It’s not easy being in Microsoft’s shoes these days, when the European Commission is targeting them for anticompetitive practices, and the competition is waiting just around the corner.

 

Not long after the EU concluded that Microsoft was harming competition with the Internet Explorer – Windows bundle, Mozilla Mitchell Baker stated in a blog post that there is absolutely no doubt that this affirmation is correct.

 

I’ve been involved in building and shipping web browsers continuously since before Microsoft started developing IE, and the damage Microsoft has done to competition, innovation, and the pace of the web development itself is both glaring and ongoing, Baker wrote. He contends that Microsoft’s practices have fundamentally diminished competition.

 

When Microsoft started developing Internet Explorer, it was because of the success of Netscape Navigator, Baker continued. But Microsoft promoted its browser through means that were found to be illegal by the US Department of Justice and US Courts.

 

This didn’t stop them however from covering 90 percent of the market. Once this happened, Microsoft stopped browser development […] The product stagnated and then became a prime vector for bad actors to inject spyware onto consumers’ computers. There was no meaningful response or innovation from Microsoft.

 

Baker explains how Microsoft gained monopoly over a market, making it hard for the competition to gain market share. That of course until Mozilla Firefox came out and slashed a good piece of Microsoft’s part.

 

Mozilla Firefox is an anomaly – the only product so far to even dent the competitive advantage Microsoft created for itself through its tainted activities, Baker continued. A single anomaly does not indicate a healthy, competitive, or innovative system.

 

The damage is so great that is still very difficult to figure out what the remedy would be, he said. The actions of Microsoft will continue to reflect in the market. Baker officially offered Mozilla’s support to the European Commission as it investigates Microsoft’s business practices.

 

Earlier this year, the European Commission sent Microsoft a Statement of Objections, according to which Microsoft’s Internet Explorer – Windows bundle infringes the European Commission Treaty rules on abuse of dominant position.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Microsoft 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. Only then will the European Commission be able to make a decision.