http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/11/business/worldbusiness/11CND-MICRO.html
February 11, 2003 European Trade Group Files Suit Over Windows XP By PAUL MELLER RUSSELS, Feb. 11 � A computer industry trade group said today that it had filed a complaint about Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP operating system to the European Commission antitrust department, as the European regulator nears the end of an investigation into earlier operating systems from the software group. Innovation and competition in the development of software for machines, ranging from PC's to mobile phones, are under threat from Microsoft's dominance, the Computer and Communications Industry Association said at a news conference this morning. The European Union antitrust authority is expected to conclude a five-year investigation into earlier Windows operating systems in the first half of this year. The commission accuses Microsoft of leveraging its dominant position in operating systems software into related markets, such as the market for software that drives computer networks. It also accuses the software company of bundling its audio and video software called Media Player into its ubiquitous Windows operating systems, to the detriment of rivals thatsell standalone video and audio players. The risks to competition posed by Windows XP are much greater than those of previous versions of the operating system, said Thomas Vinje, legal adviser to the communications trade agency and a partner in the Brussels office of the law firm Morrison & Foerster. "Microsoft is using well-honed practices to achieve its end, and it is using them with XP more than ever before," Mr. Vinje said. The new complaint accuses Microsoft of bundling its e-mail software, Outlook Express, video editing software called Movie Maker, the onscreen messaging program Instant Messenger, as well as Media Player into Windows XP. It also accuses Microsoft of leveraging its operating systems might into Internet-related markets, and into markets for mobile phone operating systems. In addition the association says that Windows XP gives an unfair advantage to Microsoft's e-commerce trading platform, .NET, by steering purchasers of XP toward signing up for the .NET authentication device called Passport. .NET Passport is the most developed online authentication system available. Next year a similar system will be introduced by the Liberty Alliance, a loose group of companies that have agreed to use a common, open source platform largely developed by Sun Microsystems, to offer their services and goods online. "XP clearly violates European Union competition law," said Ed Black, president and chief executive officer of the trade association. "This complaint comprehensively details the myriad anticompetitive abuses of Microsoft that remain at the heart of their ongoing business strategy," he added. A Microsoft spokeswoman, Tiffany Steckler, declined to comment in detail about the new complaint. However she pointed out that "the allegations seem similar to the ones the C.C.I.A. made in the U.S." Mr. Vinje said the complaint goes far beyond the substance of the trade association's appeal against last year's conclusion of the Department of Justice antitrust case against Microsoft. The association appeal against that ruling, which was filed in a District of Columbia court, is still pending. Ms. Steckler added: "It is up to the European Commission to decide what issues are relevant to its probe. We have always said we are eager to work with the commission to find a positive solution to the issues" on the existing antitrust lawsuit in Europe. The European Commission spokeswoman for competition issues, Amelia Torres, confirmed that the complaint had been submitted. "We received the complaint and we will look into it," she said. But she declined to comment on whether the issues raised in the complaint against XP will be included in the ongoing case. It is unlikely they will, as this would delay that ruling, people close to the commission said. "We don't want them to delay the existing case," Mr. Vinje said. Another computer industry executive requesting anonymity said that a ruling against Microsoft in the existing antitrust case "should provide the basis for the commission to move faster in this new case than the four or five years they took to rule in the existing one." The trade association represents computer electronics and phone groups including Nokia Corp., Eastman Kodak Co., the electronics giants Fujitsu Ltd. and NTT Communications Corp., and three of Microsoft's biggest direct competitors, SunMicrosystems Corp., AOL Time Warner Inc. and Oracle Corp.
