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http://www.macnn.com/articles/01/08/30/european.commission/

European Commission investigates Microsoft

updated 05:30 pm EDT, Thu August 30, 2001

 
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The European Commission is investigating whether Microsoft Corp is trying to damage rivals by embedding its proprietary audio/video software, Media Player, into Windows. The Commission cites Apple's QuickTime as one of the victims, saying that the software is put at a competitive disadvantage to Media Player.


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  1. \0

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    08/30, 06:27pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    Death to M$

    Let's all rise up brother and sisters and put an end to the evil empire!!!

    hehe

  1. \0

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    08/30, 06:29pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    I doubt...

    ...they'll have to search long before they find that MS is yet again infringing on the law. You'd think that this whole mess with tying IE to the OS would have made them think twice about this little stunt...there's really no need to investigate the situation given MS's history of underhanded schemes. However, the following quote bugs me:

    "The company [MS] expressed confidence it would be cleared by the Commission of any wrongdoing."

    And how might they do that? As the old saying goes, "Money talks."

    It's c*** like this that really makes me wretch when people mention how great MS is. I say f*ck that. Wake up folks. You need to stop suckling on Uncle Willy's teat, get a life, and make a mindful choice based on what you want/need and not what THEY dictate..........if you let them, they'll rule you.

    My two cents

  1. \0

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    08/30, 07:57pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    Don't get so excited

    MS always "expressed confidence it would be cleared by the Commission of any wrongdoing", that's the task of the PR machine.

    It doesn't mena that they won't be found guilty, and it doesn't mean they know they did the wrong thing, they just aren't going to say so in public.

    They said the same thing in the US case, every step of the way, but the Supreme Court found that Jackson's judgement was correct, if not the penalty - so now they have another go at setting a penalty...

  1. \0

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    08/30, 09:13pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    A question...

    Is this European legal system as susceptible to political manipulation as the US system?

    For instance, it is commonly accepted that after George W Bush came to power in the US, the end result for Microsoft - a heavy republican supporter - would be substantially less punitive than had the Democrats maintained power.

    In fact, George W came to power (by the narrowest of margins) simply because there were more "Republican judges" on the Supreme Court bench than "Democrat judges," which demonstrates the influence politics has in the US legal system.

    Is the same true in Europe?

    That is, if conservative-tending politicians dominate, is Microsoft likely to get off just as lightly there as it is likely to do in the US?

  1. jimothy

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2000

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    08/30, 09:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    Supreme Court

    Two people had mentioned the Supreme Court. So, I've got two points to make:

    1) The Supreme Court has made no rulings on the Microsoft case, yet. Microsoft is trying to bring the case to the SC (bypassing lower appeals courts), but thus far, the SC has not decided on whether or not they will hear the case.

    2) The U.S. Supreme Court played no part in the election of Dubya. The Florida Supreme Court, did, however. By not qualifying "Supreme Court" with a state, it implies the U.S. Supreme Court, making the fourth poster's comments inaccurate.

  1. Yourdog

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    08/30, 11:19pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    Die Billy G!!!!!!! YEAHH

    M$ is the worstest company in the whole world they make software and sell it to people and it is functional sometimes and it ruins my life because bill gates made money off of it and all i can do is post nasty messages about it in hopes that somehow it will start a revolution that will bring down MS with all of our negative energy and I hope that anyone who uses microshite products dies for a long time...

    Seriously, get a life morons... this "evil empire" bs is REALLY tired... whatever happens to MS in court will probably be well deserved, but I mean seriously, just because I buy MS Office doesn't mean I had no other choice and am running with the sheep. Let people do whatever the h*** they want and SHUT UP.
    Those who are making intelligent posts, well no offense intended; carry on!

  1. majinbutz

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    08/31, 05:23am | report spam | Reply | delete

    Supreme Court

    Do we forget so quickly? The US Supreme Court handed W the presidency when they stopped the recount.

    As for the actual topic of this discussion, doesn't Apple do the same thing with QuickTime? The only real difference is that Apple's actions aren't backed by the same kind of Monopolistic power that MS's are.

  1. dbj1000

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    08/31, 05:28am | report spam | Reply | delete

    Europe's attitude to MS

    "Is this European legal system as susceptible to political manipulation as the US system?"

    The answer is a pretty definite NO.

    This story:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/17679.html

    describes how Germany has already banned the use of all MS software by its military and government agencies, due to security concerns.

    The majority feeling within Europe is pretty anti-Microsoft, and with MS not being a "home grown" corporation, there will be less political pressure to go easy on them in any anti-trust case.

    Of course, MS can still sway the hearings by indirectly threatening to cease supporting non-English versions of their software. Love them or loathe them, MS dominate world software, and so any indication from MS that they would provide less than 100% support for European software versions would be a strong threat indeed.

  1. \0

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    08/31, 07:25am | report spam | Reply | delete

    M$ wants the internet

    I think this is another step of M$ to take over the Internet. There are more and more sites which can only be viewed/listen if you use M$ OS and browser.

    DON'T LET IT HAPPEN, switch to Linux or MacOS!

    FvD

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