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Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

Commission examines impact of Windows 2000 on competition

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/© European Communities, 2000.

Record Control Number: 14338

Date: 2000-02-17

Category: General policy

General Information:

The European Commission has formally requested information from Microsoft about the new technical features of Windows 2000 to see if it infringes EU competition law.

The move follows allegations received by the Commission from end- users, small enterprises in the IT sector and Microsoft competitors, that the Windows 2000 permits only Microsoft's server software products to be fully interoperable with its PC operating system. It is claimed that customers are obliged de facto to purchase Windows 2000 for servers to ensure full exploitation of functionalities embedded in Windows 2000 for PCs.

According to allegations, this would put competitors at a serious disadvantage, allowing Microsoft to extend its dominance in PC operating systems into the closely related markets for server operating system software and 'middleware'.

The Commission's investigation is separate to the ongoing trial in the USA against Microsoft, and confronts different issues. In the USA, the main thrust of the proceedings concerns allegations that Microsoft is protecting its dominance on the market for PC operating systems.

Microsoft has been given four weeks to respond to the Commission's questions.

Data Source Provider: European Commission Press and Information Service

Document Reference: Based on press release IP/00/141

Subject Index Codes: Information Processing, Information Systems

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