The Chinese government has led to an investigation into Microsoft’s distribution of its internet browser and media player in the country.
Zhang Mao, the head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), at a briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, said that the Chinese anti-trust officials have been continuously probing into Microsoft’s distribution and sale of its Office and Windows software suspecting that the company’s information about its Windows and Office sales is not fully transparent.
Mao said that Microsoft is suspected of incomplete disclosure of information related to Windows and Office software, as well as problems in distribution and sales of its media player and browser.
He added that Microsoft’s executives have agreed to actively cooperate with them throughout the investigation. He however did not disclose further details concerning the subject of the probe.
It was in 1990s and 2000s that Windows became the world’s dominant operating system. This was the time when the US and European authorities brought in antitrust cases against Microsoft on the issue of how the company bundled its web browser and media player.
In 2001, the Redmond settled a long-running case with the US Department of Justice focused on whether its flagship Internet Explorer browser could be bundled with Windows.
Again in 2004, Microsoft was ordered to pay a 497 million euro ($656 million) fine by the European Union as well as produce a version of Windows without the Windows Media Player bundled. The fine was increased to nearly 1.4 billion euro later on.
This month, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which oversees enforcement of China’s antimonopoly law, announced its investigation into the company’s activities which led to the officials raiding Microsoft offices in several major cities and questioning Deputy General Counsel Mary Snapp in Beijing.
Zhang said the current investigation is among one of the nine opened this year including software, tobacco, telecommunications, insurance, tourism and utilities sectors.
A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment anything on the matter.
