As Microsoft still struggles to comply with the European
Commission’s 2004 anti-trust judgement, the company is now facing
the threat of further legal action over its forthcoming Windows
Vista operating system.
The Commission has written to the company expressing concern
that it intends bundling internet search and document management
features into the package, which could threaten existing suppliers
of these technologies.
Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes has sent a letter to the
company outlining two main areas of concern regarding Vista, and
asking whether it conforms to the 2004 anti-trust judgement.
The Commission has questioned the inclusion of internet search
facilities, digital rights management (DRM), and software to create
document formats similar to the widely used PDF (portable document
format) from Adobe.
The Commission is also concerned as to whether enough Vista
technical information will be available to third parties, to enable
them to produce competing products that are interoperable.
Microsoft is attending a final two-day compliance hearing from
today in Brussels. If the Commission finds that the company has not
fully complied with the 2004 judgement, the company risks a daily
£1.4m fine.
So far, the Commission has found that Microsoft’s workgroup
server protocols are not fully interoperable with those from rival
products.
The letter sent to the company does not signal an immediate
investigation into Vista by the Commission, but one may be likely
if there are complaints from rival suppliers.
Microsoft said it was committed to making Vista interoperable
with rival products.