[FSFE PR][EN] Web browser interoperability: FSFE welcomes EC's decision and offers support

Free Software Foundation Europe press at fsfeurope.org
Tue Jan 20 16:02:24 CET 2009


Web browser interoperability: FSFE welcomes EC's decision and offers support

On the 16th of January the European Commission DG Competition reported
that it had issued a statement of objections regarding Microsoft's
tying of Internet Explorer (IE) to the Windows Operating System
product family.  This action builds on a complaint originally
submitted by Opera, a European company involved in web browser
development.

Free Software Foundation Europe welcomes the European Commission's
decision and offers its support in the coming anti-trust
investigation.  As stated previously in a letter to the European
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, anti-competitive behaviour is
unacceptable, whether it occurs as 'tying' products with dominant
market segments, or in circumventing standards and fair access.

"Web browsers are becoming a critical platform for home and business
computing," says Shane Coughlan, legal coordinator at FSFE. "The
market previously failed to prevent unfair distortion of the desktop
environment and we cannot allow such practices to be repeated."

"It is important that no business in Europe is allowed to institute
any policy of embracing, extending and extinguishing competition
either through manipulation of interoperability information or through
abuse of a dominant position by unfair tying and bundling of
products," says Georg Greve, FSFE President.  "Microsoft is a company
that has previously been convicted of market distortion in the Work
Group Server market, and we would welcome if the Commission also took
up the antitrust complaint initially lodged in early 2006 by the
European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) regarding market
abuse in other areas."


For FSFE's previous statement on this issue please see:
  http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/2007/news-20071221-01

For FSFE's letter to the European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes
please see:
  http://fsfeurope.org/documents/20071219-opera-antitrust.pdf


About the Free Software Foundation Europe:

 The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
 non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
 involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
 participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
 the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
 Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
 furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
 modify and copy.  Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these
 issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving
 people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central
 issues of the FSFE.

 http://fsfeurope.org

Press contact:	greve at fsfeurope.org

General contact:
 You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:
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 Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73
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