Why EU Won't Force Microsoft to Bundle Firefox with Windows

On January 15, 2009, the European Antitrust Commission sent a Statement of Objections to Microsoft, informing the company of its preliminary view generated by a 2008 complaint from browser maker Opera that the bundling of Internet Explorer into Windows violated EU anti-monopoly law. The Redmond company confirmed the Statement of Objections and the Commission's perspective that the inclusion of IE into Windows since 1996 had violated European competition law. Additionally, the software giant presented some possible outcomes to going head-to-head against the EU antitrust regulators in its quarterly filing with the Security and Exchange Commission. These outcomes have led some to erroneously believe that the EU would somehow end up forcing Microsoft to bundle Firefox alongside Internet Explorer into Windows.

Can you say pipe dream? First off let's see what the EU Commission stated. “If the preliminary views expressed in the SO are confirmed, the Commission may impose a fine on Microsoft, require Microsoft to cease the abuse and impose a remedy that would restore genuine consumer choice and enable competition on the merits.”

There's no mention of Firefox whatsoever. Or any browser, for that matter. There is, however, the specification of a remedy. This is where Microsoft comes in with additional details. “The statement of objections seeks to impose a remedy that is different than the remedy imposed in the earlier proceeding concerning Windows Media Player,” the company said.

The EU did state that coupling IE with Windows infringed the EC Treaty rules on abuse of a dominant position (Article 82), by taking advantage of the operating system's market share.

However, according to the software giant, the Commission is not looking to remove Internet Explorer from Windows, as it has done with Windows Media Player from the N editions of the platform, which are only available in the EU, alongside full-featured editions. But from not removing IE to adding Firefox is a long way, by any stretch of the imagination.

“While computer users and OEMs are already free to run any Web browsing software on Windows, the Commission is considering ordering Microsoft and OEMs to obligate users to choose a particular browser when setting up a new PC. Such a remedy might include a requirement that OEMs distribute multiple browsers on new Windows-based PCs. We may also be required to disable certain unspecified Internet Explorer software code if a user chooses a competing browser,” Microsoft continued.

At best, EU will force the Redmond giant to set in place a generic mechanism, which, when the operating system will connect for the first time to the Internet, will permit end-users to choose from an array of available software, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, etc., in order to determine which will be the default browser for their copy of Windows. In order for you to get an idea of what might be cooking for future versions of Windows, simply think of the way that Internet Explorer and additional modern browsers permit the users to choose the default search engine.

A similar model can be applied to the next generation Windows operating system, while Microsoft might be indeed forced to uninstall, or disable Internet Explorer. According to the Redmond company, OEMs might also have a role to play in this, by being forced to provide multiple choices for end-users.

However, do not lose sight of what the EU is attempting to do. The Antitrust Commission is simply seeking to provide additional choices to end-users. Firefox on top of IE is by no means an additional choice. It is absurd to think that the EU will decide that Microsoft should install Firefox over Opera, or Google Chrome, or any other browser, thus limiting itself as a choice for consumers. It makes much more sense for the company to offer a solution capable of permitting end-users to connect to the Internet and download and install the browser of their choice.

Opera 10.0 Build 1229 Alpha / 9.63 is available for download here.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 / 3.0.5 / 2.0.0.20 is available for download here.

Google Chrome 2.0 is available for download here.

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is available for download here.

Internet Explorer 7 is available for download here.