Brussels, 03/08/2000 (Agence Europe) - On the initiative of Mr Monti, Commissioner responsible for Competition, the European Commission send a statement of objection to Microsoft Corp, suspected of abusing its dominant position in the field of personal computer operating systems so as to control the market for server operating systems. The Commission action follows a complaint made by the American software company Sun Microsystems in December 1998 according to which Microsoft had breached European Union antitrust regulations, on the one hand by applying the discriminatory practice of granting licences and, on the other hand, by refusing to supply essential information on its "Windows" operating systems.
Microsoft holds around 95% of the market for operating systems for personal computers and due to this enjoys a practically undisputed market dominance. In the complaint sent to the Commission, Sun Microsystems feels that the quasi monopoly imposed by Microsoft, the American giant, over giving access to its interfaces so as to ensure interoperability with server operating systems from different manufacturers. The interfaces are "links" enabling PC operating systems
organised into networks to communicate with servers; however to be able to develop these server operating systems capable of communicating with the Windows computer clients, the Microsoft competitors must know the information relating to the information interface that Microsoft is refusing to pass on. As a result, the users of Windows for networked PCs will be, de facto, forced to use Windows operating systems for servers so as to have complete interoperability, a phenomenon designated by the expression "the client (or PC) dragging the server". This obligation applies, according to Sun Microsystems, to Windows 95, 98 NT 4.0 operating systems and all their future upgrades. The launch of Windows 2000 confirms, still according to Sun, Microsoft's desire to evict all serious competitors by not providing them with the necessary information.
To this day, the Commission has proof of Microsoft's lack of will to speak with its counterparts, notably Sun and support its objections on the basis of the fact that the company has only provided fragmentary information and on a discriminatory basis by only granting licences to certain competitors, according to the "friend-enemy" criteria. According to the usual procedure, the IT leader now has two months to defend itself in writing. Microsoft may also call for a hearing at the Commission that would take place, in this case, around one month after the reception of the written response. The Commission will then make its final decision, which could have fines attached to it.
The importance of this case was further strengthened by the fact that the Commission had opened in February 2000, after calls from several SMEs active in the information technology sector and Microsoft competitors, an own-initiative procedure for abuse of a dominant position in the framework of the launch of its Windows 2000 operating system.