Microsoft rivals file complaint with EU

BRUSSELS, Belgium — A group of Microsoft's rivals filed a complaint with the European Commission on Wednesday, alleging its business practices threatened to deny real choice among competing software products.

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems — which includes IBM, Oracle, RealNetworks, Nokia and Sun Microsystems — said it was asking EU regulators to end practices that reinforced Microsoft's monopolies and extended its market dominance into current and future products.

"We are at a crossroads," the group said in a statement. "Will one dominant player be permitted to control those conditions, or will the rules that guarantee competition on the merits prevail, to the benefit of all?"

Microsoft said the companies were responding to innovation with litigation.

"We have come to expect that as we introduce new products that benefit consumers, particularly with the kind of breakthrough technologies in Office 12 and Windows Vista, a few competitors will complain," it said.

The committee did not make the complaint public, citing business confidentiality. It mentions Microsoft's Office software suite, which packages word processing, spreadsheet and office-management tools, but committee lawyer Thomas Vinje would not say if Microsoft's forthcoming operating system, Vista, was part of the complaint.

The European Commission said it has already received another complaint about Vista but has not yet decided to open a probe.

Microsoft described the committee as a front for IBM and other rivals who constantly tried to use regulatory complaints to their business advantage.

Vinje insisted the group had existed since 1989 as a "pretty central player" on copyright and other software issues.

"This is a matter of great concern to a great swath of the industry," he said.

Several committee members — such as Novell and RealNetworks — have backed away from openly supporting the EU as it defends itself from Microsoft's legal challenge after striking deals with Microsoft, leaving broad industry groups such as the European committee and the Software & Information Industry Association in the ring.