Gates campaigns against 'unfair monopoly'

Microsoft has filed a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against the 'monopolistic practices' of America Online.

The complaint was made by phone on 14 December, by Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates himself. A written version of the complaint was then filed with the FCC as part of the normal public consultative process of the FCC's examination of the proposed merger of AOL and Time Warner. The complaint concerns AOL's dominance of the Instant Messaging (IM) business. "AOL's documented resistance to interoperability, couple [sic] with its extraordinary position in the IM field, requires commission action," says the written statement. It claims that AOL's refusal to allow rival systems to send and receive messages through its own services 'impaired' the growth of 'innovative IM products'. It says: "Lack of interoperability with AOL was likely a contributing factor in the demise of Tribal Voice and iCast." The report calls on the FCC to require AOL to publish its IM protocols, and to "require AOL to work toward, and adopt, a common protocol that will enable server-to-server interoperability among IM providers". On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the FCC was considering a measure to oblige AOL to allow competitors to send instant messages on cable systems owned by Time Warner, as a condition of allowing the merger to go ahead. The reported proposal was not as far-reaching as the measures Microsoft requested. The complaint has astonished Gates watchers by the unbelievable brass neck it displays. Microsoft itself was described as 'stifling innovation' in a court judgement delivered last year, the first in the ongoing trial of Microsoft for violating competition law.