EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection ‘breach’

EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach'

European regulators have charged Microsoft for not giving Windows 7 users a choice of internet browsers when they install the OS. Although this is only an initial step towards a fine for the software maker, Microsoft agreed with the European Commission to offer browser choices to its Windows users over three years ago, avoiding a heavy antitrust penalty. Unfortunately, while Microsoft acknowledged the "technical error", this wasn't before the European Commission picked up the issue -- the EU's antitrust watchdog said in July that Microsoft had not complied with the order from February 2011. According to a Reuters report earlier this year, and echoed in the EU's statement below, the fine could amount to as much as 10 percent of the Redmond company's global turnover.

Update: Microsoft has issued a statement on the EU charge, received by The Verge.

"We take this matter very seriously and moved quickly to address this problem as soon as we became aware of it. Although this was the result of a technical error, we take responsibility for what happened, and we are strengthening our internal procedures to help ensure something like this cannot happen again. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and will continue to cooperate fully with the Commission."

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EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EU deepens Microsoft investigation amidst claims Windows RT tablets block rival browser install

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Where there's smoke, there's fire and now that the EU's caught a whiff of alleged misconduct on Microsoft's part, it's dragging Windows 8 under the hot lights. Though MS moved swiftly earlier this week to acknowledge and remedy the technical glitch that prevented users from selecting alternate browsers on early 2011 Win7 machines, it now faces similar claims from third parties regarding its upcoming Win8 tablets. According to Reuters, the European Commission's broadening its investigation to encompass allegations that Redmond is blocking the install of rival browsers on Win RT tablets running ARM chips and withholding access to full APIs. The company's yet to issue a response to this latest bout of legal drama, but when the stakes are this high, you can be sure it won't be before long.

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EU deepens Microsoft investigation amidst claims Windows RT tablets block rival browser install originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft under investigation for not fulfilling browser choice pledge (update: MS says it’s fixing ‘glitch’)

Microsoft under investigation for not fulfilling browser choice pledge

You'd be forgiven for thinking this whole browser choice issue was resolved back in 2009, but no. European regulators are back on Redmond's back, following suspicions that the megacorp may not be complying with the deal it struck all that time ago. Specifically, the allegations focus on versions of Windows 7 sold since February 2011 that came preloaded with patches, and which may not have displayed the all-important browser selection screen that offered up IE alternatives like Firefox and Chrome.

The EU's concerns have already been bluntly expressed by Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who said that Microsoft "should expect sanctions" if the "infringement is confirmed" by the investigation. Almunia added that this is the first time his commission has been faced with a previous offender potentially failing to meet its antitrust commitments.

Update: Reuters reports that Microsoft has acknowledged a "technical error" that meant it "missed delivering the BCS (browser choice screen) software to PCs that came with the service pack 1 update to Windows 7." The company apologized for the problem and said it has taken "immediate steps" to fix it.

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Microsoft under investigation for not fulfilling browser choice pledge (update: MS says it's fixing 'glitch') originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 07:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EU competition head gives Google a ‘matter of weeks’ to offer an antitrust fix

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The European Union has been taking a leisurely pace investigating Google over possible antitrust abuses, but it's now accelerating to a full-on sprint. European Commission competition head Joaquin Almunia has given Google just a "matter of weeks" to propose how it would patch things up and soften fears that it was unfairly pushing its own web services over others. If Google makes the Commission happy, Almunia says, the whole investigation might wrap up and avoid fines. Google hasn't responded yet, but we wouldn't guarantee that it makes a deal: its execs have usually argued that there's nothing keeping users from going to another search site, and the company has been eager to emphasize that competition still exists. That said, Google only has to see what happened to Microsoft to know how expensive an EU antitrust fight can be.

EU competition head gives Google a 'matter of weeks' to offer an antitrust fix originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 09:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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India launches antitrust investigation against Google

India launches antitrust investigation against Google

Google remains tied up in a censorship case with the Indian government, and things aren't looking rosy for the search giant in the interim period before its May 23rd court hearing. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Competition Commission of India is launching an antitrust investigation of Google to examine the company's alleged "discriminatory and retaliatory practices relating to AdWords." The antitrust probe follows a complaint from Consim Info Pvt. Ltd., an Indian web conglomerate which apparently requested that the Competition Commission step in to ensure fair competition in online advertising. The exact reach of this investigation is unclear; the commission will initially focus on AdWords, though it's keeping the door open for examining other Google services as deemed necessary. Hear that sigh? That, friends, is the sound of Google gearing up for one long Indian summer.

India launches antitrust investigation against Google originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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