66 lines
2.2 KiB
HTML
66 lines
2.2 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<html newsdate="2013-07-29">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>FSFE objects to claims of 'predatory pricing' in Free Software</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>FSFE objects to claims of 'predatory pricing' in Free Software</h1>
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<p>In a recent antitrust submission to the
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European Commission, a Microsoft-led coalition falsely claimed that the
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distribution of Free Software free of charge hurts competition. FSFE has <a
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href="/news/2013/news-20130729-02.html">written</a>
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a letter to the European Commission's competition authorities to
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refute this claim, and make it clear that Free Software is
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critical for an open, competitive IT market.
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</p>
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<p>In its letter, FSFE urges the Commission to consider the facts
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properly before accepting these allegations at face value. "Free
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Software is a boon for humankind. The only thing that it is
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dangerous to is Microsoft's hopelessly outdated, restrictive
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business model," says Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's president.
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</p>
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<p>
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The so-called "FairSearch" coalition is essentially asking the
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European Commission to favour a restrictive business model over a liberal one. This is
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exactly the opposite of what competition regulators should do in order
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to achieve a fair and open market.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Free Software is not about price, it's about liberty, a guarantee of
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competition and vendor independence. Asking to cripple Free Software
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in order to allow proprietary vendors to sell their locked-down
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systems is just absurd" says Carlo Piana, FSFE's General
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Counsel. "The most substantial threat to competition in the mobile
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space today are software patents, and we have repeatedly urged
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antitrust authorities to address this problem," he adds.
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</p>
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<p>
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FSFE asks the European Commission to dismiss the "FairSearch"
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coalition's unfounded claims regarding predatory pricing, and not make
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them part of whatever steps it decides to take in response to the
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group's filing.
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</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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<tag key="european-union"/>
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<tag key="european-commission"/>
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<tag key="competition"/>
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<tag key="antitrust"/>
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</tags>
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</html>
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Local Variables: ***
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mode: xml ***
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End: ***
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-->
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