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Gary Edwards

Antitrust & Competition : The European Union, the United States, and Microsoft: A Compa... - 0 views

lawprofessors.typepad.com/...iew-of-antitrust-doctrine.html

antitrust interoperability

shared by Gary Edwards on 01 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Gary Edwards on 01 Sep 09
     
    Interoperability through antitrust - is there a legal foundation in place capable of pulling this off?  This article is a lengthy study and comparative analysis of the legal foundation in the USA and Europe.  Microsoft is of course the target. Excerpt: Microsoft has incorporated products, such as browsers and media players, into its operating system, behavior that again amounts to technological tying. It has also improved its server software by heightening the degree to which servers employing that software can interact. By raising the level of interaction among servers equipped with its software, Microsoft has so integrated work group servers as to enable groups of small servers to approach the capacities of mainframe computers. The European competition-law authorities see both matters as problematic. The integration of the media player has been condemned as tying; and the heightened server interaction has been faulted for failing to provide the interoperability that rival server software requires in order to participate on an equal footing with Microsoft server software in Windows work groups. Microsoft’s integration (at least in the view of the European antitrust authorities) also raises issues of essential facilities, and of the role of antitrust in achieving interoperability. . We have now reached a moment in time in which both the American and European laws are sufficiently developed to warrant reflection and comparison. That is the task approached in this article.  Three part study:  Part I -The European approach.  Part II-USA decisions regarding Microsoft tying.  Part III-comparison of USA and European approaches to product integration (tying).
Paul Merrell

EUROPA - Press Releases - Antitrust: Commission opens proceedings against MathWorks - 1 views

europa.eu/...pressReleasesAction.do

interop DG Competition antitrust European Commission

shared by Paul Merrell on 04 Mar 12 - No Cached
Marc Lijour liked it
  • Brussels, 1 March 2012 - The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether The MathWorks Inc., a U.S.-based software company, has distorted competition in the market for the design of commercial control systems by preventing competitors from achieving interoperability with its products. The Commission will investigate whether by allegedly refusing to provide a competitor with end-user licences and interoperability information, the company has breached EU antitrust rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant position. The opening of proceedings means that the Commission will examine the case as a matter of priority. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. The investigation follows a complaint alleging that MathWorks had refused to provide a competitor with end-user software licences and accompanying interoperability information for its flagship products "Simulink" and "MATLAB", thereby preventing it from lawfully reverse-engineering in order to achieve interoperability with these two products.
  • As in the Microsoft case (see IP/04/382 and MEMO/04/70 and MEMO/07/359), the issue of software interoperability is central to this investigation. The Commission's investigation will focus on whether MathWorks' behaviour has prevented competitors from achieving interoperability with its widely used products and thereby hindered competition in breach of Article 102 TFEU. In this context, it is recalled that the European Directive 2009/24/EC on the legal protection of computer programmes also aims to foster interoperability by allowing for reverse-engineering for interoperability purposes provided that the software at issue was lawfully acquired.
  • Background MathWorks' "Simulink" and "MATLAB" software products are widely used for designing and simulating control systems. Control systems are deployed in many innovative industries such as in cruise control or anti-lock braking systems (ABS) for cars. Article 102 TFEU prohibits the abuse of a dominant position which may affect trade and prevent or restrict competition. The implementation of this provision is defined in the Antitrust Regulation (Council Regulation No 1/2003) which can be applied by the Commission and by the national competition authorities of EU Member States. The Commission has informed MathWorks and the Member States' competition authorities that it has formally opened proceedings in this case.
  • Paul Merrell on 04 Mar 12
     
