Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Microsoft Corp is making final adjustment on administrative settlement proposal to be submitted to Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC and Microsoft held marathon negotiations over the weekend to discuss actions the software giant's Taiwan branch could take to avoid serious punishment for anti-competitive practices.
"The gap over several issues including price reductions, adjusting improper sales strategies and providing free technologies narrowed," said Chen Chi Yuan, vice chairman of the FTC and its lead negotiator in the Microsoft case. "During negotiations with Microsoft, both sides had showed a sincere desire to resolve the dispute," Chen said. "But, whether the case will be settled depends on the results of Thursday's meeting."
Chen said that the commission will only be considering what is in the public's best interest. If the settlement is approved, it could have significant implications for Microsoft's pricing and sales strategies that allow the consumer to enjoy lower price with the choice of software they need.
Presently the price of a Microsoft Office Package with Word, Excel and Power Point cost NT$18,000 while the price of a single program such as Word will cost almost NT$ 10,000. The price of software package is also relatively higher than in the US or in Japan. Microsoft's manipulation of the market to push consumers into buying software packages has drawn the FTC attention after consumer’s complaints. The committee will meet this coming Thursday to decide on the settlement proposal.
By: DocMemory
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