Daum sues Microsoft for unfair trade competition

Following a pattern of legal attacks against Microsoft Corp., Daum Communications Corp. filed a lawsuit yesterday against the software giant and its Korea subsidiary complaining of violations of the Fair Trade Act. The Internet portal company charged that Microsoft had unfairly bundled MSN Messenger, an instant messaging program, in the Windows XP operating system, causing financial losses to Daum. The company asked the Seoul Central District Court for 10 billion won ($8.8 million) in compensation. It also wants Microsoft to be barred from offering the software as a part of Windows XP in the future. Daum had revenues of 141.4 billion won last year. It has offered customers its own instant messaging program since 2000. Daum said that its share of the instant messaging software market had dropped to 9 percent now from 20 percent in 2001. Microsoft started packaging the messenger program and the operating system in 2001. “Microsoft’s monopoly of the computer operating system has expanded to the messenger market,” said Lee Jae-woong, the chief executive of Daum Communications. “The tie-in is just a functional integration, which is a trend in the information technology industry,” said Kwon Chan, an official at Microsoft Korea. Daum filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission in September 2001, but the commission has still not acted on it. In March, the European Union levied a 500-million-euro ($600 million) fine on Microsoft for bundling Media Player, a music and video player, with its operating systems. by Yum Tae-jung, Park Sung-ha