Microsoft Violating Japanese Anti-Trust Laws?
Possibly.
According to this article on Australian IT, Micro$oft’s Japanese headquarters were raided last week on the suspicion of violating Japanese anti-trust laws. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission apparently sent a warning to Micro$oft’s HQ in Tokyo regarding certain statements in their license agreement that were deemed a violation of Japanese law. Namely, they have a clause prohibiting Japanese companies from suing Micro$oft for any real or percieved copyright infringements. Yow! That’s a nasty one! Remember, those Japanese companies that are prohibited from sueing include giants like NEC, Fujitsu, Matsushita, Hitachi and Sony, all of whom make computer hardware and drivers for it. According to the article, “A spokesman for the Japanese unit, Microsoft Co, confirmed the raid but declined to comment further.”
Not sure how this one will turn out, but it’s a good one to watch, eh?
