88 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
88 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
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<title>FSFE - News - FSFE supports new antitrust investigation against Microsoft</title>
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<h1>FSFE supports new antitrust investigation against Microsoft</h1>
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<p>"Microsoft should be required openly, fully and faithfully to
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implement free and open industry standards," is the message of a
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letter by the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) to European
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Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. To help achieve this goal, FSFE
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offered its support for a possible antitrust investigation based on
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the complaint of Opera Software against Microsoft. The complaint was
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based on anti-competitive behaviour in the web browser market.</p>
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<p>"Although Opera Software does not produce Free Software, we largely
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share their assessment and concerns regarding the present situation in
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the Internet browser market", FSFE president Georg Greve writes in the
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letter and continues: "Some of the most successful browsers in the
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concerned market are Free Software or contain large portions of Free
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Software. This includes, Mozilla Firefox and Konqueror, a browser made
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by KDE. Those products are highly innovative and widely recognized as
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more secure than the dominant application. They faithfully implement
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major international Open Standards relevant to browser technology."</p>
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<p>So what is the problem in the browser market? FSFE explains:
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"Precisely because they abide by industry recognized Open Standards
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and cannot implement the undisclosed and non-compliant 'Microsoft
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dialects' of these standards, they often appear limited when compared
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with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer which establishes itself as the
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closed, de facto standard due to Internet Explorer’s dominant
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position. Moreover, these web browsers cannot be hardwired into the
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dominant Windows Operating System as is the case with Internet
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Explorer."</p>
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<p>"For these reasons," Georg Greve concludes "we strongly support
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enforcement actions that counter Microsoft’s strategy of 'embracing,
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extending and extinguishing' multilateral Open Standards - a strategy
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Microsoft already employed successfully in the Work Group Server
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market addressed in the 2004 Decision. Default standards compliance by
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Microsoft is of great importance to FSFE, as we are witnessing many
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similar attempts by Microsoft in other markets to undermine public and
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international standards that enable interoperability".</p>
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<p>You can read the entire letter at<br />
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<br />
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<a href="http://fsfeurope.org/documents/20071219-opera-antitrust.pdf"
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title="Letter by the FSFE to European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes"
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>http://fsfeurope.org/documents/20071219-opera-antitrust.pdf</a></p>
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<p>About the Free Software Foundation Europe:</p>
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<p class="aboutfsfe">The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
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non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
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involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
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participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
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the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
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Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
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furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
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modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these
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issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving
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people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central
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issues of the FSFE.<br />
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<br />
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http://fsfeurope.org</p>
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<p>Contact:</p>
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<address>
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You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:<br />
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Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57<br />
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Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73<br />
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Sweden: +46 31 7802160<br />
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Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66<br />
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UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7
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</address>
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