BELGIUM/FILE: Microsoft agrees to unbundle Internet Explorer from Windows in Europe

Record ID: 451984

  • Title: BELGIUM/FILE: Microsoft agrees to unbundle Internet Explorer from Windows in Europe
  • Date: 17th December 2009
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 16, 2009) (REUTERS) EU FLAGS OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
  • Embargoed: 1st January 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: European Union,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA2L63EQ7911L2UVSYMTIOP3QZN
  • Story Text: Internet users in Europe will finally be able to choose browsers other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer after the U.S. software giant agreed to unbundle it from Windows.
    EU antitrust regulators accepted on Wednesday (December 16) Microsoft's offer to allow users in Europe to choose rival Internet browsers, ending a decade-long dispute and averting a possible fine.
    Microsoft has promised to offer PC-users a "ballot screen" that will allow them to chose from a number of rival browsers. The commitment will be valid in the European Economic Area for five years.
    The European Commission has to date imposed fines totalling 1.68 billion euros (2.44 billion US dollars) on the U.S. software giant for infringing EU antitrust rules.
    The European Union executive said Microsoft's legally binding pledge addressed its concerns that the company may have breached EU antitrust rules by bundling its Internet Explorer web browser with its dominant Windows operating system.
    Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in Brussels that Microsoft had tied its web browser to the windows PC operating system and neither manufacturers nor users could disable it in order to use another one. Experts say it was possible but a fairly complex operation few users would be aware of.
    Kroes said that as a consequence, Microsoft's web browser was on virtually every PC in Europe and internet content especially adapted.
    "Now for the first time in over a decade internet users in Europe will have an effective and unbiased choice between microsoft's internet explorer and competing web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Opera. Indeed more than a 100 million European computer users stand to benefit from the Commission's decision today," said Kroes.
    She said the company's pledge was an incentive for web browser companies to innovate and offer better browsers in the future.
    She added that the Commission had pushed for Microsoft to make the choice of another browser as simple as possible so as not to deter users from switching.
    "That was exactly what we had as a main point in the discussion. It should be an easy choice for the consumer and it should not be a hidden way to still stick to the old system. It's really open choice, and it really is not a screen in which you are just put onto the wrong leg (sic)" she said.
    The European Union executive in January accused Microsoft of seeking to thwart rivals by bundling the company's browser with its Windows PC operating system, a charge was triggered by a complaint from Norwegian browser maker Opera.
    Microsoft's Internet Explorer is used for about 56 percent of global Internet traffic, Mozilla's Firefox about 32 percent and Opera 2 percent, just ahead of Google and Apple Inc's Safari, according to Web analytics firm StatCounter.
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