As regards interoperability, in its Microsoft judgment of 17 September 2007,
the Court of First Instance confirmed the principles that must be respected by
dominant companies as regards interoperability disclosures. In the complaint by
ECIS, Microsoft is alleged to have illegally refused to disclose
interoperability information across a broad range of products, including
information related to its Office suite, a number of its server products, and
also in relation to the so called .NET Framework. The Commission's
examination will therefore focus on all these areas, including the question
whether Microsoft's new file format Office Open XML, as implemented in Office,
is sufficiently interoperable with competitors' products.
As for the tying of separate software products, in its Microsoft judgment of
17 September 2007, the Court of First Instance confirmed the principles that
must be respected by dominant companies. In a complaint by Opera, a competing
browser vendor, Microsoft is alleged to have engaged in illegal tying of its
Internet Explorer product to its dominant Windows operating system. The
complaint alleges that there is ongoing competitive harm from Microsoft's
practices, in particular in view of new proprietary technologies that Microsoft
has allegedly introduced in its browser that would reduce compatibility with
open internet standards, and therefore hinder competition. In addition,
allegations of tying of other separate software products by Microsoft, including
desktop search and Windows Live have been brought to the Commission's attention.
The Commission's investigation will therefore focus on allegations that a range
of products have been unlawfully tied to sales of Microsoft's dominant operating
system.
Whether this is in fact an Eisenhower Interstate Highway moment for the Internet will depend mightily on the long-term spending commitment to infrastructure construction, maintenance, and improvement. The Interstate Highway system was a Cold War initiative under Eisenhower to develop a comprehensive and expansive national highway freeway system, heavily underwritten by Defense Department spending reflected in its design. E.g., highways capable of serving not only for rapid transport of military supplies, but also as aircraft landing fields, "rest stops" to provide the core for troop garrisons in the event of an invasion, etc. In other words, to achieve lasting benefits, Congress will need to be brought on board. The extent to which such funding will be spent on "bail-out" temporary rescues of failing companies rather than fueling economic growth will be another major factor.