    Commission v. MIcrosoft Redux.
Paul Merrell

U.S. top court declines to hear Microsoft antitrust case | Reuters - 0 views

in.reuters.com/...software-idINL2N0NH0Y420140428

Microsoft Novell WordPerfect antitrust

shared by Paul Merrell on 29 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to Novell Inc's antitrust claims against Microsoft Corp that date back 20 years to the development of Windows 95 software. By declining to hear Novell's appeal, the court left intact a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from September 2013 in favor of Microsoft.The court of appeals unanimously affirmed the dismissal of Novell Inc's claims that Microsoft violated the Sherman Antitrust Act when it decided not to share its intellectual property while developing its Windows 95 operating system.
  • The Novell case, which was first filed in 2004, was over Microsoft's decision not to share with Novell details about its Windows operating system. Novell claimed that its suite of applications, including WordPerfect, suffered as a result of Microsoft withholding the information.Novell alleged that Microsoft used its market power in operating systems to promote its own applications.
Paul Merrell

Microsoft offers Office 2010 file format 'ballot' to stop EU antitrust probe - 0 views

www.computerworld.com/...lot_to_stop_EU_antitrust_probe

Microsoft European Commission antitrust office productivity undertaking

shared by Paul Merrell on 07 Aug 09 - No Cached
  • In a proposal submitted to the European Commission two weeks ago, Microsoft spelled out a range of promises related to Office, its desktop and server software, and other products to address antitrust concerns first expressed by officials in January 2008.
  • Beginning with the release of Office [2010], end users that purchase Microsoft's Primary PC Productivity Applications in the EEA [European Economic Area] in both the OEM and retail channel will be prompted in an unbiased way to select default file format (from options that include ODF) for those applications upon the first boot of any one of them," Microsoft said in its proposal [download Word document]
  • Paul Merrell on 07 Aug 09
     
    Microsoft's proposed undertaking for resolving the ECIS complaint to the European Commission regarding its office productivity software can be downloaded from this linked web page. I've given it a quick skim. Didn't see anything in it for anyone but competing big vendors. E.g., no profiling of data formats for interop of less and more featureful implementations, no round-tripping provisions. Still, some major concessions offered.
Paul Merrell

Los Angeles Times - latimes.com - 0 views

www.latimes.com/...st12-2009may12,0,5794982.story

antitrust IBM Google DoJ

shared by Paul Merrell on 13 May 09 - Cached
  • The Obama administration put large companies on notice that it would be tougher on mergers and attempts to stifle competition, restoring the type of aggressive antitrust enforcement of the 1990s that led to the landmark government case against Microsoft Corp.
  • Among those likely to feel the heat of federal inquiries are technology companies, such as chip maker Intel Corp., Internet giant Google Inc. and longtime tech leader IBM Corp.
Paul Merrell

Article - WSJ.com - 0 views

online.wsj.com/...BT-CO-20090715-713503.html

Sun Oracle merger antitrust ODF OOo

shared by Paul Merrell on 16 Jul 09 - Cached
  • When Oracle Corp.(ORCL) acknowledged two weeks ago that the U.S. Justice Department was extending an antitrust review of its planned merger with Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA), the software giant maintained the deal would still close by the end of August. But pressing through a second-request investigation in such an abbreviated time frame would buck the odds, according to Justice Department statistics and antitrust experts, even as Sun's financial results as an independent entity skid to surprising lows. Sun will hold a special shareholder meeting on Thursday, where it is expected to receive approval to accept Oracle's $5.6 billion buyout bid.
Gary Edwards

Groklaw - Microsoft, antitrust and innovation, by Georg Greve - 0 views

www.groklaw.net/article.php

antitrust interoperability microsoft odf

shared by Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07 - Cached
  • Interoperability: The second abusive practice the Commission found Microsoft guilty of is the deliberate obstruction of interoperability, generally achieved through arbitrary and willful modification of Open Standards. This makes it impossible for competitors to write interoperable software. This is to the detriment of customers, who find themselves locked into the products of one vendor, the antithesis of competition.
  • It might look much worse in the light of public statements that Microsoft will not even commit to standards that it has proposed itself, such as the recent Microsoft OfficeOpenXML (OOXML) format it wants approved by ISO. The less people talk about the interoperability side of the case, the better for Microsoft. Otherwise people might connect MS-OOXML to the fact that Microsoft initiated the standardisation effort in the workgroup server area to open the market and later started obstruction of interoperability on its own standard to drive the innovator out of the market.
    • Gary Edwards
      Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
       
