South Korea’s top internet portal filed an antitrust suit on Monday against United States software giant Microsoft, alleging it broke fair-trade rules by bundling its instant messenger service with its Windows XP platform.
”We have just filed the lawsuit against Microsoft,” Park Hyun-Jung, an official of Daum Communications Corporation, said after emerging from the Seoul district court.
The 10-billion won ($8,8-million) suit by Daum follows last month’s European Commission fine of €500-million on Microsoft for bundling audio-video software into its operating system.
Daum, South Korea’s biggest internet portal with 35-million registered users for its free e-mail service, competes with Microsoft in South Korea’s booming instant messaging market.
Daum’s CEO, Lee Jae-Woong, said in a statement that he filed the suit in order ”to establish a fair trade environment” in South Korea.
”Microsoft is using its monopolistic status in the computer operating-system market, expanding its monopoly into the instant messaging market to drive out its competitors and disrupt fair trade,” Lee said.
The internet company provides South Korea’s most popular service for online communities, known here as ”cafés”.
In South Korea about 70% of the 48-million population have access to the internet and about 11,5-million people have broadband connections, giving the country the highest broadband penetration rate in the world. — Sapa-AFP