Monday, March 27, 2006
ECONOMICS & INNOVATION. NOTES ON EUROPE & INNOVATION (I). MICROSOFT AND THE EU
. "Its window may be closing", Los Angeles Times
One of Joseph Schumpeter's key insights was that an innovative entrepreneur was driven by the (almost impossible) dream of becoming a monopolist. Thus, inasmuch as it acts to stifle innovation, overzealous anti-trust regulation can be harmful.
This is all the more important since Schumpeter thought that such monopolies were usually a passing affair: competition would surely prevent them from lasting too long. This last point is made, with respect to software giant Microsoft, by a recent Los Angeles Times editorial:
"Since XP was released in 2001, however, there has been an accelerating shift away from programs that run entirely on your own computer, such as Microsoft Word, to applications and services based on the Web, such as Google's Blogger. You can tap into your corporate computer network, communicate with friends, assemble photo albums, listen to music and manage your finances using little more than a Web browser. And the list of Web-based applications is only growing".
In spite of all this, llegal disputes involving Microsoft and the European Commission never seem to end. In February 2006, the European Committee for Interoperability Systems, or ECIS, accused Microsoft once again of abusing its dominance:
"The committee asked the European Commission, which regulates antitrust issues for the European Union, to investigate Microsoft's business practices regarding its Office suite of software, including Word and Excel. The Redmond, Wash., tech giant, which has already faced sanctions in the United States and Europe for misusing its monopoly power, countered that its competitors are simply complaining about its superior products. 'ECIS is a front for IBM and a few other competitors who constantly seek to use the regulatory process to their business advantage', a Microsoft spokeswoman said in an e-mail. When faced with innovation, they choose litigation."
. "Its window may be closing", Los Angeles Times
One of Joseph Schumpeter's key insights was that an innovative entrepreneur was driven by the (almost impossible) dream of becoming a monopolist. Thus, inasmuch as it acts to stifle innovation, overzealous anti-trust regulation can be harmful.
This is all the more important since Schumpeter thought that such monopolies were usually a passing affair: competition would surely prevent them from lasting too long. This last point is made, with respect to software giant Microsoft, by a recent Los Angeles Times editorial:
"Since XP was released in 2001, however, there has been an accelerating shift away from programs that run entirely on your own computer, such as Microsoft Word, to applications and services based on the Web, such as Google's Blogger. You can tap into your corporate computer network, communicate with friends, assemble photo albums, listen to music and manage your finances using little more than a Web browser. And the list of Web-based applications is only growing".
In spite of all this, llegal disputes involving Microsoft and the European Commission never seem to end. In February 2006, the European Committee for Interoperability Systems, or ECIS, accused Microsoft once again of abusing its dominance:
"The committee asked the European Commission, which regulates antitrust issues for the European Union, to investigate Microsoft's business practices regarding its Office suite of software, including Word and Excel. The Redmond, Wash., tech giant, which has already faced sanctions in the United States and Europe for misusing its monopoly power, countered that its competitors are simply complaining about its superior products. 'ECIS is a front for IBM and a few other competitors who constantly seek to use the regulatory process to their business advantage', a Microsoft spokeswoman said in an e-mail. When faced with innovation, they choose litigation."
# posted by Agustin @ 3:43 AM 
