The European Commission’s threat to fine Microsoft up to
£2bn for anti-competitive behaviour could hit users and weaken
the company's drive to increase security, according to industry
leaders.
Roger Ellis, the treasurer of the IT
directors' organisation Elite and head of the IT Directors'
Network, said businesses would be the ultimate losers if
the commission punishes Microsoft.
“Inevitably, Microsoft will take money out of
their research and development budget, which will be to the
detriment of users,” he said.
Ellis also claimed that if Microsoft is forced
to open up more of its code it could, ultimately, make it more
vulnerable and affect security.
Jonathan Mitchell, chairman of the Corporate
IT Forum Tif, said the commission case was not now a high priority
for Tif members, but he called for more discussion between the
company and user organisations.
“There is still dissatisfaction with the
co-operation between Microsoft and end users. We’d like to see more
high-level dialogue to help add value to the end users and more
effort put into improving the quality of their software,” Mitchell
said.
Philip Virgo, strategic advisor to the
Institute for the Management of Information Systems (IMIS), said
the commission must not dwell on the past.
“The important thing here is what impact it
has on Microsoft’s future policy, not Media Player and old stuff
like Windows 2000,” he said. “It’s also good to see Europe getting
its act together instead of following in the footsteps of the US
courts,” he added.
Microsoft said it took the investigation very
seriously and it plans to examine the last week's Statement of
Objections from the commission and assess its concerns.
Butler Group analyst Tim Jennings believed the
case was unlikely to lead to a greater choice for users. “I don’t
think anyone expects this will have a significant impact on
Microsoft’s position or harm its monopoly on the desktop,” he
said.
Business Systems Group consultant Simon
Ratcliffe said the user community put Microsoft where they are
today through buying its products out of choice. “I don’t recall
seeing Bill Gates with a machine gun,” he said.