But first, let’s remember where it all started. Around mid-January, the European Commission sent a Statement of Objections to the software-maker, warning that the Internet Explorer – Windows bundle infringes the European Commission Treaty rules on abuse of dominant position, and harms competition among browsers.

 

The case was 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.

 

Furthermore, the accusations came almost 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.

 

Microsoft said in a statement that they were committed to conducting their business in full compliance with the European law, and the company is  expected to give an answer to the accusations soon. Microsoft is also entitled to request a hearing after submitting its response. The European Commission will not be able to make any decision until that hearing takes place.

 

It looks like Microsoft is having some hard time from the Commission, and the competition decided to join in on the accusations as well. First, Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker wrote in a blog post earlier this month that the damage Microsoft has done to competition, innovation, and the pace of the web development itself is both glaring and ongoing.

 

Now, it’s Google’s turn to make a move: Google believes that the browser market is still largely uncompetitive, which holds back innovation for users. This is because Internet Explorer is tied to Microsoft’s dominant computer operating system, giving it an unfair advantage over other browsers, Sundar Pichai, vice president Product Management at Google wrote on the company’s blog.

 

He also made a comparison with the mobile market to highlight how Microsoft has gained an unfair advantage on the PC market: on the mobile market, Microsoft was unable to tie its browser with a dominant operating system, and therefore it is not as widely used.

 

We believe we can contribute to this debate, Pichai wrote, on a similar note to the message sent by Baker on behalf of Mozilla (Baker said the European Commission’s investigation into Microsoft’s practices will have Mozilla’s full support).

 

We don't know how the Commission's proceeding will evolve, Pichai continued. But we are confident that more competition in this space will mean greater innovation on the web and a better user experience for people everywhere.