“A European court has turned down an appeal by Microsoft to delay hard-hitting sanctions from the European Commission. The US software giant went to the European Court of First Instance to try to get the penalties for abuse of monopoly suspended. Microsoft wanted to delay the opening up of aspects of its Windows software system to rivals, and a record EU fine. The court dismissed Microsoft’s plea ‘in its entirety,'” BBC News reports.
“Microsoft said after the judgement that it remained confident of coming to an agreement with the Commission. In March, the European Commission imposed the sanctions on Microsoft after finding that it had abused the virtual monopoly of its Windows computer operating system,” BBC News reports. “The Commission demanded Microsoft change its business practices, and levied a fine of 497m euros ($613m), the biggest it had ever imposed in an anti-trust case.”
“The failure of its initial appeal could have huge commercial implications for the company, since the Commission ordered it to divulge some software secrets and produce a version of Windows without its digital Media Player,” BBC News reports. “The Commission’s case against Microsoft centred on the software giant’s digital Media Player which it includes as part of its Windows operating system. Brussels determined that the inclusion of Media Player was an abuse of monopoly as it made it very difficult for rivals such as RealNetworks and Apple’s QuickTime to get consumers to use their products instead.”
“The Commission also called for Microsoft to reveal key parts of its software code to enable other software and hardware manufacturers to more easily develop products that work with Windows,” BBC News reports. “The European Court of First Instance is the second-highest court in the EU. However, Microsoft could now take its appeal higher, to the European Court of Justice. The full appeals process could take up to five years, prompting speculation among IT analysts that Microsoft may have been hoping to persuade the Commission to reopen negotiations – halted before the March ruling – on remedies.”
Full article here.
Apple need to release Quicktime for Linux. There is ground to be made here.
In 5 years they can rack up attorney’s fee of probably around $613m……mind as well as pay the darn fine and be done with it. Oh…..they are confident and principles, I forgot.
Alright Europeans, you’re doing good. The Bush Administration allows Micosoft to abuse its monopoly power over here in the U.S., no problem. Glad to see y’all are smarter than that. Or maybe it’s just that your authorities haven’t been bought off, at least not yet?
BBC needs to move to QuickTime, RealPlayer is whack.
And this is related to Mac how? Putting QT on a PC will not make it any better.
1) Bush doesnt run the wasnt the prosecuter or the judge in the MS trial, so get over it.
2) Quicktime is already on the PC.
Lets think a liitle before we speak
and MERRY CHRISTMAS
Dont I look silly, 2 thoughts in one, please strike “doesnt run the” from 1 above.
I normaly read them before I post.
And anyway, I don’t understand it. It would essentially amount to the same if Apple were asked to remove QuickTime, iTunes and all the other iLife Apps, because it would be unfair business practice.
let the suckers who buy windows (PC/Windows iPod owners are suckers on the way to rehabilitation) stick to their WMP.
And like the magic word “glass” , is what I raise to the cult of mac users out there…
Buffy, I know that its on the PC as in ported for PC, but not everyone has it installed, or even knows about it. What I am saying, is that if you have a crappy car, putting an excellent Audio System in it will not increase its value or performance.
going going “gone”
Buffy wrote: “Dont I look silly”. Yes, I’d say so. But not just because of the typos in a massage that advises us to “think a liitle before we speak.” I’d say that the silliness is in failing to see that Bush controls the U.S. Department of Justice, whose anti-trust division is letting Microsoft abuse it’s monopoly power. But we can agree on the “MERRY CHRISTMAS” part.
I tend to agree with you DavidO.
I suspect that although Bush has an iPod in his pocket, MS has him in theirs.
How much did MS donate to his election funds ….?
ph8te wrote:
“And anyway, I don’t understand it. It would essentially amount to the same if Apple were asked to remove QuickTime, iTunes and all the other iLife Apps, because it would be unfair business practice.”
I don’t think it would be the same if the Courts asked Apple to remove QT, iTumes and all the other iLife apps. This applications come pre-packaged with the Mac but can be safely removed (just drag it to the trash if you want) at the will of the user whom might want to use some other apps in their place. They are not tied to the OS.
