Microsoft wants EU to learn from its U.S. victory

Found on CNet News on Saturday, 03 July 2004
Browse Software

Microsoft says a U.S. antitrust court victory last week has a lot to teach Europeans at a time when the software giant faces a major antitrust case here, but experts differ over whether the U.S. decision will make a difference.

The two courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington and the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, have different procedures, different precedents, interpret different laws and have different cases at issue.

In the United States, both Microsoft and the government applauded the Washington decision because both had been in the same corner, which had been challenged by the state of Massachusetts and two anti-Microsoft trade groups.

"This is a resounding victory for the Justice Department and American consumers," said the head of the antitrust division, Assistant Attorney General R. Hewitt Pate.

First of all, you cannot tell a court what decision it has to make. Just because MS had luck in the US (probably thanks to "investments") it does not necessarily mean that the decision of the EU court has to be the same. Plus, I don't think this was a resounding victory for the citizens of the US; it's more like continued control.