EU tests Microsoft proposal giving consumers browser choice

The European Commission today said it will test a Microsoft proposal to give more choices to consumers in the Web browsers they use. It follows objections raised by the EU in January that Microsoft was using its dominant position in PC operating systems to tie Internet Explorer to Windows, giving it an “artificial distribution advantage.”

Statements from the EU and Microsoft below.

An excerpt from the EU statement:

The improvements that Microsoft has made to its proposal since July would ensure that consumers could make a free and fully informed choice of web browser. Microsoft has in particular agreed to present users with a first screen explaining what web browsers are. “Tell me more” buttons for each browser would also enable users to learn more about the web browser they may wish to install. The user experience would be better and the choice screen would better represent competing browser vendors. Finally, the proposed commitment would now be subject to a clause allowing the Commission to review it in the future to ensure that consumers would continue to have a genuine choice among browsers.

Under its revised proposal, Microsoft would make available for five years in the European Economic Area (through the Windows Update mechanism) a choice screen enabling users of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (Microsoft’s next version of its PC operating system) to choose which web browser(s) they want to install in addition to, or instead of Internet Explorer. Likewise, in future versions of Windows, including Windows 7, PC manufacturers would be able to install competing web browsers, set those as default and disable Internet Explorer.

The Commission’s concern has been that PC users should have an effective and unbiased choice between Internet Explorer and competing web browsers to ensure competition on the merits and to allow consumers to benefit from technical development and innovation both on the web browser market and on related markets, such as web-based applications. The Commission’s preliminary view is that Microsoft’s commitments would address these competition concerns and is market testing Microsoft’s proposal in light of these requirements.

And here’s an excerpt from Microsoft’s statement:

We welcome today’s announcement by the European Commission to move forward with formal market testing of Microsoft’s proposal relating to web browser choice in Europe. We also welcome the opportunity to take the next step in the process regarding our proposal to promote interoperability with a broad range of our products.

Today’s announcement follows our publication of earlier drafts of these two proposals in July and broad feedback from across our industry to the Commission in August. Microsoft then engaged in extensive discussions with the Commission over the last month, during which we agreed to make numerous changes to improve these proposals. For Microsoft, today’s decision is a significant step toward closing a decade-long chapter of competition law concerns in Europe. – TechFlash

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