76 rader
2.5 KiB
HTML
76 rader
2.5 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
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<html newsdate="2009-12-16">
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<head>
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<title>FSFE: EC's browser case settlement with Microsoft</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>FSFE welcomes greater user choice in browsers, warns that Free
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Software is excluded from interoperability</h1>
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<p newsteaser="yes">Free Software Foundation Europe congratulates the European Commission
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on pushing Microsoft to give users greater choice between different
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browsers. "The selection screen will make users aware that they can
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make their own choices," says Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's President. "We
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are glad that FSFE has helped the Commission to put limits to
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Microsoft's desktop monopoly."</p>
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<p>
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The Commission announced today that it has settled its antitrust case
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against Microsoft regarding web browsers. FSFE participated in the
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case as an interested third party. "Microsoft has abused its dominant
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market position to push out competitors by tying its own browser to
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the Windows operating system," says Gerloff. "The company's continued
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refusal to comply with <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/os/def.html">Open Standards</a> also means that many
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websites today are designed to work only with Internet Explorer,
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leaving users of other browsers at a disadvantage."
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</p>
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<h2>Interoperability</h2>
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<p>
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The European Commission is also investigating the way Microsoft
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prevents competitors from interfacing with many of its desktop
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productivity programs. Microsoft has offered a unilateral
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commitment. Yet these promises are useless for Free Software
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developers, since they exclude commercial use of Microsoft's
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interoperability information.
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</p>
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<p>
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Carlo Piana, FSFE's legal counsel, says: "The patent commitments are
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clearly insufficient, because they don't allow commercial
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exploitation. This keeps out competition from Free Software, which in
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many areas is the biggest competitor to Microsoft's programs.
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Instead, Microsoft will continue to threaten commercial Free Software
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developers and their customers with patent FUD (fear, uncertainty and
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doubt)."
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</p>
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<p>
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FSFE's President Karsten Gerloff says: "We welcome the Commission's
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decision to keep the interoperability investigation open while it
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monitors whether Microsoft's promises help to promote competition. We are
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confident that the Commission will take action if the commitment
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doesn't improve things for Free Software."
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</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag>Policy</tag>
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<tag content="European Commission">EuropeanCommission</tag>
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<tag>Microsoft</tag>
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<tag>Antitrust</tag>
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</tags>
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</html>
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