Classic British Flight Sim

Remains to be seen how much this changes things :think:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7266629.stm

Garry

Once again, government is overstepping its bounds and telling businesses how they can do business. Never mind that the EU hasn't been in existence for 50 years (as they claim in the story) and that Microsoft has been around since before the EU and gone through multiple anti-trust tests by the US Department of Justice in the 1990s, including one that required it to divide up its operating units in the mid 1990s. If the EU wants to gain any respectability, then they need to apply their anti-trust laws equally. For example, if MS is preventing competition and abusing it's market share, then why hasn't DeBeer's similarly been found guilty of similar "crimes"? There's a reason that the DeBeers family can't operate in the US as a company - they were found guilty of anti-trust violations back in the 1970s.

I applaud M$ for fighting the EU. Their "demands" are well beyond reason and it's really funny that a bunch of politicians and lawyers think they know how to program an operating system than the programmers...

No Chris

They want to sell in the EU then they abide by EU rules.

The EU was set up because Europe was being treated so unfairly by the US so bigger and stronger to fight that

The EU strted as a Common market and goes back well before Microsoft.

Garry

March 1957 Chris...so over 50 years

http://www.europarl.org.uk/EU/EUhistoryprincip.htm

Garry

Technically the EU only came into existence in 1993, I'd be surprised if the EEC had much in the way of a competition policy in 1957 bar ones that helped French farmers and German steel makers.

It'd be more impressive if some of the EU's own trade tariffs weren't so anti-competitive.

Having read the BBC article you do get the impression the EU doesn't really know much about operating systems, I mean if you write the OS and the internet explorer surely you'd make them symbiotic to make the whole system work better, ditto the media player. At the same time I don't use either of the MS options for those two.

I wonder if they've looked at Apple, I'm sure OS X does the same thing. And you can't buy a Mac without it installed, that's got to be anti-competitive, never mind what their software updates do to unlocked iPhones.

It's almost as if the EU think MS is an easy target.

SB hit the nail on the head - if MS is so "anti-competitive", then why aren't the others doing the same thing with other companies and industries with similar anti-competitive tactics?

DeBoer/DeBeers - can't buy a Diamond in many countries unless it's from them

Apple/Macintosh - All Mac's must have OSX on them. I have a friend who tried to put Linux on his Mac - Didn't work. He tried UNIX - Didn't work. This is in the US mind you too. However, on his PC, he was able to put Linux on, run WinShell, and have all the functionality of Windows for FREE. Why isn't the EU going after Apple for mot allowing any OS other than their own operate on their desktops and laptops?

Airbus - have to buy *ALL* parts through Airbus/EADS directly. Can't go through the company that manufactures the parts directly. Airbus also specifies how many of each part has to be bought at a time and doesn't allow the customer to choose how many they need.

Those are the three off the top of my head and none of them are being even considered for any sort of action by the EU. Then again, the EU was setup not because of being treated "unfairly" by US companies, it was created to protect EU companies from competition and to penalize any non-EU companies who wish to do business within the EU. It's a protectionist state and nothing more.

I say they needed to be locked down....
ohh yeah ..... they wish to enslave the masses anymore
with the technology........ and anyone that doesn't see that is a slave already

harsh words, but true .. they are only motivated by profit anymore

and the half done programs they've released in the last few years ie FSX and Vista
is the proof in the pudding.
either that or they really don;t know what their doing.......

hell yeah if they can't govern themselves to conduct buisness fairly
then we'll just have to hold their hand and show them how.

I'll be damned If I'll let some corporation run my life
I'm an American, I'll not be lulled into a submissive sleep

Live Free Or Die Fighting for it.!!!!!!!!!!!!

and all that other shit that goes with it..

Have you been drinking?!

To be fair if the public continue to buy the half baked products MS produce you can't really blame MS, it's not as if they don't have a choice.

Joe, dude, you need to take a step back.

1) Life's not fair and neither is business nor should it be. It should be whomever sells the most, gets the most. That's the basic premise of capitalism.

2) It's always been about the money. Microsoft provides a good for consumption. You buy it, they make money. If they don't make money, then they either a) go bankrupt or b) provide a different good. That's supply and demand and is another premise of capitalism.

3) If you don't like what a company is providing, there are always alternatives. You are not being forced to do what Microsoft tells you. Nor are you forced to buy from Microsoft. You can always buy a Macintosh or you can build your own system with your own operating system. Even better, if you think you can do better than Microsoft, you can develop and offer your own. If you do it right, you sell more than Microsoft, and then you succeed. Others have done it (mainly game developers) so it's not at all impossible to do.

Freedom has never garunteed you the right to get anything you've asked for nor has it garunteed anyone that what is produced will be perfect for everyone. The idea of freedom is that you have the right to choose what you do and do not do, and thus do and do not buy. If you don't like what MS has to offer, then you're free to not buy it. It's that simple. There is no coersion, there is no "forcing", it's simply your decision to take the course of action you choose.

Remember the Alamo airboatr



Steve