The European Commission and Microsoft don’t get along, we know that. And I’ll not comment on the actual disagreements (although there is much about them that I find troubling). Last year the European Commission found that Microsoft had abused its OS near-monopoly, fined the company €500m, and ordered Microsoft to release a version of Windows minus Windows Media Player. Reluctantly Microsoft agreed. So now what’s the fight about? The product name. Microsoft wanted to name this modified Windows “Windows XP Reduced Media Edition”, a name the Commission rejected because it could put off buyers. Microsoft made 9 additional name suggestions, all of which the Commission rejected. Until finally the Commission suggested the brilliant name “Microsoft XP N”, a name that Microsoft reluctantly accepted. (Stories on CNN, InfoWorld, and more). Which begs the question, is the European Commission overstepping the bounds here a bit? Should an entity charged with ensuring fair business practices be allowed to dictate what is essentially a product marketing decision?
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