Cato senior fellow Alan Reynolds writes,
As I feared last August, the European Union just shoved its grasping hand deep into the pockets of a leading American firm — Microsoft — while also attempting to dictate the features of Windows and expropriate intellectual property rights of its creators.
Well, they are socialists.
Microsoft is to be fined about $600 million, which is essentially a foreign tax on the primarily American owners of Microsoft stock. The EU also ordered Microsoft to share more information about Windows with competitors, which amounts to compulsory licensing at best.
Because they’re socialists.
The commission claims the rising popularity of Windows software in small business servers (as opposed to larger servers, dominated by Linux) must be caused by an unfair advantage rather than a better product or price.
Of course they do. Because that’s how socialists think.
PC World reviewed three leading rivals of Windows Small Business Server software on Feb. 3: Novell’s small business suite, and two Linux-based suites from SuSE (now owned by Novell) and NITIX. Windows won that contest, largely because it “presents the most intuitive interface by far.” Perhaps more surprisingly, Windows also beat the two Linux alternatives on price in many cases and was also cheaper than Novell’s until recently. Even Sun Microsystems, which took this gripe to the EU in 1998, sounds far less victimized on its website: “Sun demonstrated significant gains in the sub-$25K server market (all OS), where it grew unit and revenue market share faster than the top 3 vendors in the category quarter-over-quarter.”
The EU requirement that Microsoft create a discount-priced Euro-Windows without Media Player has drawn the most ire. If the EU could get away with that, it could also exercise veto power over improvements expected in the next version of Windows, such as built-in virus protection and Internet search capability. This also amounts to European price controls on a U.S. firm, which is appalling.
Geez, veto power over operating system improvements, veto power on the UN Security Council…maybe we do need John Kerry as President. I mean, we’re going to need somebody to lobby on our behalf when EU bureaucrats succeed in granting themselves control over every measurable human action on earth.
Right? No…?
Hello…?
I do so love the arguments against bundling the WMP with Windows. It assumes (probably correctly) that most people are too goddamn ignorant to know how to download an audio program for their PC – why this is Microsoft’s fault, and not the fault of other companies who fail to advertise, is beyond me.
I had a thought that one way for MS to still win the battle is to comply, but then spend a couple million dollars setting up a variety of websites to distribute the WMP, paying Google to make sure they show up as first hits. A certain men’s magazine does the same thing to slow down people looking for free versions of their pictures, instead directing you to a for-pay site (not that I have ever, in my life, looked at or searched for pictures of someone like Lindsey Vuolo sans clothing, let alone seen a woman naked).
Well, if there is anything good to come out of this, perhaps Microsoft won’t be able to afford to make any more of the atrocious commercials they have been running the last few years. Geez, they have more money than God and they can’t compete with Monster.com?
Oh, and speaking of spectacular advertising ideas, what genuis decided to sell Coke by having a guy rub the can aginst his sweaty body and under his armpits before giving it to his friend to drink. Catchphrase, “Drink Coke! The drink of assholes and the chumps who think they’re their friends!” Brilliant!