Microsoft Corp yesterday denied accusations it was engaging in unfair competitive practices after senior executives from the US-based software giant were interviewed by the Fair Trade Commission.
The Cabinet-level commission established a task force in early May to investigate whether Microsoft was abusing its dominant position in the software market with its rigid contractual conditions for sales agents.
The commission interviewed senior Microsoft executives from the company's regional operations center in Singapore about details of the case.
Microsoft Taiwan Corp spokes-woman Joe Cherng (
"During our meeting with the commission, they questioned whether we allowed our Taiwan customers change their agent. The answer is definitely `yes,'" Cherng said.
"We showed them in our enterprise agreement where it is clearly stated that local enterprise customers can change agents if they want ... the only thing they have to do is notify Microsoft so we can change the record."
Indeed according to a senior Taipei-based Microsoft executive, who requested anonymity, 168 companies have already switched agents without penalty.
tight-lipped
Lin Yi-yu (
Regarding questions about pricing, Cherng said: "Our pricing policy is globally consistent. The price is pretty much the same in every country. But in different countries there are different taxes and exchange rates, so sometimes the end user may see some difference in retail prices."
In May, some PFP lawmakers accused Microsoft of overcharging Taiwan consumers for their software products.
PFP Legislator Hsieh Chang-chieh (
Another Microsoft executive who requested anonymity denied the allegations.
"We haven't violated the Fair Trade Law in Taiwan. Our practice is very standard and similar to the global structure for all distribution and licensing models," he said.
Lin said that he was unsure how much more time was needed to wrap up the investigation, despite media speculation it could be as soon as next month or October.
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