The Eu Fines Microsoft $1.35 Billion Antitrust. What else?

[tricky77puzzle 0]

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

I wonder why no one posted this before...

The EU's latest action against Microsoft for violating antitrust sanctions has amounted to 899,000,000 € (or about $1.35 billion).

CNET has a poll based on this, and about 56% of people voted for "too little". I voted on that myself. I think the EU should have taken initiative for the US and Canada and raised it to 1.4 bn€ (billion euros), in my opnion. Microsoft has been violating people's privacy and trust for too long. Even Zune and iPod are mortal enemies when it comes to file formats. Microsoft has been keeping too many secrets (possibly more than even the US government), and it's time that they started to stop starting to monopolize (let's see if your heads can get around that last statement; I'll recommend you to Google) by cutting off users' retreats and forcing them to buy their products. I mean, come on. That's more of an "anti-push" factor (pushing other users out of other businesses into their own) than a "pull" factor, and anti-push factors are illegal.

What do you think?
Edited February 29, 2008 by tricky77puzzle (see edit history)

[suberatu 0]

The EU's latest action against Microsoft for violating antitrust sanctions has amounted to 899,000,000 € (or about $1.35 million).

I think you may be off by a few zeroes in the Euro amount
Anyway, the real point is that this isn't over yet. The European Union has said that it will go after Microsoft again numerous times. One thing they think is anticompetitive is the fact that the Microsoft operating system comes bundled with Microsoft's browser (many users are too lazy to research other browsers and Microsoft ends up getting them to use their products right from the start). Many also think that the EU will try to go against the Microsoft-Yahoo deal if it actually goes through.

[Thingcubed 0]

To tell you the truth, I think the EU is just using Microsoft as a scapegoat for US companies and business practices. I think the requirements that the EU have put on Microsoft in the past are frankly dumb. Windows XP N edition anyone? Microsoft provides a free media player with their operating system, as does Mac and any number of linux distributions. Somehow providing a free service is anti-competitive? In my opinion that is just Microsoft doing a good job of shipping a product that the user will be able to use and be happy with.Note, I'm not anti-EU or anything, I just think they tend to penalize US businesses to a greater degree. Both Microsoft and Google have been or may be subject to various EU regulations that I find ill-thought out and rather pointless.

[Forbez 0]

I'd say to little, at least double the amount. Microsoft can pay any fine, so why not make it so why not take enough money which is useful?

[tricky77puzzle 0]

I think you may be off by a few zeroes in the Euro amount

Fixed.

I wonder if the EU will penalize Google any time soon... maybe for being too good at math?

[cangor 0]

I'd say to little, at least double the amount. Microsoft can pay any fine, so why not make it so why not take enough money which is useful?

Yeah, Microsoft is really rich, but that doesn't mean they should pay more. Plus, Bill and Melinda Gates donate a ton of money to really good charities, and I think that's a much better place for money to go than to the EU. Plus, it's not like fining Microsoft is going to fix anything anyway, if you really actually care and aren't just being greedy, then you'd take actual actions against Microsoft. Plus, I seriously don't think Microsoft is being really monopolistic. People can still buy Macs and other stuff, and though Vista is really expensive, and I think that's dumb, there are other companies who sell software much more because their software is one-of-a-kind. Does that make them a monopoly? Microsoft isn't the only choice if you're looking to buy computer software and stuff, and they're not being abusive with their considerable market share (okay, well I admit that's debatable, but whatever), so I don't see why a conglomerate of foreign countries should care. Period.

