Microsoft back in China’s antitrust crosshairs with new investigation

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Published onJanuary 5, 2016

published onJanuary 5, 2016

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Theon again,off again relationship between Microsoft and China appears to be on the rocks due to a new antitrust inquiry.The New York Times is reporting that Chinese regulators are poised to open a new antitrust investigationinto Microsoft.

Perhaps the governmental raids conducted by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) on Microsoft Offices in the area were able to surface enough to warrant the new investigation. During the seizures, the SAIC obtained Microsoft contracts, records, electronic data such as email and company communication, while also conducting several rounds of interviews of staff and executives.

Whilethe raids were carried outunder the pretense of gaining answers to questions the SAIC failed to make clear, the results of its investigation went mostly unquestioned. Without a clear case laid out as to what the SAIC was looking into Microsoft for, or any social publishing’s of the raids, some have speculated that the initial investigation was spurred by the company ending support of its Windows XP software that is used heavily by many Chinese government offices and businesses. Even though Windows XP usage in China was done mainly through pirated copies of the software, Microsoft’s recent decision shined a spotlight on how dependent even China’s government had become on its utility.

Perhaps, in relation to Microsoft’s decision, a news agency in China called Xinhua recently posted an article that offers a bit of clarification on the investigation and the new allegations. Xinhua claims that without releasing information about its mainly proprietary Windows operating system and Office Suite, Microsoft purposefully caused ‘incompatibility problems.’ Due to the significance that Windows, especially XP, holds in China, a move that creates ‘incompatibility problems’ to such a degree can be held as an anticompetitive offense.

It should be noted that the Chinese government has been working on releasing its own Linux-based operating system for some time now. The newLinux-based OS being called NeoKyklinalso happens to look oddly familiar to Windows XP. Tangentially, the raids issued on Microsoft property were designed to force the company to “fully disclose information of its Windows operating system and Microsoft Office applications.” Whether or not this information has any relation to the antitrust claims is pure conjecture at this point.

Regardless of the history between China and Microsoft, the company is maintaining that it has always taken the claims seriously and are trying to comply with the SAIC’s inquiries, according to a Microsoft spokesman who conversed with the New York Times.

Kareem Anderson

Networking & Security Specialist

Kareem is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. His passion for technology and content creation drives are unmatched, driving him to create well-researched articles and incredible YouTube videos.

He is always on the lookout for everything new about Microsoft, focusing on making easy-to-understand content and breaking down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security.

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Kareem Anderson

Networking & Security Specialist

He is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. He breaks down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security

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