, it is likewise incorrect. I am typing this on an AMD based desktop...and I just OK'd the purchase of a $1.5M Opteron-based supercomputer for my lab.




RE: Where is Masher2?
By tuteja1986 on 7/7/2006 8:26:57 PM , Rating: 2
would be really funny if microsoft just takes out all windows from the eu market.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By AndreasM on 7/8/2006 7:45:21 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
would be really funny if microsoft just takes out all windows from the eu market.


Would be even funnier if the EU took away copyright protections from MS. But I guess that's unlikely, it would make more sense to just start using linux.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By Xavian on 7/8/2006 3:16:37 PM , Rating: 2
whats even more funny is linux and mac's would become massive in europe, providing a userbase that both apple and linux desperately need.

Pulling out of EU = the prelude to a decent competitor to windows.

So being in the EU im all for it :)


RE: Where is Masher2?
By creathir on 7/7/2006 1:10:52 PM , Rating: 1
Look... have you NO concept of how this stuff works?

Why should Microsoft open up so other people can more easily create stuff?
They already make it EXTREMELY easy... but yet the EU still has their nose bent out of shape.

Why not go after Apple? Look how stingy they are! This crap of forcing a company to essentially REMOVE the benefits that it has created on its own platform is rediculous.

If I were Microsoft, I would say: fine... no more OS for you EU. Sure they would lose a lot in profit, but who is going to call the bluff? Who is at who's mercy? I suppose the EU could goto Apple products... or maybe Linux? While the rest of the world uses Windows... Europe would be left out...

The people would not stand for it, and this crap from the EU would stop.

- Creathir


RE: Where is Masher2?
By fsardis on 7/7/06, Rating: 0
RE: Where is Masher2?
By SEAWOLF607 on 7/7/2006 2:40:53 PM , Rating: 2
You are not to bright apparently on multiple fronts... Linux sucks and yes there have been WMD found in iraq http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200726,00.html


RE: Where is Masher2?
By Merry on 7/7/2006 3:26:21 PM , Rating: 2
you linked to fox news


i dont think you are in any position to the judge the credibility of the afformentioned statement.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By zombiexl on 7/7/2006 3:40:49 PM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't call fox news any less credible than any other news organization. When reporters are politically biased (as most are) there are many reports that turn out to be twisted and tweaked to their way of thinking. I remember catching a today show spot (leading up to the 04' elections)while getting ready for work one time where katie couric seemed almost gleeful to report american soldiers were killed in Iraq.


What is actually interesting to me me on this one was the fact that it was reported by colmes instead of hannity. I mean considering he's as overly-left as hannity is overly-right.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By Merry on 7/7/2006 4:02:29 PM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't call fox news any less credible than any other news organization.

i would

I generally only believe a news story to be correct after looking at several sources. I've found the best to be the BBC


RE: Where is Masher2?
By KCjoker on 7/7/2006 4:48:21 PM , Rating: 2
You'd probably prefer SeeBS even after their fake documents on Bush scandal.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By fsardis on 7/7/06, Rating: 0
RE: Where is Masher2?
By Gallius on 7/8/2006 8:50:01 AM , Rating: 2
Fox is about as reliable as the inquirer, nothing more to say about it really.

Linux has the big problem of not being idiot proof (like Windows). I sat my parents in front of kubuntu and they couldn't figure it out, sat them back in front of XP/OSX and they're fine. That's where Linux needs to improve to become a mainstream OS.

Perhaps if it became part of the education system to learn to use Linux it would become a better alternative. It might also help if all Hardware manufacturers would get decent quality drivers instead of the lottery it is today.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By Tyler 86 on 7/9/2006 1:23:55 AM , Rating: 2
Keeping politics out of this;

Linux can be made idiot proof to an infinite degree.

So idiot proof, in fact, that it can be quite cumbersome for a tech-savvy person to operate.

A good uncumbersome almost idiot proof linux so far is (hold on to your pants for this) indeed, Mac OSX.

Yes, Linux.

If they continue progress in the Intel platform market, and branching out for compatibility as they have been, Windows might get a true commercial competitor.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By lemonadesoda on 7/7/2006 3:29:10 PM , Rating: 2
Oh my goodness, you are a sucker.

Don't you realise that the recent "find" is nothing more than a timely political requirement? All that bad news about how naughty UK and US soldiers have been. About what a f-up the whole situation is. And a find thankfully removes some of the bad press both the US and British governments have been receiving.

This is one of the most obvious "plants" in history.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By fsardis on 7/7/06, Rating: 0
RE: Where is Masher2?
By ZeeStorm on 7/7/2006 4:53:36 PM , Rating: 1
Only closed minded fools could ever say Linux sucks. I have my share of frustrations, but only cause I've been babied by a crappy OS. I've found a new power that I can control much more, and can use it publicly at work (90% of our developers run Ubuntu Linux distro -- and I use Fedora). We saved your tax dollars (local government job) by not having to pay M$'s horrible costs in such a crappy OS. Remove the cover over your eyes and see what computer's were made for.


RE: Where is Masher2?
By 9nails on 7/8/2006 6:37:49 AM , Rating: 2
Yes... Linux does suck! It was built to mimic an OS from the 60's. One that was designed by pot-smoking hippie flower-child’s testing marijuana and acid like a rainbow tests colors. The over use of needlessly truncated commands testify to how silly the design phase became. And any OS happy to let you mount empty folders on top of critical system folders is not going to make it in this world of fools. Sadly, an OS needs rules and structure. Linux lacks both.

And frankly, 100's of distro's just lends to the confusion and lack of focus that this OS needs. One can argue that Apple or Novell have some success with BSD Unix. B