      Great point. I think tha tanytime a big vendor embraces an open standard they should committ to full public documentation and explanation of any eXtensions to their implementaiton of that standard. Interoperability matters!
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    Excellent explanation of Microsoft's problems in Europe.  One can only hope that the successor to the Bush Administration is paying attention. 
Gary Edwards

Antitrust: The EU Case Against Microsoft | Investingation, Court Proceedings, Decisions... - 0 views

ec.europa.eu/...index.html

anti-trust eu microsoft msoffice ooxml openxml

shared by Gary Edwards on 07 Mar 08 - Cached
  • The web-pages referred to below provide information about the European Commission’s March 2004 Microsoft Decision, the Court of First Instance proceedings relating to that Decision, and its ongoing implementation.
Gary Edwards

Antitrust: Commission imposes € 899 million penalty on Microsoft for non-comp... - 0 views

europa.eu/...pressReleasesAction.do

anti-trust eu microsoft ooxml openxml

shared by Gary Edwards on 07 Mar 08 - Cached
  • Antitrust: Commission imposes € 899 million penalty on Microsoft for non-compliance with March 2004 Decision
Gary Edwards

Microsoft settles Iowa antitrust case - Yahoo! News - 0 views

news.yahoo.com/...microsoft_iowa_settlement_6

antitrust imported:del.icio.us microsoft odf ooxml

shared by Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07 - Cached
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    No mention here as whether or not ODF was part of the settlement. Surely after all the anti trust trials, class action suits, and settlements that have taken place, litigants might realize that a monetary fix isn't a fix. What needs to be done is twofol
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    No mention here as whether or not ODF was part of the settlement. Surely after all the anti trust trials, class action suits, and settlements that have taken place, litigants might realize that a monetary fix isn't a fix. What needs to be done is twofol
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    No mention here as whether or not ODF was part of the settlement. Surely after all the anti trust trials, class action suits, and settlements that have taken place, litigants might realize that a monetary fix isn't a fix. What needs to be done is twofol
Gary Edwards

Microsoft, Apple, and Google: How three tech giants have evolved in the 21st Century | ... - 0 views

www.zdnet.com/in-the-21st-century-7000032953

Office-365 wordSDK Microsoft-Cloud Google-cloud Apple-cloud

shared by Gary Edwards on 27 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • In 2002, the Desktop Platforms division accounted for 33 percent of Microsoft's total revenue. That percentage has been steadily dropping, and in fiscal 2013, the corresponding division (which now includes Microsoft's Surface hardware) was responsible for only 25 percent of the company's steadily rising total revenue. Server products, Office and other desktop applications, and cloud services increased steadily during that time. Looking at operating income (what's left of revenue after you subtract expenses) tells a more interesting story. From 2002 through 2004, Windows was the dominant contributor to Microsoft's profits, accounting for as much as 89 percent of total operating income. But that began changing in 2005 as those investments in enterprise software and cloud services began to pay off.
  • Gary Edwards on 27 Aug 14
     
    "Over the past week, I've been blowing the virtual dust off more than a decade's worth of annual reports from Microsoft, Apple, and Google. My goal was to follow the money and figure out how each company's business has changed over the past decade. Consider this a follow-up to my February post, "Apple, Google, Microsoft: Where does the money come from?" My tally starts with financial results for 2002, the year after Microsoft signed a historic consent decree that settled the U.S. v. Microsoft antitrust lawsuit. It was also the first full year after the introduction of the iPod, which was the first step on Apple's transformation from a PC company to one that revolutionized mobile computing and communication. The earliest annual report I could find for Google was from 2003, the year before its big IPO. In Microsoft's case, the question I was most interested in was "How dependent is the company on Windows?" The Windows monopoly began crumbling as soon as the settlement was signed (although it's debatable how much influence that lawsuit had on the market). Over the past 10 years, Microsoft has shifted its reporting structures a few times, making it hard to draw perfect comparisons over time. But the chart below, which shows revenue from the desktop versions of Windows and related products, is close enough."
Gary Edwards

