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The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday took the unusual step of sharply criticizing a decision by Korea¡¯s Fair Trade Commission to fine Microsoft W33 billion (US$33 million) in an antitrust case, which it said went ¡°beyond what is necessary or appropriate.¡±
Bruce McDonald, deputy assistant attorney general in the department¡¯s Antitrust Division, in a statement said Korea's remedy went beyond what is necessary or appropriate to protect consumers since it requires the removal of products that consumers may prefer. The FTC is demanding that Microsoft offers a version of its Windows operating system without the MSN messenger and Media Player programs. McDonald offered his own guidelines to the FTC, saying, ¡°Sound antitrust policy should protect competition, not competitors, and must avoid chilling innovation and competition even by 'dominant' companies. Furthermore, we believe that regulators should avoid substituting their judgment for the market's by determining what products are made available to consumers.¡±
Ironically, it was the U.S. Justice Department that first sued Microsoft in a U.S. federal court for bundling the Internet Explorer browser into Windows in 1994. The department won in a district court but had to settle after losing in the Court of Appeals.
FTC director-general Kim Byung Bae said it was rare for the U.S. Justice Department to issue a statement on the matter since it was customary to respect decisions by partnering institutions. That was why the Korean government made no comment on a recent decision by the department to fine Samsung Electronics for price-fixing, Kim said. Asked if the U.S. statement could lead to a full-scale trade war, Kim said the FTC decision was based solely on whether Microsoft violated antitrust law or not, so it was not a trade issue.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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