Information Week: Microsoft Rivals Skeptical Of Software Maker's Openness Pledge -- Paul McDougall
Microsoft Rivals Skeptical Of Software Maker's Openness Pledge -- Paul McDougall
"The world needs a permanent change in Microsoft's behavior, not just another announcement," said the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, which counts among its members Sun Microsystems, Adobe, IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, and several other vendors that compete with Microsoft. ECIS has long accused Microsoft of deliberately withholding, or overcharging for, the protocols members need to make their products work with the Windows operating system and other Microsoft software. Europe's competition watchdog last month launched two new antitrust investigations into Microsoft's business practices following a complaint from ECIS. The European Commission is eyeing the possibility that Microsoft is violating monopoly laws by failing to make its products interoperable with competitors' offerings and by illegally bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with the Windows operating system. Partly in response to those complaints, Microsoft said Thursday that it's adopting four new "interoperability principles" to guide its business practices.
