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Microsoft Tying Consumers' Hands - The Windows Vista Problem And The South Korean Solution, Daniel J. Silverthorn Jan 2007

Microsoft Tying Consumers' Hands - The Windows Vista Problem And The South Korean Solution, Daniel J. Silverthorn

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Currently, more than ninety percent of the world's PCs operate under Windows. To cement its market power, Microsoft has engaged in controversial business practices. Those practices have led to adverse antitrust decisions in the United States, the European Union (EU), and South Korea. Many of these decisions, both judicial and administrative, revolve around Microsoft's bundling, or "tying," of certain subsidiary applications with the Windows operating system, including Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player. In doing so, Microsoft arguably gains a greater than deserved market share with these bundled applications, inhibiting fair competition in the software marketplace. The United States, EU …


A Comparison Between U.S. And E.U. Antitrust Treatment Of Tying Claims Against Microsoft: When Should The Bundling Of Computer Software Be Permitted?, James F. Ponsoldt, Christopher D. David Jan 2007

A Comparison Between U.S. And E.U. Antitrust Treatment Of Tying Claims Against Microsoft: When Should The Bundling Of Computer Software Be Permitted?, James F. Ponsoldt, Christopher D. David

Scholarly Works

This article will analyze the recent U.S. and E.U. judicial approaches to tying charges which stem from software bundling. Part II reviews U.S. tying jurisprudence both generally and as applied to software bundling. Part III outlines the D.C. Circuit's approach to Microsoft's Windows/Internet Explorer bundle. Part IV briefly covers tying jurisprudence in the European Union. Part V describes the European Commission's (“E.C.”) analysis of Microsoft's Window/Windows Media Player bundle. By comparing the two approaches, Part VI shows that neither approach is ideal: although the U.S. approach offers too little guidance to software manufacturers seeking to avoid liability and unduly discounts …