In the SO, the Commission sets out evidence and outlines its preliminary
conclusion that Microsoft’s tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows
operating system harms competition between web browsers, undermines product
innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice.
The SO is based on the legal and economic principles established in the
judgment of the Court of First Instance of 17 September 2007 (case
T-201/04), in which the Court of First Instance upheld the Commission's
decision of March 2004 (see IP/04/382),
finding that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in the PC operating
system market by tying Windows Media Player to its Windows PC operating system
(see MEMO/07/359).