Russia’s anti-monopoly agency has launched a probe into Microsoft’s sales of XP, reports Reuters India. Microsoft has perhaps violated Russia’s anti-monopoly rules by stopping sales of XP even though demand for the operating system remained high. The agency is looking into if Microsoft’s attempt to transfer customers to Vista when they wanted to buy XP is illegal.
This is new way to look at Microsoft’s efforts to sell Vista. If a software maker wants to discontinue support of an aging product and not sell new copies of it — even if people want it — does that constitute an antitrust violation?
What if the same standard was applied to other industries, say shoe manufacturers. Running shoe makers continuously discontinue popular shoe models while demand is high and introduce new-and-improved (and more expensive) models. Car manufacturers release new models every year.
But it’s an interesting question. If you own a monopoly of anything … shoes, cars, operating systems … are you then beholden to your customers in a way that other, more competitive markets are not?
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