The European Commission has upped the ante for its legal proceedings against Microsoft.
The European body has now initiated additional proceedings against Microsoft with a new "Statement of Objection": the Commission believes that Microsoft may have acted illegally by incorporating its new Media Player product into Windows.
The objection reads: "...Microsoft"s ties its Media Player to its ubiquitous Windows operating system, a channel of distribution which is not available to competing vendors of media players. Microsoft may thereby deprive PC manufacturers and final users of a free choice over which products they want to have on their PCs, especially as there are no ready technical means to remove or uninstall the Media Player product. Competing products may therefore be a priori set at a disadvantage which is not related to their price or quality. The result is a weakening of effective competition in the market, a reduction of consumer choice, and less innovation."
This follows accusations that Microsoft deliberately withheld "interoperability information" to prevent products of alternative vendors from communicating with Microsoft"s PC and server products.
Microsoft has two months to reply in writing to the Commission. The "supplementary statement" that has been issued is now officially merged with the existing procedure, which was triggered by a Sun Microsystems complaint.
It was at the end of last year that Microsoft began fighting the anti-trust case on the European front.
We await the final outcome of the proceedings with interest, but we will not be holding our breath, as the wheels of European justice can "grind exceeding slow". Whether they "grind exceeding fine" is also in question - it is hard not to believe that the real battleground for Microsoft lies in the US District courts and that the issues are merely being shadowed by the European Commission.