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Dealer files antitrust complaint against Microsoft |
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Written by Nick Farrell
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Monday, 01 December 2008 10:11 |
Going Dutch
A Dutch software dealer has moaned to the European Commission, arguing that Microsoft's pricing policy in Europe violates antitrust laws.
Samir Abdalla's complaint is that Microsoft charges at least a third more for its software in Europe than it does in the US. Abdalla's lawyer, Gerard van der Wal, wants the E.U. court to accept that there has been a violation of the relevant European law. According to Abdalla's lawyers, the price difference between Europe and the U.S. is between 30 percent and 50 percent.
However, Microsoft also has a bit of a beef with Abdalla. In May, Microsoft sued Abdalla, claiming he had received more than $3.7 million from the illegal sale of unlicensed Microsoft software in the U.S. Microsoft sued him in the Californian Central District Court, saying he took advantage of an Egyptian government program that provides low-cost software to citizens. It claims he took the software from the U.S. cheap and replaced it with counterfeit software when he flogged it in the land of the Pharaohs.
Abdalla said that Microsoft was stifling trade in the so-called "gray market," which he claims is legal under European law.
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