Summary: Italy is the latest nations to be going after Microsoft for its market abuses and removal of choice

RUSSIA was prepared to sue Microsoft for forcing people to buy Windows. It's not alone though.

Italy is a country that we wrote about a few days ago because Microsoft is signing deals there which are potentially illegal, just like prior ones (there is clearly abuse to be found).

According to The Register (UK) and IDG News Service (US), a massive lawsuit may soon come:

An Italian consumer rights group plans to slap Microsoft with a class-action lawsuit this week seeking compensation on behalf of people forced to buy Windows pre-installed on new computers.

The ADUC, which specializes in public interests related to TV, internet, and telephone, said it would file the lawsuit at a court in Florence after the Epiphany holiday on Wednesday, according to Reuters. permitting consumer groups to file class-action lawsuits on behalf of the people they represent.

 

An Italian consumers association is set to mount a class-action lawsuit to obtain compensation for customers who buy PCs with preinstalled Microsoft software but who prefer not to use the Windows OS, the association's president announced Tuesday.

The lawsuit seeking the return of the cost of the unwanted Microsoft software from the manufacturers of computer hardware will be registered with a court in Florence later this week, said Vincenzo Donvito, president of ADUC (Association for the Rights of Users and Consumers).

Around 2,000 people, most of them Linux users, have already expressed interest in participating in the lawsuit, Donvito said in a telephone interview. The initiative takes advantage of a new law permitting class-action lawsuits, which went into effect on Jan. 1.

Italy seems to be abandoning Microsoft faster than many nations. When will the OEM channel comprehend this and stop forcing people -- in collusion with Microsoft -- to buy Windows? ⬆

"The fact is that the vast majority of office desktops are using Windows, the third-best platform. You can argue about the relative merits of modern Linuxes like Ubuntu and the Mac, but they are clearly better than Windows in terms of robustness, cost, performance, and a whole bunch of other things. For the long term, can the mainstream of business continue to ignore the fact that there's a better alternative than what they're running? If that logjam breaks, that's going to be a real change."

--Tim Bray