Microsoft Watch - Corporate - Microsoft's Stunning Court Defeat - 0 views

www.microsoft-watch.com/...fts_stunning_court_defeat.html

anti-trust cdf interoperability microsoft odf ooxml

shared by Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07 - Cached
  • "The Court considers that the Commission was correct to conclude that the work group server operating systems of Microsoft's competitors must be able to interoperate with Windows domain architecture on an equal footing with Windows operating systems if they are to be capable of being marketed viably. The absence of such interoperability has the effect of reinforcing Microsoft's competitive position on the market and creates a risk that competition will be eliminated."
  • Here, U.S. oversight of Microsoft will continue until at least November 2009, largely because of server protocol licensing. The so-called "California group" of states—those that didn't settle the U.S. antitrust case—and other parties will likely ask the court here to align the two disclosure programs, extending the ruling's impact well beyond Europe.
    • Gary Edwards
      Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
       
      I wonder if this is correct? My understanding is that the California Group will be brushed aside by the Feds?
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    Microsoft Watch Joe Wilcox is on the job.  This particular hgihlighted quote speaks volumes.  The USA anti trust settlement famously allowed Microsoft to commercialize interoperability through expensive licenses -  $8 Million per year for just the basic package.

    It looks like the EU would force those interoperability API's out into the open.  I wonder how this position will impact the November 12 th hearing on lifting the USA anti trust oversight?  We have the EU saying the monopolist is illegally maintaining their monopoly through various interop barricades.  And, the USA about to declare that the interop barricades no longer exists, therefore, the monopolist should be free to wreck havoc. 

    The stage looks set for a vey dramatic final act.

Gary Edwards

Wizard of ODF: The Foundation on Interop and the List Proposal Vote Deadline - 0 views

www.oasis-open.org/...msg00040.html

anti-trust ecis foundation odf ooxml opendocument openxml

shared by Gary Edwards on 09 Feb 08 - Cached
  • Oh, my. Both IBM and Sun voted for the proposal that broke the Foundation's plugin that was going to add full-fidelity native ODF file support to Microsoft Office. So it's sounding to me like at least two of the TC members who voted for the Sun/KOffice proposal didn't check in with the ECIS lawyer before they broke interoperability with Microsoft Office. Do you think Microsoft won't use this evidence in the DG Competition antitrust proceeding, Michael? Let's see, you guys are prosecuting Microsoft for not supporting ODF in Microsoft Office while you block Microsoft Office from supporting ODF. Yeah, I think DG Competition is going to hear about this one from Microsoft. They'll probably hear about what you said about compatibility being a trade off too. Oh, yeah. Microsoft's lawyers are going to love this. Look at the ECIS public statement about interoperability's importance.
Gary Edwards

Microsoft (COMP/C-3/37.792 - Antitrust) [2004] ECComm 1 (24 March 2004) - 0 views

www.worldlii.org/...1.html

digital drm eu imported:del.icio.us media micrososft msxml odf

shared by Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07 - Cached
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    European Union Anti Trust action against Microsoft. Begins with 1998 complaint from Sun involving browsers and Java. Extends through DRM and digital media players. Great discussion of key terms such as interoperabiltiy, interfaces, system call, platfor
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    European Union Anti Trust action against Microsoft. Begins with 1998 complaint from Sun involving browsers and Java. Extends through DRM and digital media players. Great discussion of key terms such as interoperabiltiy, interfaces, system call, platfor
  • Gary Edwards on 12 Dec 07
     
    European Union Anti Trust action against Microsoft. Begins with 1998 complaint from Sun involving browsers and Java. Extends through DRM and digital media players. Great discussion of key terms such as interoperabiltiy, interfaces, system call, platfor
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