Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 13th Dec 2007 18:31 UTC, submitted by abdavidson
"Opera Software filed a complaint with the European Commission yesterday which is aimed at giving consumers a genuine choice of Web browsers. The complaint describes how Microsoft is abusing its dominant position by tying its browser, Internet Explorer, to the Windows operating system and by hindering interoperability by not following accepted Web standards. Opera has requested the Commission to take the necessary actions to compel Microsoft to give consumers a real choice and to support open Web standards in Internet Explorer."
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Member since:
2005-07-06
You're missing (or willfully ignoring) a really big point: Microsoft is a monopoly that has been tried and convicted of abusing that monopoly position (remember, it's not illegal to have dominant market share; it's what they do from that position that is). This is not the same as Opera not supporting Silverlight or WMV. Not even a little. Really.
The reason the internet works is because it is based on open protocols. Think about this. The dominant operating system vendor also supplies the world's dominant web browser (remember that monopoly abuse I mentioned?). Once the market for IE was secured, Microsoft disregarded the open protocols that makes the web work and let the browser stagnate for many, many years. IE7 is an improvement over 6, to be sure, but the open standards that the web depends on are still only being paid lip service. This is a huge problem for companies like Opera whose business depends on these standards being standard.
So yes, litigation is a viable option. In fact, it might be the only true motivation Microsoft for get its act together.