The European Union is challenging Microsoft on antitrust laws again, but legal experts warn the ongoing investigations against Redmond could trickle down to other U.S. companies.
European Commission regulators on Monday said they have initiated two formal antitrust investigations against Microsoft. The investigations fall under two separate categories of alleged infringements of European Commission treaty rules. The first case deals with interoperability. The second relates to tying separate software products together. Specifically, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office have fallen under scrutiny.
Microsoft’s initial reaction was a statement of full cooperation with the commission’s investigation. The company said it plans to provide any and all information necessary. Microsoft pledged its commitment to ensuring the company is in full compliance with European law and its obligations as established by the European Court of First Instance in its September 2007 ruling. But do Microsoft and other technology companies have reason to be concerned about how the EU is interpreting and enforcing antitrust law?
Courts Embolden the EC
The First Instance ruling seems to have left European regulators with new boldness. European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes made a statement last September that could hint at the EU’s future plans for dominant companies.
After the court ruling against Microsoft, Kroes noted that the software giant holds 95 percent of the market for desktop operating systems and said she would like to see that number reduced. “You can’t draw a line and say exactly 50 percent is correct, but a significant drop in market share is what we would like to see,” she said.
Another example is Google’s intent to acquire DoubleClick, which is also under scrutiny by the European Commission. The BEUC, Europe’s top consumer group, wrote a letter to the EC in December, warning, “The Google-DoubleClick merger would harm consumer welfare by creating a structure that almost certainly…