EU/US Interoperability Problems: Neelie Kroes Slams Tom Barnett
In response to AAG (and ex-Microsoft antitrust lawyer) Tom Barnett’s comment that the CFI’s “lengthy and complex” ruling might have “the unfortunate consequence of harming consumers by chilling innovation and discouraging competition,” in other words, that the judges, in addition to being wordy, had no idea what they were doing, Neelie Kroes went on record stating that:
It is totally unacceptable that a representative of the U.S. administration criticized an independent court of law outside its jurisdiction. … The European Commission does not pass judgment on rulings by U.S. courts, and we expect the same degree of respect.Monopolization is one of the last high-profile areas of significant disagreement between the US and the EU in antitrust matters. What makes this transatlantic spat/pillow fight particularly juicy is, of course, that the EU case against Microsoft is a tributary of the US case, which DOJ won in court only to subsequently lose it at the negotiation table. In many ways, the CFI’s decision therefore completes or at least complements the original DOJ case against Microsoft. In her public remarks, Neelie Kroes understandably kept the focus on server-to-server interoperability and compulsory licensing, not on the ill-fated Windows XP Edition N (for “not with media player”), which to this date sold a whooping 1,500 copies. (I like to think that most of the demand came from antitrust lawyers who absolutely had to have the first consumer product designed by a competition agency on their shelves.) According to Kroes, interoperability will be a big issue going forward.
In confirming the interoperability part of the Commission’s decision, the Court has confirmed the importance of interoperability for consumer choice and innovation in high tech industries. If competitors are unable to make their products “talk to” or work properly with a dominant company’s products, they are prevented from bringing new innovative products onto the market, and customers are locked into the products of the existing provider. Consumers want interoperable products, and companies that want to meet consumers’ demands should be able to provide them.
Technorati Tags: antitrust, monopolization, microsoft
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