Microsoft warned to cut market share

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes warned Microsoft on Monday that she expected it to cut its dominant market share to comply with a 2004 European Commission anti-trust ruling.

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cybershark said:

So how do you reduce market share?

Ask customers to not use your products?

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cybershark said:

So how do you reduce market share?

Ask customers to not use your products?

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adrianx said:

You cut market share by not using underhanded/illegal tactics to eliminate all forms of competition. "Embrace, extend, and exterminate" is a phrase that was/is used internally by Micro$oft.

Competition, contrary to popular belief, is actually a good thing.

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This initial interoperability came to be known as part of Microsoft’s now-classic “embrace, extend, and extinguish” strategy, which Microsoft has subsequently and successfully employed in many other product areas.18 This strategy has three phases: First, Microsoft “embraces” a competing product by developing software or implementing standards that are compatible with the competing product.19 Microsoft then “extends” its own offering by creating features or standards that are interoperable only with Microsoft’s proprietary technologies.20 Finally, when Microsoft’s proprietary software or standards have achieved widespread adoption, Microsoft “extinguishes” its competitors by dropping any remaining pretense of compatibility.21

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“This anti-trust thing will blow over. We haven’t changed our business practices at all.”
— Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and then-CEO (1995)3

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1
II. MICROSOFT’S HISTORY OF ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCT.................................3
A. Microsoft’s Campaign To Destroy DR-DOS ..........................................................3
B. Microsoft’s Anticompetitive Per Processor License Fees .......................................5
C. Microsoft’s Retaliation And Price Discrimination Against IBM............................6
D. Microsoft’s Organized Collective Boycott Against Intel ........................................7
E. Microsoft’s Elimination Of Word Perfect ...............................................................7
F. Microsoft’s Deceptive WISE Software Program.....................................................9
G. Microsoft’s Elimination Of Netscape ....................................................................10
H. Microsoft’s Attempts To Extinguish Java .............................................................14
I. Microsoft’s Elimination Of Rival Media Players ..................................................16
J. Microsoft’s Campaign Against Rival Server Operating Systems..........................18
III. MICROSOFT CONTINUES TO ENGAGE IN ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCT ......19
A. Microsoft’s Failure To Comply With The Final Judgment ...................................20
B. Microsoft’s Campaign of Patent FUD against Linux and Open Source
Software………………………………………………………………………….23
C. Microsoft’s Ongoing Misconduct Has Sparked Further European Commission
Investigations .........................................................................................................23
IV. MICROSOFT’S FALSE PROMISES OF INTEROPERABILITY..................................24
V. MICROSOFT’S MONOPOLIES HAVE HARMED CONSUMERS ..............................25
A. Microsoft’s Operating System Monopoly Has Harmed Consumers .....................25
B. Microsoft’s Office Monopoly Has Harmed Consumers........................................26
C. Microsoft’s Web Browser Monopoly Has Harmed Consumers ............................28
VI. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................31

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VI. CONCLUSION
Microsoft’s conduct over the last two decades has demonstrated Microsoft’s willingness and ability to engage in unlawful conduct to protect and extend its core monopolies. This conduct has caused real harm to consumers, who continue to pay high prices and use lower quality products than would have prevailed in a competitive market. By understanding Microsoft’s history of anticompetitive conduct, developers, consumer groups, and government authorities will be better equipped to recognize current and future Microsoft misconduct at an early stage and intervene to prevent Microsoft from using tactics other than competition on the merits. ECIS remains hopeful that the European Commission’s latest Statement of Objections addressing Microsoft’s misconduct will finally mark the beginning of the end of Microsoft’s two decades of anticompetitive behavior and consumer harm.
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NetSpike said:

People have a free choice to use whatever they want.

If people didn't want to use Microsoft products, they could easily switch to a free open source alternative.

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killadoob said:

Do you really think the United States are the good guys? Pffffft

http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/..._Phillips.html

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adrianx said:

You cut market share by not using underhanded/illegal tactics to eliminate all forms of competition. "Embrace, extend, and exterminate" is a phrase that was/is used internally by Micro$oft.

Competition, contrary to popular belief, is actually a good thing.

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killadoob said:

Dude please, show me one OS that you can do just about everything on and then i may agree with you. What does microsoft do that is so bad if i may ask? They bundle a media player which is very good an email program which is pretty kuk but can be used and an explorer. What may i ask is wrong about supplying an OS that has everything one needs to operate?

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Tassidar said:

Have you read the posted document? The information has been put right in front of your eyes. The only reason why you can't see that MS is so bad, is either that YOU REFUSE TO LOOK, or THAT YOU ARE TOO ILLITERATE TO READ THE ARTICLE. Now read the article, and THEN comment, rather than show yourself to be a complete idiot.

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killadoob said:

What does microsoft do that is so bad if i may ask?

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Abe said:

Rather look at their history. MS Office is what it is today because they crushed the alternatives by leveraging their OS monopoly. They "leaked" the Win95 API's, etc to their own Office division about a year before the final release of Win95, then when Win95 was released, the only Office suite available for it for the first 6 months was MS Office as they froze out the competitors and they had to wait for the official release. And thats just one of their dirty tricks.

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