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What can US courts do? The US economy is bankrupt, it needs
every penny of exports it can get! It's only the fact that
the (petro)Dollar was "chosen" as the world currency, artificially
held there by oil purchases sold in dollars. Google "PetroEuro"
and understand why Iraq, Iran and Syria are "the devil" and then
Google "Amero +dollar"... My (three) Amigos ;-)

Of course Microsoft could stop selling it's products to European
countries, now that would be interesting for both Microsoft an
the majority of the rest of the world!

"Welcome!"... Open Source

Wow, you might want to look into some therapy...

That isnt very mature of you, or is it?

You sir, are a Troll, and an ignorant one at that!

Microsoft earn a lot of money from European countries, if they want to
be a player, they HAVE to play by "our" rules. We call them "The Law"

If you come from the US, please look at your balance of payment deficit.
I would like to point out that the US is bankrupt (more than just financially too!
You need all the foreign exchange you can get, to stave off the (inevitable)
collapse of the Mighty Dollar. You have lived beyond your means too long.

150 years ago, our British Empire screwed you, until you woke up! Now
the boot is on the other foot. How does Imperialist nation feel when in
terminal decline? "God bless America"... as few others will!

Tip, save your country, elect Ron Paul as your next President! It is your only hope!

HEY, BOHO...

Thanks for telling me about Ron Paul. I didn't know anything about him until you said something in here. All I had to read was.. "wants to abolish income tax." He sounds like a great guy. I"m gonna check him out more before I start my endorsement. Personally, I was going for Fred Thompson. :-)

I guess you did not live through the 1990's when Microsoft illegally destroyed
competition, stole ideas and used their massive legal department to suffocate
smaller upstarts and established companies. They were even convicted of
monopoly practices BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT.

"Reap what you sow... Microsoft"

"Wake up America! You were once a great country, look at what your
politicians have done to your country at home and abroad!"

Ron Paul for president, he is your only hope!

Aparently you weren't awake for much of the 90's either. Yes Microsoft crushed the competition but the idea that it was done illegally is laughable. Show me a point in time where Microsoft said that you must take Windows on a computer and if you do you can only use Microsoft's accessory software to playback multimedia or connect to the Internet.

That's right, never happened.

In one article the EU said that a significant reduction in Window's market share would mean that the EU was successful in stopping Microsoft's anti-competitive (and "illegal" behavior. In other words, a company can only be successful to a point and then it's automatically criminal. What a load of garbage.

It's not just about Media Player, its about a convicted Monopolist
who have learned nothing! This has been going on for over 3 years!
"What goes around comes around."

"Wake up America!"

Surprisingly enough there are other factors to consider and the EC has declared Microsoft's activities to be unlawful. It doesn't matter what YOU think should be allowed - what matters is whether the LAW allows it. What you are propsing is akin to saying you should be free to stab someone because YOU think it's okay, despite what the law says.

If Microsoft hadn't flouted anti-competitive regulations then it wouldn't have been fined. People can claim the EU/EC is greedy all they want but if Microsoft hadn't done wrong in the first place then they couldn't have been fined. I just hope the EC also takes on Apple, another company that is abusing the market place and restricting customer choice.

Agree.
Windows comes with WMP and IE;
while Mac OS X comes with iTunes, QuickTime and Safari,
why only Microsoft need to take the responsibility?

Maybe EU is a big fan of Apple Inc., eh?

P.S. I am a Chinese, but I think boho is just attacking the others.

Am.. Because Microsoft is monopoly. When Apple will have more than 90 per cent of markets it will have the same problems. It's monopoly... And Apple doesn't effect much world market.

I'm with you there. I find Apple to be a lot more restrictive than Microsoft. Hell, even their new iPhone doesn't allow for 3rd party devs. You're forced to use whatever comes with the stuff you buy from Apple.

since when has America been the rest of the world ??? you do realise the EU is a massive collection of countries with a equal massive amount of money , saying pull out of Europe is just pathetic there's more than just Americans in the world you know and they are trading in Europe so they have to obide by their laws its that bloody simple lol

<you do realise the EU is a massive collection of countries with a equal massive amount of money > The eu is a collection of failed empires (spain, UK, France etc) with a growing number of second and third world countries. Massive amount of money? Yes, of which nearly $1 Billion it has stolen from MS.

