IPcentral Weblog
  The DACA Blog
  Institutions
     
  Tanks
     
  Blogs
     
  Mags
     

Thursday, December 17, 2009

 
EC Closes Browser Ballot Chapter in Endless Epic of Microsoft Persecution with Dangerous Precedent
(previous | next)
 

The European Commission announced yesterday the settlement of its antitrust case against Microsoft concerning the inclusion of Internet Explorer in its operating system. In the settlement, Microsoft has agreed to offer a "browser ballot" in its Windows 7 operating system, which Adam Marcus and I commented on in November.

It's a relief to see that the European Commission is bringing to a close this chapter in the seemingly endless epic of its antitrust persecution of Microsoft. The Commission should have recognized that Internet Explorer's rapidly falling market share made it unnecessary to meddle in software creation. Still, I suspect that it's only a matter of time before the Commission hauls another Microsoft or some other innovative American tech titan into court on trumped-up charges.

Worse, such mandates could easily extend to require "ballots" for choosing one's default search engine, media player, instant messaging client, email provider, and so on. That kind of bureaucratic interference with the delicate art of interface design will only serve to discourage Microsoft and its many competitors from including useful new features in their offerings, thus harming consumers.

posted by Berin Szoka @ 9:38 AM | Antitrust & Competition Policy , Neutrality

Share |

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment | Post a Comment(1)

Comments

Michelle Williamss first ads for Louis Vuitton were glamorous and dramatic. And her new ads for spring are just as gorgeous (those eyebrows remain our beauty holy grail) but are much sweeter and sassier. We had to share them for a fun pre-TGIF pick-me-up.
louis vuitton cruise 2014 bags http://www.izle.tv/default.php

Posted by: louis vuitton cruise 2014 bags at May 17, 2014 2:28 PM

Post a Comment:





 
Blog Main
RSS Feed  
Recent Posts
  EFF-PFF Amicus Brief in Schwarzenegger v. EMA Supreme Court Videogame Violence Case
New OECD Study Finds That Improved IPR Protections Benefit Developing Countries
Hubris, Cowardice, File-sharing, and TechDirt
iPhones, DRM, and Doom-Mongers
"Rogue Archivist" Carl Malamud On How to Fix Gov2.0
Coping with Information Overload: Thoughts on Hamlet's BlackBerry by William Powers
How Many Times Has Michael "Dr. Doom" Copps Forecast an Internet Apocalypse?
Google / Verizon Proposal May Be Important Compromise, But Regulatory Trajectory Concerns Many
Two Schools of Internet Pessimism
GAO: Wireless Prices Plummeting; Public Knowledge: We Must Regulate!
Archives by Month
  September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
  - (see all)
Archives by Topic
  - A La Carte
- Add category
- Advertising & Marketing
- Antitrust & Competition Policy
- Appleplectics
- Books & Book Reviews
- Broadband
- Cable
- Campaign Finance Law
- Capitalism
- Capitol Hill
- China
- Commons
- Communications
- Copyright
- Cutting the Video Cord
- Cyber-Security
- DACA
- Digital Americas
- Digital Europe
- Digital Europe 2006
- Digital TV
- E-commerce
- e-Government & Transparency
- Economics
- Education
- Electricity
- Energy
- Events
- Exaflood
- Free Speech
- Gambling
- General
- Generic Rant
- Global Innovation
- Googlephobia
- Googlephobia
- Human Capital
- Innovation
- Intermediary Deputization & Section 230
- Internet
- Internet Governance
- Internet TV
- Interoperability
- IP
- Local Franchising
- Mass Media
- Media Regulation
- Monetary Policy
- Municipal Ownership
- Net Neutrality
- Neutrality
- Non-PFF Podcasts
- Ongoing Series
- Online Safety & Parental Controls
- Open Source
- PFF
- PFF Podcasts
- Philosophy / Cyber-Libertarianism
- Privacy
- Privacy Solutions
- Regulation
- Search
- Security
- Software
- Space
- Spectrum
- Sports
- State Policy
- Supreme Court
- Taxes
- The FCC
- The FTC
- The News Frontier
- Think Tanks
- Trade
- Trademark
- Universal Service
- Video Games & Virtual Worlds
- VoIP
- What We're Reading
- Wireless
- Wireline
Archives by Author
PFF Blogosphere Archives
We welcome comments by email - look for a link to the author's email address in the byline of each post. Please let us know if we may publish your remarks.
 










The Progress & Freedom Foundation