The EU said yesterday it was dropping antitrust charges against Microsoft Corp after the company agreed to give Windows users a choice of up to 12 other Web browsers.
Under the terms of the deal with regulators, Microsoft will avoid further EU fines if it provides a pop-up screen that lets European users — from March — replace Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or add another browser such as Mozilla’s Firefox or Google’s Chrome.
This will also allow computer manufacturers to ship PCs without Internet Explorer in Europe.
“Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use,” EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said.
“Such choice will not only serve to improve people’s experience of the internet now but also act as an incentive for web browser companies to innovate and offer people better browsers in the future,” Kroes said.
Microsoft has been warned though that it can be fined up to 10 percent of yearly global turnover without regulators having to prove their case if the company doesn’t stick to this commitment for the next five years.
The deal ends more than a decade of EU antitrust action against the world’s biggest software company that has already paid 1.7 billion euros (US$2.4 billion) in fines.
In January, the EU charged Microsoft with monopoly abuse for tying its browser, Internet Explorer, to the Windows operating system software used on most desktop computers — this, they said, was an “artificial distribution advantage” that rivals didn’t have.
Meanwhile, Microsoft on Tuesday indefinitely suspended MSN Juku, its new microblogging service in China, after its Chinese vendor was caught lifting code from a rival startup, Plurk.
“We will be suspending access to the Juku beta indefinitely,” the Redmond, Washington-based software giant said in a statement.
“The vendor has now acknowledged that a portion of the code they provided was indeed copied,” Microsoft said.
Plurk said as much as 80 percent of the basecode used in MSN Juku was “stolen directly from Plurk,” which claims to be the biggest microblogging service in Taiwan, 10 times bigger than Twitter.
Microsoft said the plagiarism of the code was “in clear violation” of the vendor’s contract with the MSN China joint venture, and equally inconsistent with Microsoft’s policies respecting intellectual property.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
RSS