“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

--Bill Gates

Summary: The audacity of Microsoft, which files a bizarre complaint against the best-selling operating system, which is now Linux-based

Not too long ago, Microsoft used CPTN members like Oracle and proxies like Nokia to bolster another proxy, 'FairSearch', in an antitrust complaint against Android. The FSFE has written a response and noted who's behind this odd proxy of Microsoft allies:

According to reports in specialist online media, the so-called "FairSearch" coalition - comprised of Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, and a number of online service providers - argues, in its latest submission to the European Commission, that the free-of-charge distribution of Android, a Free Software[1] mobile operating system developed by Google, constitutes predatory pricing. Suggesting that the distribution of Free Software free of charge is harmful to competition is both wrong in substance, and dangerous to competition and innovation.

Microsoft has been dumping to prevent freedom, so don't expect European press to buy this hypocritical move. An FSFE lawyer and paralegal Pamela Jones have both responded as well. Jones writes: "They tell the Commission that they are writing to "explain how the distribution of Free Software, whether gratis or for a fee, promotes competition, rather than damaging it." For example, it's not true that Google compels Android-based phones to exclusively use its own app store, and by releasing the code for free, Google is actually enabling others to easily compete with Google..."

Microsoft, which uses EDGI, has got a lot of nerve doing this. It's like when Microsoft had chastised Google over privacy before the NSA leaks that showed much more than just hypocrisy (Microsoft far worse than the accused). ⬆