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02.27.06
Microsoft
Hopes Transparency To Make A Difference
 By
Nathan Weinberg
With the EU refusing to be reasonable and the vultures circling the wagons, Microsoft
has decided to try a weapon not normally found in their repetoire: transparency.
Microsoft announced it would post on the web Thursday night the confidential documents
it is using in its defense against 90's-era antitrust litigation, including exchanges
between Steve Ballmer and EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.
The
documents are available here and consist of ten PDF files totalling 199 pages.
The Ballmer/Kroes
portion is in this file, and contains this wonderful statement by MS chief
executive Steve Ballmer, which I've transcribed:
As you know, today marked an important deadline for providing a number of additional
submissions to the Commission. As I noted when we talked on the phone last month,
I was determined that we would focus hard on the additional "homework" assignments
given to us.
From Bink:
"Transparency
is vitally important in what can be a very opaque process in Brussels. We've decided
to open this up so people can understand the issues," said Horacio Gutierrez,
Microsoft's European associate general counsel.
…
Microsoft is opening defense documents it sent in response to a statement of objections
from the Commission, minus business secrets, but has no plans to post the Commission's
objections.
The Commission considers those objections confidential and had little to say.
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