Microsoft Fined Over MS Office Suite Pricing Practices
The German competition authority, Bundeskartellamt, has issued a €9 million (over $11 million) fine to the Microsoft Corporation because the Redmond software developer apparently worked hand in hand with a software retailer in order to set MS Office suite prices at a certain level. Microsoft stated that it will pay the fine because it does not want the case to drag on and on, not because it agrees with the court’s decision. And the reason why Microsoft does not agree with the court is because it only met up with one retailer in order to talk Office pricing practices, which does not represent an ongoing consistent practice on Microsoft’s behalf.
The truth of the matter is that a software developer and a retailer can meet up and discuss pricing tactics and practices; but when the software developer actively coordinates the pricing activities of the retailer, and when the developer and retailer agree on how the retailer should act in future events, then the software developer has crossed the line. This is precisely what happened in the autumn of 2008: Microsoft financially supported an advertising campaign conducted by one retailer, retailer with whom Microsoft met up on at least two occasions and established a resale price for MS Office Home and Student 2007.
According to Bundeskartellamt, Microsoft accepted the fine, but not without saying something first. “We respect German competition law and are committed to running our business in full compliance with all German laws and regulations. We will use this case as an opportunity to review our internal commercial processes and ensure that we are in full compliance with German law.”
To my mind, there is one simple way the user can bypass the hefty price tag attached to the MS Office suite (and thus bypass any illegal practices the developer and retailer are involved with) – just use OpenOffice.
It must be said that this is not the first time that Microsoft hemorrhages money after a court decides to award monetary compensation to the other side - the Uniloc lawsuit ended with the court deciding that Microsoft must pay $388 million (details here).
Tags: Microsoft, Germany, Bundeskartellamt, MS Office
The truth of the matter is that a software developer and a retailer can meet up and discuss pricing tactics and practices; but when the software developer actively coordinates the pricing activities of the retailer, and when the developer and retailer agree on how the retailer should act in future events, then the software developer has crossed the line. This is precisely what happened in the autumn of 2008: Microsoft financially supported an advertising campaign conducted by one retailer, retailer with whom Microsoft met up on at least two occasions and established a resale price for MS Office Home and Student 2007.
Advertising
According to Bundeskartellamt, Microsoft accepted the fine, but not without saying something first. “We respect German competition law and are committed to running our business in full compliance with all German laws and regulations. We will use this case as an opportunity to review our internal commercial processes and ensure that we are in full compliance with German law.”
To my mind, there is one simple way the user can bypass the hefty price tag attached to the MS Office suite (and thus bypass any illegal practices the developer and retailer are involved with) – just use OpenOffice.
It must be said that this is not the first time that Microsoft hemorrhages money after a court decides to award monetary compensation to the other side - the Uniloc lawsuit ended with the court deciding that Microsoft must pay $388 million (details here).
Tags: Microsoft, Germany, Bundeskartellamt, MS Office
I Hope you LIKE this blog post! Thank you!
What do YOU have to say about this
blog comments powered by Disqus
Popular News
By George Norman on 09 Feb 2012
Redmond-based software giant Microsoft is giving all US residents the chance to win a Pink Sony VAIO Y laptop (ARV $6,000) as part of a Valentine’s Day Sweepstakes
By George Norman on 09 Feb 2012
The latest stable version of Google Chrome web browser is v. 17.0 which was rolled out to the public on Wednesday, the 8th of February, one day after the release of Chrome for Android Beta 1Related News
By George Norman on 21 Sep 2011
One million students from low-income families in the US will have access to software, hardware, and discounted broadband internet service courtesy of Redmond-based software giant Microsoft. 
By George Norman on 23 Dec 2011
Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has said goodbye to its keynote presentation and booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the technology trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center. 
By George Norman on 27 Oct 2011
It is true that the mouse is one of the most used peripheral and it is just as true that if you want to get things done and get them done fast, using keyboard shortcuts is a lot more efficient than clicking.
By George Norman on 02 Dec 2011
With 2011 quickly drawing to an end, the team behind Microsoft’s Bing search engine made public a list of the most popular searches on Bing in 2011. The list includes the most searched people, the most searched news stories, the most searched sports starsAdvertising
Hot Software Updates
Top Downloads
2.
Opera5.
Trillian8.
AIM9.
Skype10.
Ad-Aware12.
Nero13.
Google Earth14.
Picasa15.
Winamp16.
iTunes17.
RealPlayer18.
uTorrent19.
eMule20.
WinRAR21.
BitComet22.
WinZip23.
Shareaza24.
CCleaner25.
Recuva26.
Tweak UI27.
CuteFTP Home29.
Adobe Reader30.
NewsPiperBecome A Fan!
Link To Us!
Microsoft Fined Over MS Office Suite Pricing Practices
HTML Linking Code
HTML Linking Code