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Agency cited over software decision

The Fair Trade Commission failed to adequately protect consumers' rights before settling with Microsoft Taiwan Corp on software prices last year, the Control Yuan announced yesterday.

The Cabinet-level commission had initiated a probe into Microsoft's violation of the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法) with its "unified global price" and bundle sales of Microsoft Office software in May 2002. After a six-month investigation, it decided to grant Microsoft's request for a settlement.

In February last year, the two sides signed a settlement contract in which Microsoft agreed to cut the prices of its software by up to 54 percent.

The Control Yuan examined the case after a request by the Consumer's Foundation and claimed yesterday that the commission had not gathered enough data before making a judgment and agreeing to a settlement.

"When investigating the price of the software, the commission only surveyed Microsoft distributors and retailers, but not consumers... . Apparently the commission did not gather enough data to judge whether the software prices were reasonable," Control Yuan member Chao Jung-yao (趙榮耀), who is involved in the case, said.

"The commission also did not gather comprehensive information on the prices of the software in other countries, so there were not enough foreign market price samples for comparison," he said.

Chao also said the commission had been rash in concluding that bundle sales of software were a norm by looking at the practices of other software makers as they only account for 10 percent of the market, Chao said.

Consumer's Foundation secretary-general Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said the decision meant consumers' voices were being heard.

"The Control Yuan's announcement now means that it agrees with the consumers' needs, and this is another victory for consumers," Cheng said.
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