Author(s)
Stephen Haber,
F. Scott Kieff and Troy Paredes
Source
Washington Times, October 5, 2007
Summary
This op-ed considers the decision of a European Union court against Microsoft.
Policy Relevance
Competition cases can be a pretext for authorities’ decisions to target firms based in another country.
Main Points
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The European Court chose to uphold the ruling of European regulators against Microsoft, based on competition law.
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The reasoning behind the regulators’ actions was very weak, and the remedy they proposed will not help consumers.
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This suggests that regulators had a motive other than concern with competition, such as a desire to squelch a firm based in the United States.
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Other U.S. firms, such as Qualcomm, should also be concerned.