|
|
| |
Internet portal aims legal action at
Microsoft
SEOUL - Daum
Communications, South Korea's largest Internet portal,
said on Friday that it is preparing to file a new legal
action against Microsoft Corp over the US software
giant's bundling of messenger software with its Windows
XP operating system.
"We will file a new
complaint against Microsoft with a Seoul court by the
end of this month," said Kwon Kyung-ah, a Daum
spokesperson.
If things go Daum's way, the move
will be the Internet portal's third attempt to block the
sale of Windows XP, which features a bundle of digital
media capabilities, including Internet phone and instant
messenger.
Daum is one of South Korea's biggest
Internet companies with more than 26 million registered
e-mail accounts. It also controls 20 percent of the
country's instant messaging market.
The
spokesperson accused Microsoft of using anti-competitive
practices in releasing Windows XP, labelling the
software giant as holding an illegal monopoly over the
market.
In October 2001, Daum, in alliance with
17 South Korean firms, sought a court injunction against
Microsoft aimed at halting the release of Windows XP,
but a court rejected the complaint on August 6 of this
year.
"We are currently reviewing the legal
action in a different manner," Kwon said.
In
September of 2001, Daum filed its first complaint
against the sale of Windows XP with the Fair Trade
Commission (FTC), South Korea's state anti-trust
watchdog, claiming the bundling of the messenger service
with the operation system is an unfair business
practice. No ruling has yet been made.
Microsoft
has already been hit by massive criticism in South
Korea, especially after the country was hit by a series
of Internet worm attacks.
Early this year, South
Korean Internet networks were jolted by a fast-spreading
Slammer worm, which exploited a well-known security hole
in Microsoft's web server software.
An
influential civic group, the People's Solidarity for
Participatory Democracy, has filed a lawsuit against
Microsoft, seeking compensation for financial damages.
Officials of Microsoft's South Korean unit were not
immediately available for comment.
(Asia
Pulse/Yonhap)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