Now try doing the same on windoze by removing the Media Player or IE and see how your machine is rendered useless. As these two things are root so firmly in the OS that it is near impossible to remove them.
Typical–smear someone you disagree with, without any evidence. If the individual is a politician, does that make it OK? Or are you such egomaniacs that you think the only reason someone could disagree with your brilliant insights is that he or she is on the take?
Disgusting.
Typical–smear someone you disagree with, without any evidence. If the individual is a politician, does that make it OK? Or are you such egomaniacs that you think the only reason someone could disagree with your brilliant insights is that he or she is on the take?
Disgusting.
As you might have guessed…
As you might have guessed…
Having to unbundle IE and WMP from the operating system may actually help M$ in the long run, by removing the two biggest holes in Windows…
This place is getting more and more ads crammed into a tiny space every day. It’s starting to look like a (Sprint)Nextel Cup race around here!!
(This post brought to you by the word ‘things’, as in “These ad things are driving me crazy!”)
This is still nothing more than just a slap on the wrist, so nobody should get too excited…
“Still, the fact that Microsoft must offer a version of Windows without Media Player is not a substantial blow for the company. Because of the way the Commission phrased the requirement, Microsoft isn’t required to charge a lower price for the version of Windows without the media software, meaning customers will have little incentive to choose it.”
Let’s institute the Corporate Death Penalty in the U.S. I’m sure there is a monopoly out there to test it on. oooo…such fun.
“….The court dismissed Microsoft’s plea ‘in its entirety,’” BBC News reports.
‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la la-la la-la.
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And the EU (is that you, Santa?) just gave another reason to smile and jumping up and down with joy!
Merry Christmas!!
“And the EU (is that you, Santa?) just gave another reason to smile and jumping up and down with joy!”
Why? It’s not like anything is going to change as a result of it. If you’re into symbolic victories, then so be it, but let’s try to be a tad bit realistic here.
BONSAI: “Now try doing the same on windoze by removing the Media Player or IE and see how your machine is rendered useless. As these two things are root so firmly in the OS that it is near impossible to remove them.”
YEAH SURE…I’ve never had a problem removing or just “turning off” WMP…Get you facts straight…I’ve removed it flawlessly just for shitz and gigglz…If you want to Spead FUD…Got to MacRumors.com (You’ll fit in there)
If you could remove QT COMPLETELY from the mac, It would be useless aswell, Considering most applications rely on it to function…Itunes for example, iLife and so on…The real truth is, You cannot remove QT from a Mac, You can only remove the Application. That in itself doesnt make QT go away. For instance, Remove QT from the apps folder on your mac, then go to apple.com and run a trailer…You can still play it right?
Try removing Quicktime, Its impossible…Do a search for it and delete everything you find (If the files arent already in use) The only way to actually remove all of the QT files is by booting to the command line…Then tell me how well your mac works…
If you can even get back to MDN…
As far as the article…I think the EU Judge was paid nicely for the whole thing..Far be it for me to call an EU judge a Moron.Eh-Hum..But thats what he is…A non-techie with a fat wallet from real and most likely some othe companies….Next he wont allow Porsche to put CD Players in their cars because people who buy them cant make the choice to go get a different brand…Please…IF you dont like WMP…Dont fucking use it…Go DL what you like and be done with it…
The main difference between Mac OS X/QT and Windows/WMP isn’t the way each is tied together but the fact Windows is a virtual monopoly that has been legally shown to abuse it’s position as a monopoly and Apple isn’t and hasn’t.
Microsoft can stiffle innovation simply by making it so competitors products can’t or won’t work as well, regardless of whether consumers choose them over WMP or whether they are the best product or not. Because it is a virtual monopoly the effect of it doing this is much more reaching then if Apple were to do the same thing.
Hip hip hooray !!!
Even the slightest study of economics would demonstrate that there is no such thing as a monopoly that is not supported by the government which is a true monopoly supported by its guns. Microsoft and Windows is not a monopoly — my cable company is a monopoly.