Subject:  Microsoft Takes on Europe with Media Roadshow |
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toll_brothers
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Date Posted: 03:19:25 11/12/03 Wed
Microsoft Takes on Europe with Media Roadshow
"PA"
Microsoft began its defence against European antitrust charges today, optimistic a deal could still be reached to avoid penalties that could be the toughest it has been hit with in years of battling trustbusters on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Hope springs eternal,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s senior vice president for law and corporate affairs, as he entered the closed-door hearings in Brussels.
The hearing is “another opportunity to continue our discussion” with European officials.
Microsoft lawyers, backed by a multimedia roadshow, will face off with EU regulators and competitors until Friday.
The European Commission, the EU’s antitrust enforcer, is expected to issue its decision in the four-year-old case next spring – unless a settlement is reached.
Smith told Microsoft shareholders yesterday that those talks were proceeding.
“We would welcome the opportunity to resolve these things in an amicable way,” he said. “We hope in the coming weeks or months we’ll be able to work things out with the European Commission.”
EU officials also said a settlement was still possible. But the US software giant is under pressure to offer more concessions.
Microsoft faces charges that it is illegally trying to extend its Windows operating system dominance into the market for servers, which tie desktop computers together, as well as into so-called media players, which play music and video on computers.
The Commission warned in August it was prepared to levy potentially hefty fines for past misconduct and demand its own remedies, such as forcing Microsoft to remove its built-in Media Player from Windows or to include rival players as well.
The company also may have to disclose more of its prized software code – chiefly elements of its operating systems that govern their interaction with other companies’ software – to competitors in the server market.
Although an order to spin off Media Player, for example, would legally only apply to software sold in the EU, Microsoft has argued creating different versions would be impractical and expensive. An EU unbundling order could thus have global repercussions.
Its main concern, however, is defending its long-standing practice of keeping Windows on top by incorporating new features in the operating system – which it sees as benefiting consumers and rivals view as unfair competition.
http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2167532
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