Tag: EU
EU Fines Microsoft €561 Million ($731m)
Just a fraction of rumored $7.4 billion.
Now here is something that will finally come to an end, according to Europa Press, Microsoft was fined $731 million by EU for breaking the browser ballot agreement that was signed back in 2009.
The good news, at least for Microsoft, is that the fine is far smaller than some might have expected as it was supposed to be as high as $7.4 billion or a 10% of the annual turnover. According to a report, one of the main catalysts behind what it seems to be a small fine was a cooperation from Microsoft.
Mozilla On Browser Ballot Glitch: Millions Of Firefox Downloads Lost
Moments after sending the delicious cake to Microsoft’s IE team, Harvey Anderson, the Vice President of Business Affairs at Mozilla, has published a blog post, which investigated the consequences of the browser ballot glitch.
According to Harvey, Firefox downloads saw a decrease of 63% to as low as 20,000 per day and increased by 150% to 50,000 per day after the fix was issued.
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EU: Windows RT Restrictions Are Fine
Mozilla responds.
Well, here is an interesting piece of news for you today, earlier this year, Mozilla has complained about the possible restrictions for web browsers running on the Windows RT, which wasn’t left unnoticed by the EU itself.
Now, according to a new report, European Union regulators gave Microsoft a green light and will not continue the investigation.
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EU “Charges” Microsoft Over The Browser Ballot Screen
Or so the press says.
As reported earlier, due to some technical issues, the European version of the Windows 7 SP1 did not have a browser ballot screen for many months. Even though the software giant has since apologized for the glitch, it looks like it won’t be left unnoticed.
Now, as reported by Engadget, Microsoft will indeed be charged. According to the terms of agreement and the overall mood, Microsoft might face a fine of as much as $7.4 billion or 10 percent of its annual turnover.
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2 Years Later, People Notice That The Ballot Screen Is Gone
EU begins investigation.
Well, what do you know, for a feature that was widely requested by a lot of web browser makers, it looks like 1 out of more than 1 billion PC users has actually noticed that his bellowed ballot screen has since disappeared.
Apparently, with the release of Windows 7 SP1, the software giant has accidentally removed web browser choice screen and surprisingly, no one has ever noticed. Not until now, at least.
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Microsoft Tweaks Browser Ballot Screen
As ballot screen was pushed at the beginning of March, various users started noticing anomalies behind random browser order.
For some reason, it would favor Google Chrome, increasing its chances to be first, second or third in the list.
As a result, Microsoft has tweaked random order algorithm, which solved this issue. Unfortunately, no more details were provided.
“We can confirm that we made a change to the random icon order algorithm in the browser choice screen for Europe. We are confident the algorithm change will be an improvement. As always, we are grateful for the feedback we get from developers, and we thank those who commented on the topic and suggested changes,” said Microsoft’s Kevin Kutz.
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EU Won’t Fine Microsoft Over Browser Ballot Case
Microsoft and European Commission have finally reached an agreement, in which browsers will be randomly listed in ballot screen (up to 12 browsers total)
Although EU have not fined Microsoft this time, if they fail to stick with an agreement for the next 5 years, Microsoft will have to pay up to 10% of yearly global turnover.
“This is a victory for the future of the Web. This decision is also a celebration of open Web standards, as these shared guidelines are the necessary ingredients for innovation on the Web,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software.
Thanks to Trygve Lie for news tip.
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EU Approves New Ballot Screen
It appears that EU has approved earlier reported, ballot screen changes.
Rather than listing them by market share or alphabetically, updated ballot screen will mix up web browsers, every time user sees it.
EU Browser Ballot Case Might Finally Come to an End
If everything goes as expected, browser ballot case might be finally resolved by the end of December or even faster.
Bloomberg reports that during the phone conversation with Opera spokesman, it was said: “Our expectation is that the settlement will include changes sought by Opera and will come out around the 15th,”
What are those changes?
Opera Software suggested that instead of listing top 5 web browsers alphabetically, they should be randomly ordered, every time user sees a ballot screen.
Bloomberg also said that Jesse Verstraete, a Microsoft spokesman in Brussels, declined to comment on this case. So don’t hold your breath yet.
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Microsoft and EU Work Out Browser Ballot Screen
Microsoft and European Commission have finally come to an agreement on a new ballot screen with a total of 12 web browsers. Updated version includes a couple of changes and treaty for as long as 5 years. Testers will be able to test new screen with the following modifications: Continue Reading
