3 ms·
Netscape used to be a paid product* before Microsoft made IE free. What Microsoft did was make a free competitor and install it on every machine running their O
by a_c_s 11y ago
Netscape used to be a paid product* before Microsoft made IE free. What Microsoft did was make a free competitor and install it on every machine running their OS.
So what Microsoft did that was illegal was use their monopoly power to destroy an existing player. That's how they were "anti-competitive".
While Apple not allowing any competing rendering engines to be written for iOS is anti-competitive in the dictionary sense that they are preventing competition to be created, it isn't the type of behavior targeted by anti-trust law.
(IANAL, but my understanding is that if Apple had removed Spotify, Pandora and other music apps from the App Store while releasing their streaming music service, that would be an anti-trust violation.)
*Netscape was $49 in 1996 http://www.fastcompany.com/27743/nothing-netscape http://www.fastcompany.com/27743/nothing-netscape
- bzbarsky 11y agoThe real issue is just whether Apple has a monopoly or not. IANAL, but as I understand it what's illegal is using a monopoly in one market to muscle into another market via bundling deals. Just doing bundling deals if you're not a monopoly is perfectly OK.
- astrodust 11y agoIf Apple sold the operating system used on the vast majority of computers you could have a case, as did the government when 95% of PCs were shipped with Windows. Even by the most generous definition of "computer", Apple holds 20% market share at most. Samsung won't get sued for anti-competitive practices because you can't switch the browser on their so-called smart TV for the same reason.
- yuhong 11y agoAnd while Netscape screwed up on their own too, it also affected Opera (remember the ads?)
- kevin_thibedeau 11y agoThey also provided a free graphical text editor, thereby destroying the market for commercial text editors. It boggles the mind that they escaped punishment for notepad.exe.
- frogpelt 11y agoApple provides Garageband for FREE! They're getting away with it. This stuff is rampant.
- craigvn 11y agoNetscape screwed up and were standing on the edge of a cliff. Microsoft just gave them the last nudge off.
- addicted44 11y agoThere were also the facts that IE was deeply integrated with the OS to the point where r was impossible to remove and MS had anti-competitive agreements with OEMs preventing them from providing Netscape bundled.