Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Microsoft is ready to remove media player for EU

It could be required to do so by antitrust regulators in Europe

September 27, 2004 12:00 PM ET

IDG News Service - Microsoft Corp. will be ready to comply with the European Commission's demands for changes to its Windows operating systems if a European court rejects its request for the measures to be suspended, a spokesman for the company said today.
The European Commission ruled in March that Microsoft should offer a version of Windows without Windows Media Player (WMP) software, grant access to documentation for network server software, and pay a fine of $610.4 million because the company had abused its market dominance (see story).
Microsoft has challenged the commission's decision in the European Union's Court of First Instance, and has asked for the commission's demands to be suspended pending the outcome of the appeal, which is expected to take two to five years.
The court will hold hearings on Thursday and Friday at which the company, the commission and more than 10 interested parties will present evidence. The judgment by the court on suspending the measures is expected in about two months.
"We will be prepared to comply with the court order, whatever it is," said Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, speaking at a news conference in Brussels.
The company had "spent millions" so that it could meet the court's judgment, he said, suggesting that development work has already been done to offer a version of Windows in Europe without the WMP software.
Microsoft has protested in the past that unbundling elements of Windows would be difficult and could even damage its operating system. Smith's remarks represent the first time that Microsoft has appeared willing to make a significant change to Windows in the face of pressure from antitrust regulators.
One legal expert who has followed the case said unbundling WMP would be a victory for consumers and competitors. It would force Microsoft to compete based on the merits of its software, said Thomas Vinje, a partner at the Brussels law firm Clifford Chance LLP.
"For RealNetworks, Apple and other companies ... it would mean that they might have a chance of surviving in this market. Thus, for consumers, such a decision would mean that they might continue in the future to have a choice of media players," said Vinje, who represents Microsoft rivals, including the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a lobbying group based in Washington.
Vinje said he believed the commission would prevail in its case against the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker. He didn't see the removal of WMP as an onerous task for Microsoft, however. "It's been obvious to any observer that it's easy to comply," he


Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Jump to comments

Legislation/Regulation

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER
Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.
WHITE PAPER
Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.
WHITE PAPER
Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.