[Lyon2 0]

1.35 billion dollars is not much of a fine, microsoft just made a bidd of 40 billion dollars to buy the yahoo company, bill gates makes a lot more money a month or in even less time.This fine is a joke, at least to me, a fine to bill gates or microsoft, as you want, would about 50 to 100 billion dollars, that would scare him a bit, but then, perhaps today he has a lot more then that, who knows in fact!But, besides the fact that this is true or not, monopolization or whatever, if you had a company, you would do almost anything to make it develop, to make it stronger, to make it solid and all over the world, and that is what bill gates made of microsoft till today, and obviously, when someone puts his company this strong, this big, without competition almost, or at least with not much competition, the small, angry with their situation, angry because they did not succeed with their business/company/product/service, does what almost anyone does, they say they are monopolizing the entire market, but that is just what they tried to do and did not succeed.Perhaps i did not explain like i should but think about it, microsoft has the entire market under control because they they succeeded with their business, with their products, with their services, so i ask you, if you had a company like microsoft would you do something bad to your company, for instance, to reduce the control of the market, would you reduce your sales, would you reduce your profits, would you do this kind of things to your company? I do not think so, you would keep fighting untill you conquered the really 100% of the market and succeded over all your competitors, like google and yahoo, which are the microsoft first hand competitors.I am in the side of microsoft, i would do the same thing to or for my company because besides it is my work, it is my life, what i love to do.

[tricky77puzzle 0]

1.35 billion dollars is not much of a fine, microsoft just made a bidd of 40 billion dollars to buy the yahoo company, bill gates makes a lot more money a month or in even less time.

 

This fine is a joke, at least to me, a fine to bill gates or microsoft, as you want, would about 50 to 100 billion dollars, that would scare him a bit, but then, perhaps today he has a lot more then that, who knows in fact!

 

But, besides the fact that this is true or not, monopolization or whatever, if you had a company, you would do almost anything to make it develop, to make it stronger, to make it solid and all over the world, and that is what bill gates made of microsoft till today, and obviously, when someone puts his company this strong, this big, without competition almost, or at least with not much competition, the small, angry with their situation, angry because they did not succeed with their business/company/product/service, does what almost anyone does, they say they are monopolizing the entire market, but that is just what they tried to do and did not succeed.

Perhaps i did not explain like i should but think about it, microsoft has the entire market under control because they they succeeded with their business, with their products, with their services, so i ask you, if you had a company like microsoft would you do something bad to your company, for instance, to reduce the control of the market, would you reduce your sales, would you reduce your profits, would you do this kind of things to your company? I do not think so, you would keep fighting untill you conquered the really 100% of the market and succeded over all your competitors, like google and yahoo, which are the microsoft first hand competitors.

 

I am in the side of microsoft, i would do the same thing to or for my company because besides it is my work, it is my life, what i love to do.

Sure you'd want to make your company prosper. This is all good and Microsoft should keep doing that. The only problem people see with it is the methods that they're using. I mean, sure Microsoft wants people to keep using their products, but they shouldn't make it incompatible with everything esle once they have a portion of the market share. That's real monopolization., and that's what Microsoft is doing now. They refuse to follow standards because they want to be the standard. That's wrong, in my opinion.

[Lyon2 0]

Exactly what i would do to fight for my company, for my products, for my services, et cetera, bill gates has to do this tomake microsoft, that is why microsoft made bill gates the most rich person on the planet, and microsoft the most popular and a very solid company.People are just gelous of bill gates and microsoft, not me, i am superior to that feeling.

Edited March 3, 2008 by Lyon2 (see edit history)

[tricky77puzzle 0]

Exactly what i would do to fight for my company, for my products, for my services, et cetera, bill gates has to do this tomake microsoft, that is why microsoft made bill gates the most rich person on the planet, and microsoft the most popular and a very solid company.

 

People are just gelous of bill gates and microsoft, not me, i am superior to that feeling.

I beg to differ.

 

You can make a company that prospers even without anti-competitive measures. Take the car industry, for example. Or even the mobile phone industry. They have to follow an established standard, and all the comapnies are doing great.

 

Microsoft only got this way because they had a head start and clung on to it too tightly. They started shutting everyone out because they wanted to make a computer entirely out of Windows. While this may be good, no one wants to buy it. So then they started including it in all the other computers, FORCING computer users to use the all-Microsoft computer. (emphasis on "forcing".)

[fffanatics 0]

First, a couple of things. People keep saying microsoft is so bad yet how come every time a new update to IE is released, they get over 500 million downloads in the first day? To me it sounds like a lot of people use it? Why do they use it when they have choices like firefox? The reason is that it is a good browser and has been around for a while. It might not be as css complient as firefox but since when does the average user care? The average user just wants to be able to easily navigate a page. This is up to the developer and people tend to develop for IE so it has not issue.

