LUXEMBOURG, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- "This is a great day for European businesses and consumers," said Thomas Vinje, ECIS Spokesman and Legal Counsel. "At long last, this decision opens the prospect for dynamic competition in the software industry. No more user lock-in, no more monopoly pricing."

"The European Commission, Commissioner Kroes, former Commissioner Monti and their officials are to be praised for their vision and persistence in the face of nearly ten years of foot-dragging by Microsoft."

"The time has now come for Microsoft to obey the law. No more blaming the Commission for lack of clarity, nor more excuses about complexity. The provision of interoperability information is common software industry practice. Microsoft knows full well what is required and how to provide it and now just needs to do it."

"But equally important, this landmark judgment sets a clear standard for Microsoft's future conduct, and empowers the European Commission to impose it in the European market when necessary. Moreover, the judgment is fully consistent with Court jurisprudence which since the 1970s has shown that the Commission has consistently and appropriately applied European antitrust law in IT markets to ensure fair competition based on interoperability."

"This decision means that no company, especially one with a super-dominant position, is above the law."

About ECIS

ECIS is an international non-profit association founded in 1989 that strives to promote market conditions in the ICT sector allowing vigorous competition on the merits and a diversity of consumer choice. ECIS has actively represented its members on many issues related to interoperability and competition before European, national and international bodies, including the EU institutions and WIPO. ECIS' members include large and smaller information and communications technology hardware and software providers Adobe, Corel, IBM, Linspire, Nokia, Opera, Oracle, RealNetworks, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems.

CONTACT: ECIS media desk at Burson-Marsteller: +32-2-743-66-10,
info@ecis.eu or elizabeth.debony@bm.com