RealPlayer accuses Microsoft of dirty tricks

NEWS Rob Glaser, chief executive of RealNetworks, has accused Microsoft of putting a product into the market which effectively 'breaks' those of its rivals. Glaser also said Microsoft is "creating obstacles to the freedom and openness of the Internet". Speaking before a US Senate Judiciary Committee, Glaser claimed the computer giant is using its market power to impair free competition - a practice which he said could hamper technical innovation in the long run. The remarks drew a swift denial from Peter Bell, Internet server product manager at Microsoft, who said: "This is fundamentally not true. Glaser obviously has an axe to grind, but I can say from personal experience that the two products work together." Bell continued: "Microsoft has always been at odds with the 'people's republic for software development'. We are a commercial company and don't follow the freeware train of thought. We make products that are low-cost and ubiquitous." Meanwhile, RealNetworks Q2 results show revenues of $15.1m, compared with $7m for the same period last year. It has also more than doubled the customer base of its RealPlayer desktop software to 27 million registered users. The encouraging results come after the company announced its next generation of media streaming products - RealSystem G2 - at its conference in June. RealNetworks hopes the G2 system will help it retain its current dominance in the market.