09.04.11
Cablegate: Deputy Managing Director of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (FCA) Said Microsoft’s Inadequate Technical Documentation Had Hindered Progress in the EU Case
Summary: The EU case against Microsoft has Stefan Keznickl remark privately about the stance of the FCA, after the EU Commission invited Member States
THIS cable is short and it is probably the last one for today. This Cablegate cable shows something that the public was probably not aware of, probably not at the time anyway:
VZCZCXRO6879 PP RUEHDT RUEHLMC RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPB DE RUEHVI #0942 0891119 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 301119Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2920 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY UNCLAS VIENNA 000942 SIPDIS STATE FOR EBB/TPP/IPE (BEATRICE SOILA) AND EUR/AGS STATE PASS TO USTR (VICTORIA ESPINEL AND JAMES MENDENHALL) JUSTICE FOR RENATA HESSE COMMERCE FOR JOHN MASTERSON NSC FOR JOHN HERRMANN SIPDIS, SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, EUN, AU SUBJECT: EC V. MICROSOFT DEMARCHE: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE REF: STATE 46956 1. (U) Post conveyed reftel non-paper and talking points March 29 to Stefan Keznickl, Deputy Managing Director of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (FCA), which is responsible in the GoA for national and EU-level antitrust cases. Post also provided reftel information to Martin Eichtinger, the Minister of Economy's Chief of Staff. Keznickl said that the Commission had invited Member States to the March 30 hearing, but Member States did not intend to intervene in the process between the EC and Microsoft. Austria would therefore not have any coordinating role in its Presidency function. However, Keznickl added that the Council would discuss the case at a later stage. He said there was no date yet for the Council discussion. 2. (SBU) Keznickl underscored that the GoA did not believe the EC had been uncooperative in the process, noting that it was necessary for both sides to work together. According to Keznickl, Microsoft's inadequate technical documentation had hindered progress in this case. MCCAW#
See what we previously wrote about Microsoft in Austria [1, 2]. █
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