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WORLD / America
Microsoft must share code with rivals
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-17 20:35
"I don't want to talk about what will come next," said Microsoft lawyer
Brad Smith in answer to questions about the possibility of an appeal. "We
need to read the ruling before we make any decision."
European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes urged Microsoft to
act on the 2004 antitrust ruling.
"The court has upheld a landmark Commission decision to give consumers
more choice in software markets," Kroes said in a statement. "Microsoft
must now comply fully with its legal obligations to desist from engaging
in anticompetitive conduct. The Commission will do its utmost to ensure
that Microsoft complies swiftly."
Kroes called the decision "bittersweet," saying software customers still
have no more choice than they did three years ago.
"The court has confirmed the Commission's view that consumers are
suffering at the hands of Microsoft," she said.
She refused to say if EU regulators would follow up antitrust worries
they flagged last year with Microsoft's new Vista operating system,
saying only that "if it is not in line with our policy, then we will act."
The ruling showed that handing over key interoperability code that helped
rivals make compatible products was required in the software market, she
said.
The European Committee for Interoperable Systems called the ruling a good
result.
"It's a very good day, for it signals that there will be fair competition
for the sector," said Maurits Dolmans, a lawyer for the group.
In its 248-page ruling, the court upheld both the Commission's argument
and its order for Microsoft to hand over information on server protocols
to rivals. Microsoft had claimed these were protected by patents and the
Commission was forcing it to give away valuable intellectual property at
little or no cost.
The court confirmed "that the necessary degree of interoperability
required by the Commission is well founded and that there is no
inconsistency between that degree of interoperability and the remedy
imposed by the Commission.
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