Interview with Carlo Piana

Do you have any information about the Opera vs MSIE case and current level of activities?

The case is quite straightforward. Opera complains that Internet Explorer deliberately uses non standard extensions to industry standard protocols and formats (like CSS and HTML). This is done mainly to convince people to use their extension for their website to look better in IE, while by doing so the other standard-abiding browser would suffer huge problems.

And this is even more irksome because Microsoft is an active party in the standard setting process in W3C. This is a clear abuse of dominant position, because nobody would deliberately break a standard because simply developer would not follow. Microsoft relies on the fact that developers test their websites and web applications on the most widespread web browser.

The other complaint is the old tying issue. Microsoft has an undue advantage in bundling Internet Explorer into Windows, so that this is the standard browser on the 95 per cent of the computers sold worldwide just because it's there, not because people think it is better. And because a browser is a browser, people simply don't bother downloading another even if it is better, faster, more accurate or supports innovative technologies like AJAX. They simply don't get why they should face the hassle of downloading another program while Vista already takes tens of Gigabytes alone. But when they do, they usually prefer the alternative.

How do you comment on the latest 899-million-euro fine?

Microsoft's claim that the fine is from old issues, now resolved, is not entirely accurate. See what they are doing with the OOXML process, where instead of merging two standards for the same realm of application, they insist quite peculiarly in pushing for approval of a second international standard. And with a fast track procedure, when there have been thousands of comments in the voting process pointing out tons of very substantial shortcomings.

Microsoft has an easy way to avoid spending even more money in fines: take another attitude. I think now the Commission has Microsoft's full attention (nearly two billion euros is an effective tool), and there are indications of a change in the right direction. Considering where they come from in terms of respecting antitrust legislation and the rules of fairness in the market, what we have seen lately -- the progresses in opening their private extensions to public protocols is one example -- is rather stunning, I must concede. But the road to come to a desirable status of compliance is still quite long, and Microsoft in my opinion should proceed full steam in the direction it has taken. It is an irreversible process, I think Microsoft knows it and will want a change, but we still await more facts and less statements.

In other words, good effort, but still not enough.