|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | |
MARCH 25, 2004
By Andy Reinhardt Microsoft: The Hot Ticket in Brussels When European trustbuster Mario Monti announced the $613 million penalty, the first act came to an end. This drama still has a way to run, however The setting: A subterranean meeting center in an unremarkable modern building in the heart of Brussels. It's the media-briefing area for the European Commission, decked out with an auditorium, café, lounge, and workrooms fitted with banks of phones, plugs, and jacks. At 11:30 am, it's sparsely populated with people reading the morning papers and sipping cappuccinos. Yet there's an air of tension and anxiety: In 45 minutes, European competition commissioner Mario Monti will announce his decision in the long-running antitrust case against software giant Microsoft (MSFT ). At 10 minutes before noon, commission staffers wheel out a trolley groaning under the weight of hundreds of copies of press releases. Translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Dutch, the documents outline the commission's case against Microsoft. Though all the details have long since appeared in the press, the gathering crowd of journalists rushes forward, jostling to grab press releases in the hope of discovering new nuggets of information. Cell phones whip into action. At noon, the press conference begins. First, 10 minutes of interminable announcements about upcoming briefings, today's visit by a coalition of African leaders, a few scattered questions about topics other than Microsoft. Then Monti enters the room. Photographers rush the stage, their cameras flashing like a fashion show. Monti's spokeswoman asks for calm. After five years of investigation into Microsoft's business practices, hundreds of depositions, and months of negotiations with Microsoft, the moment has arrived. TWO WINDOWS. Monti begins, speaking in English: "The Commission has taken a decision today which finds that Microsoft has abused its virtual monopoly power over the PC desktop in Europe." Based on that finding, says the courtly Italian academic, the Commission has ordered Microsoft to release two versions of its ubiquitous Windows operating system within 90 days. One will include Media Player software, which lets consumers play audio and video files on their computers, and one will not. In theory, this will pry open the market for media-player software and allow rivals, such as RealNetworks (RNWK ) and Apple Computer (AAPL ) a chance to propagate their alternatives to PC buyers. In addition, Microsoft will be required to disclose within 120 days the esoteric technical specifications that govern the communication between Windows PCs and network computers running Microsoft's server version of Windows. Competitors such as Sun Microsystems (SUNW ) and Novell (NOVL ) had complained that Microsoft's proprietary interfaces made it impossible for their server software to fully participate in networks of Windows PCs and servers. Recognizing that the interface specifications are Microsoft's intellectual property, the Commission allows that Microsoft will be required to license the information on reasonable terms -- not just give it away. "We're not expropriating Microsoft's intellectual property," Monti tells the audience. LONG HAUL. To compensate European consumers for the economic losses they have suffered as a result of Microsoft's behavior, Monti ordered the company to pay a fine of $613 million -- the largest amount ever ordered in a European competition decision. Still, that represents just 1.6% of the company's worldwide revenues last year -- or 8% of its sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The money will go into the European Union's general operating fund. Microsoft aims to fight all parts of the decision and has already said it will appeal to the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, the EU's second-highest court, as the first step in an appeals process that could drag on for more than five years. Long before that, Microsoft hopes to convince the court's president, who has sole jurisdiction in such matters, to stay the ordered remedies pending appeal. That could be tough: The hurdle for such "interim relief" is high, and the court president has already affirmed in public statements his disinclination to stay EC decisions. But Microsoft's legal and public relations teams are already hard at work trying to move opinion.
BW MALL
SPONSORED LINKS
Buy a link now! | | |
 Copyright 2004, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version
