Microsoft Accused Of Paternalism In EU Antitrust Case

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

05 October 2004

During the second day of hearings on the long-running antitrust dispute between the two parties, the European Commission accused software giant Microsoft of adopting a "paternalistic" attitude towards consumers and the software development market.

Microsoft is hoping to have the sanctions imposed by the EC over antitrust violations alleged by the European regulator suspended until the appeals process has run its course, arguing that to put the required changes in place would cause it irreparable damage.

The firm also, according to reports last week, argued that creating a version of the Windows operating system without the Media Player audio-visual software would mean that software developers and website designers would not be able to guarantee full functionality of their products.

Microsoft lawyer Jean-Francois Bellis put forward this argument on Friday, suggesting that:

"Fragmentation of the Windows platform is bad for third-party developers. There is a public interest in preserving the unity of the Windows platform."

According to an Associated Press report, responding to the public interest assertion on behalf of the Commission, lawyer Per Hellstrom observed that an industry standard can be beneficial to consumers, but that it should be allowed to emerge naturally, or by consensus within the relevant sector.

"It should not be imposed unilaterally by a dominant company," he announced, continuing: "Microsoft's approach amounts to substituting...market forces with its own paternalistic view that it knows better what is good for customers."

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