Cases against Microsoft: similar cases, different remedies
In the past years, Microsoft has been under heavy antitrust
scrutiny. The company has been accused of several forms of
anti-competitive behaviour. These accusations led to cases in,
among others, the United States and the European Union (EU). In
both cases claims of unlawful tying played an important role. In
the United States, Microsoft was accused of having unlawfully tied
its browser Internet Explorer (IE) to its operating system (OS)
Windows. In the EU, it was accused of unlawfully tying its media
player Windows Media Player (WMP) to its OS. So the alleged
behaviour, tying an application to an OS, is very similar.
Additionally, the aim of both authorities, promoting consumer
welfare, is identical. Therefore one would expect the remedies to
be very similar too. This is not the case however.
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Author
Jochem Apon
Published
European Competition Law Review, June 2007