Now to respond to this quote:

You can make a company that prospers even without anti-competitive measures. Take the car industry, for example. Or even the mobile phone industry. They have to follow an established standard, and all the comapnies are doing great.

The mobile phone industry is not doing very well and the companies are not all doing great. Right now, Sprint / Nextel are going bankrupt because they do not gain enough users and their market shares are falling. I dont consider that as doing well. The larger companies keep purchasing the smaller ones to the point where most users in my part of the states either have Verizon or ATT (Cingular) since they are the two largest and have the best networks.

Microsoft has done nothing wrong bundling software into their OS. You can remove any of it using their add/remove window features very easily. If a OS did not come with a browser, we all would be screwed. It would impossible to get any other software or even a new browser. What if i wanted to listen to music before i obtained my internet connection? I would need a player to do that and it is not a bad one. Finally, Linux and Macs do the same thing. The only reason they are not in trouble with the EU is because their market share is too small for the EU to care and they do not have the finances to be able to make the EU any money.

[Lyon2 0]

I could not answer him any better then you fffanatics, not that i would use your words or ven all you pi9nts, but some point i would for sure.And i will repeat, i would do the same thing if i had a company, besides, there are a lot of companies doing what microsoft did and still does, and that is why they stay strong, solid and competitor, exactly what economics needs, and america should thank microsoft for their products and services, i just wish i had a company like microsoft here in Portugal (Europe), we have many rich and powerful companies and people but, not that popular and rich.Who cares if microsoft rules the entire market, go microsoft, i would do the same!

[tricky77puzzle 0]

First, a couple of things. People keep saying microsoft is so bad yet how come every time a new update to IE is released, they get over 500 million downloads in the first day?

Ever heard of automatic updates? People don't download it as a standalone install.

Microsoft has done nothing wrong bundling software into their OS.

Nor did I say they were. They're wrong in trying to make their software incompatible with others. They're trying to keep their market share up, but pretty soon, it's all going down once users realize what Microsoft has done. Maybe not that much, but still. Enough for them to notice.

Who cares if microsoft rules the entire market, go microsoft, i would do the same!

I do. For one thing, they're probably going to jack up prices so high that people are going to be forced to pay $1000 for a Windows OS or not use one at all, plus remove all support. Their motif: "Why do we care? We control the whole market anyway. Everyone is dependent on computers nowadays. They've never known a world without it. They'll be forced to comply with us. Giving support only costs money, and money is what we care about." The "only" phone company in America did this before. Then they're going to install backdoors to the FBI, and let hackers who pay them go through their machines. Remember: Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Now, if they gained the whole market by playing fair, I'd be on your side. But the thing is, they didn't.

[Evolix 1]

$1.35 Billion is like saying "pay me ?5 microsoft!!" because Microsoft / Bill Gates is extremely rich (lucky man) so they can pay the price any day. I have voted for "Too Little".

[rpgsearcherz 5]

I really have mixed feelings about this..Okay, people's issue with Microsoft I can understand. They are mad because Microsoft pretty much dominates the PC industry(Yes I know there are Apple and Unix formats, but that accounts for probably 5% of the people, if not less)But, at the same time...Who designed the PC? Bill Gates. Who put him down and said his idea would never succeed? A lot of investors he spoke to. And now look where it is.So let's go on to the free market that we live in. Everyone has a choice of what they want. You do not want a zune or PC? Go get an Apple or Ipod. Businesses generally run their networks on Unix.So how is he truely 'forcing' his software or computers on people? By making it easy to use?That is like suing someone who makes cars because he is the only person who knows how. Others can create OS's like Windows. If one person can, I guarantee others are capable of doing it as well.But instead of compete(that's the point of an open market, right?) people would rather cry about their failures and inability to learn and adapt.Sorry, this is not to put anyone down or anything, it just bothers me that anytime someone is successful others always have to go around putting them down for their success. People need to learn to suck it up and accept their failures.