Microsoft rebuffed in antitrust case appeal

Korea’s antitrust agency has rejected an administrative appeal by Microsoft Corp. of the agency’s finding that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position in Korea. The case, which the agency decided originally in February, centered on Microsoft’s inclusion of an instant messenger service, MSN Messenger, and its Media Player software with the Windows operating systems. Developers of competing messaging and audio/video player products here, including one U.S. company, filed the original complaints against Microsoft, saying that the software giant’s dominance in operating systems had given it an unfair competitive advantage. Microsoft appealed the ruling in late March, while at the same time asking a court to overturn the anti-trust agency’s findings. In yesterday’s decision on Microsoft’s appeal, the commission said it would not change its decision to fine the U.S. software giant 32.5 billion won ($34.1 million) for bundling the software with the operating systems. But the regulator accepted Microsoft’s request not to ban preemptively the bundling of those software accessories with other Microsoft programs, such as MS Office, unless there were some other breach of Korean law. In its appeal to Korea’s courts, Microsoft had asked that the commission be barred from issuing such an order. The commission said it had withdrawn the order. The commission also upheld the part of its February ruling that ordered Microsoft to offer consumers here two versions of its Windows operating systems: one without any messaging or media player software and one with those accessories but containing links to Internet sites where competing products could be downloaded. by Moon So-young