Jim Baird: “the European Commission's antitrust investigation of Microsoft offered an opportunity to complement the recent U.S.…”

“the European Commission's antitrust investigation of Microsoft offered an opportunity to complement the recent U.S. settlement reached with the software corporation. Unfortunately, the Commission's ruling undermines the U.S. settlement and signals potential danger for the technology sector and for consumers at home and abroad. The Commission's ruling will impose drastic anticompetitive penalties on Microsoft, including a requirement that Microsoft sell a degraded version of its Windows software without a media player. Microsoft is already subject to a tough regulatory framework that promotes competition and innovation, and European consumers and companies continue to enjoy the benefits of this framework. The Commission's ruling, however, will now subject Microsoft to a new and contradictory set of regulations. The negative impact of this ruling will also extend far beyond the U.S. information technology industry as a whole. Competition authorities in other countries may now decide to follow the Commission's lead and reject long-standing principles of international comity, beginning a chain of second-guesses and doubts surrounding the U.S. in matters involving U.S. companies. For all these reasons, I strongly urge our administration to use every available resource to ensure that the European Commission reconsider its current strategy and redouble its efforts to resolve this dispute in a manner that complements rather than undermines the U.S.…”