Thursday, March 31, 2005

European Commission is going too far

I have a feeling that European Commission investigating Microsoft's anti-trust shows a clear bias and motive when dealing with this case. Here is an example on why it is going too far:

From Microsoft, EU Agree on Name for Stripped-Down Windows

"The Commission ordered Microsoft to sell a version of Windows without its Windows Media Player audiovisual software and the two clashed over a suitable name."

which is o.k. But the part I couldn't agree on was this:

Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's top lawyer in Europe, said the names "Windows XP Home Edition N" and "Windows XP Professional Edition N" were suggested by the Commission after it rejected 10 suggestions by Microsoft.
"We have some misgivings about the chosen name, as we fear it may cause confusion for consumers about the product, but we will adopt the Commission's name in order to move forward and accelerate the pace of the implementation process," Gutierrez told Reuters by telephone.


Doesn't the company that manufactures/makes the product decide what it would call it? I will have to agree with this:

Microsoft wanted consumers to be sure about what they were buying, but the Commission said it should not put off consumers, like Microsoft's first choice, "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition".

Lets see where this is heading? Some wild ideas:
  • Maybe their next enforcement would be to put a penguin on the XP box so that the european customers buying it won't feel that there is no competition.
  • Billg & SteveB aren't allowed to wear their blue shirts (which they often do) since it gives the impression that their wardrobe is monopilized by this color!!

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