EU starts new probe at MicrosoftThe European Commission has started a new investigation into possible anti-competitive behaviour by Microsoft. The commission started formal investigations against Microsoft in two cases of suspected abuse of dominant market position. The first case follows a complaint by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS). Microsoft is alleged to have illegally refused to disclose interoperability information across a broad range of products, including information related to its Office suite, a number of its server products and the so-called .NET Framework. The commission’s examination will therefore focus on all these areas, including the question whether Microsoft’s new file format Office Open XML, as implemented in Office, is sufficiently interoperable with competitors’ products. In the second complaint complaint from browser developer Opera, Microsoft is alleged to have engaged in illegal tying of Internet Explorer to its dominant Windows operating system. The complaint alleges that there is ongoing competitive harm from Microsoft’s practices, in particular in view of new proprietary technologies that Microsoft has allegedly introduced in its browser that would reduce compatibility with open internet standards, and therefore hinder competition. In addition, allegations of tying of other separate software products by Microsoft, including desktop search and Windows Live have been brought to the commission’s attention.
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