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Microsoft fined $731m by European Commission over web browser choice

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Microsoft fined $731m by European Commission over web browser choice

#3

Post by robin_reala »

youngtaff wrote: post #2

It's completely crazy. We've accepted browsers are part of the OS for a long time, what's next fining Apple for not promoting Mozilla or Chrome on iOS?

This fine is the outcome of repeated failures on MS’s part to properly implement court-ordered reparations, rather than a direct fine required by the original judgement.

Re: Microsoft fined $731m by European Commission over web browser choice

#4

Post by tomp »

I think more companies should be fined like this, as a percentage of their anual revenue. Except that I would further increase the percentage - up to 50% or even 100%.

It's very simple: citizens go to jail, companies can't; so we have to make them pay, a lot. When fines are a fixed amount, the corporations have to simply earn more by committing the crime than they would have to pay if caught; banks are very adept at playing this game.

Re: Microsoft fined $731m by European Commission over web browser choice

#5

Post by masklinn »

youngtaff wrote: post #2

It's completely crazy. We've accepted browsers are part of the OS for a long time, what's next fining Apple for not promoting Mozilla or Chrome on iOS?

> It's completely crazy.

There's nothing crazy about it.

> We've accepted browsers are part of the OS for a long time

We've accepted that browsers are necessary, the EU seems to have not accepted an OS natural monopoly can be leveraged into a browser monopoly. Sounds perfectly sane, and a good thing.

> what's next fining Apple for not promoting Mozilla or Chrome on iOS?

Apple does not have a monopoly marketshare, which lead to the original decision which Microsoft then broke: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Microsoft_compet...

Re: Microsoft fined $731m by European Commission over web browser choice

#7

Post by mtgx »

youngtaff wrote: post #2

It's completely crazy. We've accepted browsers are part of the OS for a long time, what's next fining Apple for not promoting Mozilla or Chrome on iOS?

I would certainly like to see Apple and Microsoft fined for not allowing other browsers on iOS and Windows RT/WP8, and also for not allowing them to be set as default.
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