EU Has Microsoft Vista On Short Leash

Looking to avoid another half-billion dollar fine, Microsoft sent a feeler to European Union competition regulators inquiring about possible antitrust violations with its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system. The EU complied with a laundry list of concerns. EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes wrote to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about the possibility that Vista will not offer consumers a "proper" choice in software packaging. "We're concerned about the possibility that the next Vista operating system will include various elements which are currently available separately either from Microsoft or other companies," said EU spokesman Jonathan Todd. Of chief concern was Vista's embedded Internet search engine, document formats similar to Adobe's PDF, digital rights management, and possibly, security software. "There is also the possibility that we won't have all the necessary technical information so that competitors will be able to make a product that is compatible with Vista," Todd said. Microsoft competitors are lobbying heavily to avoid a repeat of past dominance achieved by Windows software bundles. The Redmond, Washington-based software giant was fined nearly half a billion euros in 2004 in antitrust retribution, in part for bundling Windows Media Player in its operating system. Many of those competitors jockeying for a block to monopolistic practices make up the European Committee for Interoperable Systems with members like IBM, Nokia, Oracle, RealNetworks, and Sun Microsystems. The Wall Street Journal reported that Symantec had also complained to EU regulators about antivirus software that may be included in Vista, a claim that Symantec has here.") Drag this to your Bookmarks. Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") Yahoo My Web