--- In APWKomitel@yahoogroups.com, "rrusdiah" <rrusdiah@...> wrote:
di Eropa dan berbagai negara... pemerintah concern dan memperjuangkan
hak dari masyarakat terhadap monopoli yang dilakukan oleh vendor...
apakah... eh kenapa di Indonesia tidak ada upaya ?
jangan 'what is it for me' dong, do something regulator, KPPU,
legislator, pemerintah ... where are you ?
berita menarik ada dibawah ini...
salam, rr - apwkomitel
---
EU ruling deals setback to Microsoft : By Dawn Kawamoto
http://www.news.com/EU+ruling+deals+setback+to+Microsoft/2100-1014_3-6208385.html
Story last modified Mon Sep 17 17:09:16 PDT 2007
A European court dealt a severe blow to Microsoft's competitive
ambitions in Europe Monday by siding with regulators in an antitrust
case against the company.
In its ruling, the Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance upheld
European Commission claims that Microsoft abused its dominant position
in the operating system market. Microsoft's allies and competitors
have been closely following the case since the Commission imposed
antitrust sanctions against the company in early 2004.
The court's decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for
consumers, computer makers, Microsoft competitors and, perhaps most
pointedly, the Commission's ability to regulate technology companies
on antitrust matters, legal experts and industry observers say.
"The court ruling is...welcome for its confirmation of the
Commission's decision and its underlying policy, but nevertheless, it
is bittersweet," Neelie Kroes, the Commission's Competition
Commissioner, said during a press conference Monday. "Bittersweet
because the court has confirmed the Commission's view that consumers
are suffering at the hands of Microsoft."
Kroes added that should Microsoft comply with the Commission's order,
she expects to see a "significant drop" in Microsoft's overwhelming
market share.
And while she gave no estimate of how steep she expects that drop to
be, Kroes noted that it would likely be more than a few percentage
points as more competitors enter the market. Microsoft's Windows
operating system runs on about 95 percent of the world's personal
computers.
Related video
Court rules against Microsoft
Luxembourg-based court orders Microsoft to share protocols with its
competitors and pay a $613 million fine the EC had required.
"A market share less than 95 percent is a way to measure the success
(of the order)," she added. A spokesman for Kroes later clarified that
a fall in market share would be a logical consequence of fairer
competition.
The top antitrust regulator for the Commission also noted that it is
"too early" to discuss whether there are any antitrust issues in
Vista. But she added that some information may be available "not too
far from now."
The 13-member court ruled that the Commission was justified in
requiring Microsoft to share certain technical specifications, or
protocols, with rivals so their products would work with Microsoft's
Windows operating system. The Commission is also requiring Microsoft
to offer an unbundled option to consumers when tying together two
separate products, such as Windows and the company's Media Player
software.
The court also upheld the $613 million fine imposed by the Commission,
according to documents detailing the ruling.
Monday's verdict could ultimately force Microsoft to change its
business practices, at least in Europe, observers say. It could also
embolden antitrust regulators to pursue Microsoft in other countries.
However, the ruling likely will have no bearing on Microsoft's
business in the United States. The company settled a long-running
antitrust case here in 2002.
Related video
EC reacts to victory against Microsoft
Commissioner calls the ruling bittersweet and expects to see a
significant drop in Microsoft's market share if company complies with
order.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday issued a statement critical
of the Commission's decision. "We are...concerned that the standard
applied to unilateral conduct by the (Court of First Instance), rather
than helping consumers, may have the unfortunate consequence of
harming consumers by chilling innovation and discouraging competition.
In the United States, the antitrust laws are enforced to protect
consumers by protecting competition, not competitors," Thomas O.
Barnett, assistant attorney general for the department's antitrust
division, said in the statement.
Microsoft has not indicated whether it will pursue an appeal of
Monday's verdict to the European Court of Justice, the highest court
in Europe.
"The decision is not what we had hoped for and to say anything less
would be less than candid," Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel,
said during a press conference on Monday.
While acknowledging that the court sided with the Commission on key
points, the company took some solace in the fact that the court
annulled the Commission's imposition of an independent trustee to
monitor compliance, Smith said.
He added that Microsoft has made progress on the interoperability
issues, but that more work needs to be done and will be addressed as
quickly as possible.
Previously, the Commission believed the pricing Microsoft was going to
charge for licensing its protocols was too steep, but the software
giant responded by dropping the fee to 1 percent of revenues generated
from its products, Smith noted.
