Microsoft Taken To Task For Selling Music In A Monopolistic Manner
from the tread-carefully dept
Microsoft, who did an amazing job turning a loss in the anti-trust lawsuit against them into something of a win, has suddenly found themselves in a bit of anti-trust hot water again. Turns out that some folks noticed that Microsoft's "Shop for Music Online" link in Windows (where is this "link"?) takes people directly to a site run by Microsoft. It also opens up Microsoft IE, even if that's not the default browser set up by the end-user. Since one of the slap-on-the-wrist settlement's provisions was that Microsoft placed links could only open up Microsoft sites and applications if all competitive offerings "[fail] to implement a reasonable technical requirement", you can see why some see a reason to take Microsoft on. To me, though, this seems like nitpicking. I'm not convinced that Microsoft has repented from its monopolistic ways, but considering that the company was found guilty and then just slapped on the wrist, to go back to court over something as tiny as this seems kind of silly.
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iTunes?
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Witchhunting?
As for the music issue - they have got to be f*#king kidding, right? Microsoft music sales? Nobody I know has even SEEN this link before - and even I needed an article from another site to tell me where and how to find it. And can anyone name *one* person they know who has bought a single piece of music from MS?!? I've bought via iTunes, Rhapsody, etc. etc.
Someone please explain how a non-existent business (in the consumer's mind) can be monopolistic?!?!
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