The EU’s browser case and consumers Håkon Wium Lie CTO, Opera Software 2009-04-28 PDF version of this paper In January 2009, the European Commission issued a Statement of Objections (SO) to Microsoft, outlining the Commission's «preliminary view» that Microsoft's tying of its Internet Explorer Web browser to the Windows operating system is an abuse of a dominant position. Opera Software believes that Microsoft's tying practices harm consumers, and that the Commission's case is a rare chance to correct the situation. We therefore encourage organizations representing consumers to register as interested third parties in the case. Consumers are harmed by Microsoft's conduct in three essential ways. First, those who use Internet Explorer – many because they do not know about alternatives, or because they are prohibited from installing other browsers – don't get to use innovative features of competing browsers. Second, users who switch to competing browsers often experience problems due to Web sites being designed for and only tested with Internet Explorer. Third, innovation on the Web itself is hindered by Internet Explorer not supporting Web standards. Innovative features: access denied When Microsoft entered the browser market to compete with the dominant Netscape browser, Internet Explorer was an innovative browser. For example, IE3 was the first browser to introduce support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) when it shipped in 1996 – CSS is now supported by all browsers. However, after Netscape had been defeated, Microsoft stopped improving its browser while competing browsers continued development. For example, Opera Notice the blue "e" logo gave its users tabbed browsing, page zooming and mouse gestures. which represents the Also, alternate browsers were generally smaller, faster, more internet on this poster secure, and had better support for standards than Internet from Easter Island Explorer. Many users do not know that alternate browsers exist; the blue "e" which automatically appears on new PCs has become a ubiquitous symbol for the internet. Users who know about alternatives and want to try other browsers must go to the Web site of a browser vendor and download an installation program. When running the installation program, security warnings will appear on the user's screen. As such, consumers are discouraged from switching browsers. Web pages that don't work Consumers who manage to switch to other browsers, like Opera, face more challenges. Since IE, due to the unfair tying to Windows, has the largest number of users, most Web sites are written for and tested with Internet Explorer. Unlike other browser vendors, Microsoft has not been eager to implement open Web standards correctly and Web pages that work in IE will often not work well in standards-compliant browsers. Therefore, users of standards-compliant browsers are punished for Microsoft's lack of commitment to open Web standards. The US State Departement The same page shown in The same page shown in for electronic visa Opera. Notice the error FireFox. Notice the error applications shown in message. message. Internet Explorer. Blocking innovation on the Web Microsoft's high number of users has another detrimental effect for consumers on the Web. Several open Web standards have been designed to address technical shortcomings of the existing Web. Some of these open Web standards enjoy wide acceptance in the Web community and they are supported by all browsers – except Microsoft's Internet Explorer. For example, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a language for graphics on the Web. By using SVG, Web graphics print more easily and are more compressed. All major browsers – except IE – support SVG by now. This screenshot shows This screenshot shows Another example is WebFonts. By WebFonts support in three SVG support in three non- linking to WebFonts, Web pages non-Microsoft browsers Microsoft browsers can be more expressive and use (and one web-to-PDF richer typography than current converter) Web page designs. All major browsers – except IE – support TrueType Webfonts. By using innovative open Web standards like these, the Web user experience would have been faster and richer. Alas, these standards has seen no use on the Web due to lack of support in Internet Explorer. Had Microsoft, with its dominant position for browsers, not chosen to ignore these standards, Web designers would be using these standards now to create richer Web experience for consumers. What is at stake? The European Commission's case against Microsoft isn't just about lack of competition in the browser market in 2009. The future of the Web is at stake. Access to the Web is essential for people to be part of society in a meaningful way. Therefore, it would be wrong if Microsoft is allowed to continue dominating the Web by tying their browser to Windows. Consumers deserve better browsers..