"If the European Commission still believes that is still too high, we
want to understand (their concerns) and quickly address it," he said.
Microsoft, however, believes it has a "complete and accurate" set of
technical specifications that companies have begun to license, and
Smith noted that he hopes even more licensees will sign on.
As for Media Player, Smith said Microsoft has offered an unbundled
version of its Windows operating system and Media Player for more than
two years, and, as a result, believes it is in full compliance with
the Commission's 2004 order.
Minor victory
Microsoft took some solace in the minor win the Court awarded it over
the Commission's use of a monitoring trustee, Smith said.
As a result of the ruling, Microsoft is not responsible for paying all
the costs associated with the monitoring trustee. The court also
reined in the power of the trustee, finding that the Commission has no
authority to compel Microsoft to grant the trustee powers that the
Commission is not authorized to confer on a third party.
Smith emphasized the progress Microsoft has made over the years to
comply with the Commission's order and said he remains hopeful the
court's order will bring further clarity to the issue.
"We have been working hard over the last few years to address these
issues," Smith said. "Everyone agrees, for example, that the version
of Windows that we offer in Europe today is in compliance with the
Commission's 2004 decision."
Nonetheless, the court chided Microsoft on its behavior regarding
interoperability issues.
"The court considers that the Commission was correct to conclude that
the work group server operating systems of Microsoft's competitors
must be able to interoperate with Windows domain architecture on an
equal footing with Windows operating systems if they are to be capable
of being marketed viably...the absence of such interoperability has
the effect of reinforcing Microsoft's competitive position on the
market and creates a risk that competition will be eliminated," the
court said in its ruling.
Microsoft and the Commission had particularly contentious
disagreements over the issue of interoperability, with Microsoft and
the Commission clashing on the extent to which the company's technical
information should be shared with rivals.
"The court rejects Microsoft's claims that the degree of
interoperability required by the Commission is intended in reality to
enable competing work group server operating systems to function in
every respect like a Windows system and, accordingly, to enable
Microsoft's competitors to clone or reproduce its products," the court
said.
A number of Microsoft competitors have previously weighed in on the
interoperability issue in complaints to the Commission. These include
the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a nonprofit
trade association that includes as members Adobe, IBM, Oracle,
RealNetworks, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems.
"This landmark judgment sets a clear standard for Microsoft's future
conduct and empowers the European Commission to impose it in the
European market when necessary," said Thomas Vinje, a spokesman and
legal counsel for ECIS.
Linux distributor Red Hat also voiced its support for the court's
decision.
"In our business, interoperability information is critically important
and cannot simply be withheld to exclude all competition…we were
pleased with the overall decision and look forward to examining the
decision in greater detail," Matthew Szulik, Red Hat chief executive,
said in a statement.
Similar views were expressed by the Software and Information Industry
Association (SIIA).
"After one of the most thorough investigations in the history of
competition law, spanning over seven years, the Commission has taken a
steady and decisive course," Ken Wasch, SIIA president, said in a
statement. "We applaud the leadership and persistence of the European
Commission."
But another trade group, the Computing Technology Industry Association
(CompTIA), which includes Microsoft as a member, expressed
disappointment in the ruling, labeling it a blow to "free enterprise
in Europe."
In addition to the interoperability issue, the court sided with the
Commission on the bundling of separate software products, citing three
areas that affected its decision. One was the company in question must
have a dominant position in the market for the tying product, such as
the Windows operating system; two, the tying product and tied
product--in this case Windows and Windows Media Player--must be two
separate products; and three, consumers don't have a choice to obtain
the tying product without the tied product.
"The court considers that the factors on which the Commission based
its conclusion that there was abusive tying are correct and consistent
with community law."
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RealNetworks, which makes the RealPlayer media player, had raised such
an issue in the past, eventually reaching a $460 million settlement to
address antitrust claims with Microsoft in 2005. Microsoft also agreed
to pay RealNetworks $310 million to support RealNetworks' movie and
game business.
In recent years, the software giant has been paying
multimillion-dollar settlements to its rivals to address previous
antitrust litigation. Microsoft also paid longtime archrival Sun
Microsystems $700 million to settle antitrust disputes with the
company over interoperability issues and another $900 million over
patent issues.
Legal experts previously weighed in on what a favorable court ruling
would do for the Commission. Some legal experts said that with a
favorable court ruling in the Microsoft case, the Commission would
likely remain on its current aggressive track in pursuing antitrust
cases, whereas an unfavorable one would have likely "taken the wind
out of its sails."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Copyright ©1995-2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
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