By Declan McCullagh, 8 December 2005 08:50
NEWS
The Bush administration on Wednesday protested South Korea's decision to fine Microsoft roughly $32m and order the software company to redesign portions of its Windows operating system.
J Bruce McDonald, deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department's antitrust division, said in a statement: "Korea's remedy goes beyond what is necessary or appropriate to protect consumers, as it requires the removal of products that consumers may prefer."
The Korea Fair Trade Commission ruled that Microsoft violated South Korean law by bundling its Windows Media Service with the Windows Server operating system, as well as its media player and instant-messaging program with Windows. Microsoft will have to facilitate downloads of third-party media software and stop selling in Korea a version of its server software with Windows Media Services.
Microsoft said the decision did not properly apply Korean law and it will file an appeal.
Korea's case follows a massive fine of about $613m that the European Union slapped on Microsoft last year. The European government also demanded a version of Windows without a media player - though there has been scant demand for it.
At the time, US politicians from both major political parties protested the EU's move, saying it was of the "utmost importance" that the US continue to take the lead in overseeing US companies' business practices.
Perhaps fearing governments may line up by the dozens to take a chunk out of Microsoft's hide by wielding antitrust charges as a secondary form of taxation, the Bush administration is echoing that line. The administration argues that Microsoft is already regulated by US law and has been under court scrutiny because of a 2002 settlement.
McDonald said: "Sound antitrust policy should protect competition, not competitors, and must avoid chilling innovation and competition even by 'dominant' companies. Furthermore, we believe that regulators should avoid substituting their judgment for the market's by determining what products are made available to consumers."
Declan McCullagh writes for CNET News.com
Comments
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1. anonymous
Well being 'regulated by US law' is working well.
Aren't there still antitrust cases in the US as well or did MS pay it's way out of them with out of court settlements.
According to US logic a Dutch 'coffee' house company could go to New York and open up a branch. The could offer the same services as in Amsterdam and say 'Well we are regulated by Dutch law. Here have a nice piece of cake'
I don't think so.
It comes down to the fact that the US thinks it is above international laws and agreements as usual. A lot of the time they can get a way with it, but they hate being told what to do.
2. Rajim Nagashi
Who really cares about Micro$oft anymore? Just use Linux and be done with it. Perhaps if they hadn't been so brazen about having their monopoly they wouldn't be in the mess they find themselves in today. Long live the penguin!
3. Adam Leonard
What in the world does "spits dummy" mean? I read the article twice. I'm thinking that its meant to mean something like "protests strongly" but I can't tell. Is "spits dummy" something the kids say these days? (Ed note. 'Spitting the dummy' is very much like 'throwing ones toys out of the pram'. Hope that clears it up.)
4. Antony Norris
Rajim, you may well be a geek who know's which modules to load and which version and patches to run, you are also a minority with a lot of time on their hands. The vast majority just want to turn on a computer and not have to think about any technical things!