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You’ve got to love the EU
Today the EU slammed Microsoft with a new record €899m ($1.35bn) fine. Those who are shocked by the amount must understand that the Redmond based company could have easily avoided this fine by complying with the original anti-trust ruling issued back in 2004. However, Microsoft deliberately chose not to comply.
Until recently, Microsoft found that it was cheaper to pay fines than to change its anticompetitive behavior, something they probably learned in the U.S. where the Justice Department hasn’t been specially harsh on them. Th good news is that these fines seem to be finally producing some effects.
Last week, CEO Steve Ballmer and Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie announced their intent to open most of their server products for improved interoperability. They didn’t expect to do that immediately, though. They said that this would happen over the next few years, citing technical difficulties. The EU was quick to respond, basically saying that talk is cheap and that they will judge Microsoft on their acts. This is not surprising, as the company is known for adopting delaying and deceiving tactics as part of their general business tactics.
The truth is that Microsoft is not interested whatsoever in openness and interoperability. This is easy to prove. For example, last week, even as they were talking open-source, they were still throwing all their weight in the battle to get OOXML accepted as a standard. The presentations they prepared for Mexican government officials were full of inaccuracies and some outright lies. From my point of view there is no technical justification at all to have a second office document standard besides ODF. This move is just an intent to create confusion in the market, much like what happened with the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray battle. The result is a situation that could allow MS to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) to delay adoption of ODF and use the opportunity to maintain their monopoly for a couple more years.
The EU has been working hard over the last decade to create a true single market and fighting local interests. Their main targets have been European companies that wanted to maintain their grip on a particular national market. However, there have been instances where they have dealt with U.S. companies, besides Microsoft. For example, when the EU questioned Apple about their decision to charge more for songs sold in the UK than in other European countries, the Cupertino based company had to back off and level their prices. That was good for consumers too. You’ve got to love the EU.