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News Releases
No. 4/08
January 14, 2008
EUROPEAN COMMISSION INITIATES FORMAL INVESTIGATIONS AGAINST MICROSOFT IN TWO CASES OF SUSPECTED ABUSE OF DOMINANT MARKET POSITION
The European Commission has decided to initiate two
formal antitrust investigations against
Microsoft Corporation
concerning two separate categories of alleged
infringements of
EC Treaty rules on abuse of a dominant
market position (Article 82). The first case where
proceedings have been opened is in the field of
interoperability in relation to a complaint by the
European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS). The
second area where proceedings have been opened is in the
field of
tying of separate software products following
inter alia a complaint by Opera.
As regards interoperability, in its
Microsoft judgment
of September 17, 2007, the European Court of First Instance
confirmed the principles that must be respected by
dominant companies as regards interoperability
disclosures. In the complaint by 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 also in
relation to 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.
As for the tying of separate software products, in its
Microsoft judgment of September 17, 2007, the European Court of
First Instance confirmed the principles that must be
respected by dominant companies. In a complaint by
Opera, a competing browser vendor, Microsoft is alleged
to have engaged in illegal tying of its Internet
Explorer product 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. The
Commission's investigation will therefore focus on
allegations that a range of products have been
unlawfully tied to sales of Microsoft's dominant
operating system.
This initiation of proceedings does not imply that the
Commission has proof of an infringement. It only
signifies that the Commission will further investigate
the case as a matter of priority.
What is the legal base for opening formal
investigations?
The legal base of this procedural step is Article 11(6)
of
Council Regulation No 1/2003 and article 2(1) of
Commission Regulation No 773/2004.
Article 11(6) of Regulation No 1/2003 provides that the
initiation of proceedings relieves the competition
authorities of the EU Member States of their authority to
apply the competition rules laid down in Articles 81 and
82 of the Treaty. Moreover, Article 16(1) of the same
Regulation provides that national courts must avoid
giving decisions which would conflict with a decision
contemplated by the Commission in proceedings that it
has initiated.
Article 2 of Regulation No 773/2004 provides that the
Commission can initiate proceedings with a view to
adopting at a later stage a decision on substance
according to Articles 7-10 of Regulation No 1/2003 at
any point in time, but at the latest when issuing a
statement of objections or a preliminary assessment
notice in a settlement procedure. In the case at stake,
the Commission has chosen to open proceedings before
such further steps.
The Commission may make public the initiation of
proceedings in any appropriate way. Before doing so, it
informed the parties concerned. The
Competition
Authorities of the Member States concerned have also
been informed.
The company's rights of defense will be fully respected.
Further Contact Information:
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
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