Microsoft has received yet another hit from the European Commission over its anticompetitive practices last week. In a Statement of Objections sent to the company, the Commission stated their conclusion that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer – Windows bundle infringes the European Commission Treaty rules on abuse of dominant position.

 

The announcement came less than one year after Microsoft was imposed a €899 million penalty for non-compliance with a 2004 antitrust decision. The Commission found at the time that the company had charged unreasonable prices for access to interface documentation for work group servers prior to October 2007.

 

This time, the Commission’s preliminary conclusion clearly states that Microsoft’s tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice.

 

According to the Commission, the Statement of Objections is based on the same principles established by the Court of First Instance in September 2007, which found that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in the PC market, this time by tying Windows Media Player to its operating system.

 

Microsoft’s pride and joy, the Windows operating system, has been around for quite a number of years, ever since it was first introduced in its roughest form in 1985. According to 2004 estimations, Windows became the operating system with the widest base of users, being used on 90 percent of world’s PCs.

 

Based on this extended use, the Commission has reached its conclusion that tying the Internet Explorer browser with the world’s most used operating system brings an unfair advantage compared to other browsers available on the market today.

 

According to the European Commission, Microsoft shields Internet Explorer from head to head competition with other browsers which is detrimental to the pace of product innovation and to the quality of products which consumers ultimately obtain.

 

The Commission also stated concern over the possibility that content providers and software developers might be tempted to create products that are primarily used with Internet Explorer.

 

In the most recent assessment on the browser market, Internet Explorer was losing some of its market share to rival Firefox, dropping to 68.15 %. While that market share might still seem like a lot, not having Internet Explorer bundled with the Windows operating system could create quite a big problem for Microsoft’s browser.

 

Microsoft responded to the European Commission’s Statement of Objections in a statement released last week, saying they were fully committed to conducting their business in full compliance with the European law.

 

The company promised to study the Statement of Objections into detail, and to give an answer within two months. Furthermore, Microsoft is also entitled to request a hearing after submitting its response. The European Commission will not be able to make any decision until the hearing (if requested by Microsoft) takes place.