Norway's Opera Software files antitrust complaint against Microsoft

OSLO: Norwegian Web browser-maker Opera Software said Thursday it had filed a complaint with the European Commission against Microsoft, accusing the US software goliath of abusing its dominant market position.

Opera said it had "filed a complaint with the European Commission yesterday (Wednesday) which is aimed at giving consumers a genuine choice of Web browsers."

The Norwegian company accuses Microsoft of abusing its dominant market position "by tying its browser, Internet Explorer, to the Windows operating system and by hindering interoperability by not following accepted Web standards."

"We are filing this complaint on behalf of all consumers who are tired of having a monopolist make choices for them," Opera chief executive Jon von Tetzchner said in a statement.

The Norwegian company has called on the European Commission to force Microsoft "to give consumers a real choice" by breaking the compulsory bond between Internet Explorer and Windows and "to support open Web standards in Internet Explorer."

In Thursday's statement, Opera refers to a ruling by Europe's second highest court in September backing the European Commission's 2004 record fine of 497 million euros (730 million dollars) on Microsoft for illegally tying its Windows Media Player to the Windows operating system.

"We are simply asking the Commission to apply these same, clear principles to the Internet Explorer tie, a tie that has even more profound effects on consumers and innovation," Opera said.