New EU Probe of Microsoft Monopolist Practices

If there's a sense of déjà vu permeating a rather massive corporate campus in Redmond, Washington right now, it wouldn't be surprising. The European Commission, which regulates competition for the European Union, today announced a brand new antitrust investigation against Microsoft.

Read about it here.

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Evidence is lacking that antitrust actions have ever helped consumers, typically they are a way for competitors to engage in rent seeking. One of the first Sherman act cases was brought by higher cost local meat producers who were threatened by Swifts then novel system of innovative centralized packaging and refrigerated railroad cars.

Similarly here, the company that makes the Opera browser is trying to gain benefits for itself. Likely the various antitrust actions against Microsoft will look as ridiculous in 20 years hindsight as the 13 year antitrust case against IBM does now.