<more than just Americans in the world you know> Yes as I listed in my post, it's called Asia. Compared to S. Korea, China, India and Japan the eu is very small potatoes.

<they are trading in Europe so they have to obide by their laws its that bloody simple>
Or simply stop trading in Europe. Of course then you would take them to court for that as well. If MS did withdraw from the eu within 6 months the eu would be begging MS to come back. If they wanted to stay even the least bit competitive they would have no choice.

Tell me, does the eu require Renault to share trade secrets with Fiat? I bet not. Do they require Coca Cola to share their secret formula with Pepsi? Again, no. But the eu says MS needs to share everyhting with all of their competitors, no matter how little the consumer wants their product. How many copies of Windows-N have been sold? oh yea, none. Do you really think other companies aren't watching this as well? The eu is getting ready to go after Intel and Rambus now. Keep it up eu and one day no one will do business with you.

Like it or not, Micrsoft Windows in all of it's flavors is the defacto standard for OS's around the world. In my opinion, Windows has nearly reached the point of being a commodity, like oil or food. If you want to survive, let alone compete in the world today you deal with Windows. And the eu is playing a very dangerous game. The instant it costs more to opperate under the eu than the profit they can make MS will withdraw from Europe. Then we will see who is lol..........

That's not true! Windows XP N edition sold 1,500!

Kind of off topic ehh but...

Ummm... right...

Well, don't you beleive Ron Paul then... go read the Federal Reserve of St. Louis report on the subject and see for yourself:

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publication...7/Kotlikoff.pdf

Of course, now you could say that the FED has no clue either.

The way I see it - Ron Paul is the only one that is not willing to blow smoke up your *** just to get your vote.

Ron Paul is the only choice in 08. I've watched almost all of his speeches, and he is one of the last true defenders of the Constitution.

Yeah, that'd be nice. Either way, it doesn't bother me. If it did, I'd just go to a torrent site and pick up a stripped down version of Windows and just keep my key.

thats what real choice is it about, too bad EU dont realize it yet, well somehow microsoft getting punish for their ilegal actions its a good thing ot dont fix anything.

As far as I'm concerned this has little to do with a love of Microsoft or a need to prove anything about America. I will ask again, does the eu require other companies to share trade secrets with their competors? No, they don't. This is the eu bullying Microsoft, and no one like a bully, even when the target is MS.

The consumer has made a choice, MS is the winner. There are other viable OS's, (Linux and OS X come to mind), and they may be a better product than Windows. None of that matters. Windows is the OS of choice for the vast majority of the world. I'm curious, did any real people complain to the eu about Microsoft or was it just companies that compete with them?

Now the eu is going after Intel. I loath Intel for their business practices. Nevertheless, the eu has no right to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from them.

<As for Microsoft leaving the EU, thats their right but clearly they don't see they will gain much by doing it.>

Not now, probably never. But it would be a good tactic. It would bring the eu to it's knees.

<kind of like America ignoring international law & playing by its rules around the world >

Uh, yea. Lets see, you are awash in a sea of immigrants who are rapidly changing your very culture. Riots in France, bombs in Spain and London. Death threats over cartoons in your newspapers. Sorry, I don't see how following the rules set by the un or the eu is any better, one could make an argument that following the rules as you have has had far worse results...........

Exactly. Talk about a monopoly. Apple actualy locks the iPod/iPhones so no additional software can be installed right? You can only use Apple's iTunes with their players correct? Wheres the outrage? Why has MS not taken Apple to court? Oh yea, they compete. Zune player, possible iPhone like device in the wings.

I'd love to see this remedy applied to other industries. Buying a car would be a scream.