EU order unheeded, competitors say
Microsoft Corp. is not complying with a European Commission order to sell an unbundled version of its Windows operating system, competitors that were asked to examine the program said yesterday.
A year ago, Mario Monti, then the European commissioner for competition, ordered Microsoft to sell a second version of Windows in Europe that has its music and video-playing program, Media Player, stripped out.
The order was intended to restore competition. The new version, installed with an alternative to Media Player, is supposed to be introduced in the next few weeks.
But David Stewart, deputy general counsel for RealNetworks, said yesterday that Microsoft was not ready to comply with the European ruling. RealNetworks of Seattle, which makes rival software, has the most to gain from enforcement of the order.
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