Tuesday, November 19, 2002
New Antitrust Charges Brew
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 11:08 AM
When I first heard about this, I thought it was a joke - but it seems it's not.
"The European Commission is considering a new antitrust case against Microsoft, suspecting the software giant is trying to leverage its dominance of PC operating systems into the market for mobile phone software, say sources familiar with the regulator...The EU competition regulator is concerned that Microsoft might take over the market for mobile phone software, according to a senior advisor to the European Commission. "Mobile phones are a very important market in Europe. The Commission is worried that Microsoft might take advantage of the strength of Windows in order to dominate in mobile phones," he said. By leveraging its might into mobile telephony, Microsoft might reduce the role of mobile phones to mere conduits for its software, just as computer makers complain it has done with PCs."
Sure, Microsoft has done some un-ethical things in the past, but how can this Commission take action before Microsoft has done anything? In the mobile phone market, they're just a blip right now - they've just launched the first Smartphone 2002 with Orange, and it will be at least a few quarters before we can see how they're doing. How can you lay charges against a company before they do anything in a market? Who's next, Amiga? This statement is the most telling however:
"When mobile phones become Internet-compatible, the phone operators want to become the Internet gatekeepers for their customers. The .Net initiative would undermine their role in the relationship with those customers, the lawyer said."
So it boils down to this: the mobile carriers feel threatened that they'll be reduced to being bit pipes, and they're pushing the European Commission to protect them from something that hasn't happened yet. There's self confidence! :roll: Perhaps instead of hiding behind bureaucracy they should try adding services and solutions that will benefit their customers...
"The European Commission is considering a new antitrust case against Microsoft, suspecting the software giant is trying to leverage its dominance of PC operating systems into the market for mobile phone software, say sources familiar with the regulator...The EU competition regulator is concerned that Microsoft might take over the market for mobile phone software, according to a senior advisor to the European Commission. "Mobile phones are a very important market in Europe. The Commission is worried that Microsoft might take advantage of the strength of Windows in order to dominate in mobile phones," he said. By leveraging its might into mobile telephony, Microsoft might reduce the role of mobile phones to mere conduits for its software, just as computer makers complain it has done with PCs."
Sure, Microsoft has done some un-ethical things in the past, but how can this Commission take action before Microsoft has done anything? In the mobile phone market, they're just a blip right now - they've just launched the first Smartphone 2002 with Orange, and it will be at least a few quarters before we can see how they're doing. How can you lay charges against a company before they do anything in a market? Who's next, Amiga? This statement is the most telling however:
"When mobile phones become Internet-compatible, the phone operators want to become the Internet gatekeepers for their customers. The .Net initiative would undermine their role in the relationship with those customers, the lawyer said."
So it boils down to this: the mobile carriers feel threatened that they'll be reduced to being bit pipes, and they're pushing the European Commission to protect them from something that hasn't happened yet. There's self confidence! :roll: Perhaps instead of hiding behind bureaucracy they should try adding services and solutions that will benefit their customers...
