Tying of Internet Explorer: Microsoft has the support of ACT

Legal - To avoid the removal of Windows Internet Explorer, Microsoft has secured the support of ACT. The lobby, known for its hostility to open source, has already committed to the editor in its antitrust trial.

In the case opened by the European Commission about the tying of Internet Explorer with Windows, Microsoft will rely on a partner for its defense: the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT).

In a statement, ACT attack the merits of the complaint filed by Opera to the European Commission. According to the association, the fact that Internet Explorer is no longer the dominant browser in Europe (partly quoting figures StatCounter) seems to justify the purpose of prosecution.

Support that did surprising since the lobby was founded in 1998 following the antitrust action brought in the United States against Microsoft. The ACT was also involved in Microsoft's favor in Europe in 2004 in proceedings for abuse of dominant position.

The withdrawal of IE could hurt developers under ACT The withdrawal of IE could hurt developers by ACT

The ACT believes that removing Internet Explorer operating system would harm the developers working on Windows platform, integrating IE functions operated via API. A sanction requiring the withdrawal of IE in the OS would force developers to review their applications, argues she said.

In addition to the complainant, Opera, Microsoft and its allies are opposed in this case, Mozilla, Google, FSF, and recently the European Committee for Interoperable Systems. comprising companies like IBM, Adobe, Nokia, Red Hat and Sun.

Meanwhile, ACT's members include companies such as eBay, Oracle, VeriSign and has never made any secret of his hostility towards the Open Source. In 2006, its president, Jonathan Zuck, had also criticized the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and its decision to oppose DRM in the GPLv3 license.

After being granted additional time, Microsoft has until April 28 to answer the charges of the European Commission.