The charge on Microsoft says that to install another operating system, you should ask the company key
A Spanish association that represents users of open source software filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Microsoft with the European Commission, in a new challenge to the technology giant after a hefty fine earlier this month.
Hispalinux, which has 8,000 members and represents users of the Linux operating system, said Microsoft had made it difficult for users of computers equipped with the Windows 8 platform switched to Linux and other operating systems.
The lawyer and chief representative of Hispalinux, José María Lancho said that he had referred the application to the Madrid headquarters of the European Commission on Tuesday morning. Microsoft declined to comment and European Commission officials were not available.
A MECHANISM OF OBSTRUCTION
In his 14-page lawsuit, said Hispalinux Windows 8 contained a “mechanism of obstruction” called UEFI Secure Boot that controls the computer startup and means users should seek keys to Microsoft to install another operating system.
The group said in its complaint that it was “de facto prison systems technology for computer startup (…) by the Microsoft Windows platform less neutral than ever.”
“It is absolutely anticompetitive” Lancho told Reuters. “It is very dangerous for the user and for the European software industry,” he added.
Million in fines
The European Commission has fined Microsoft, a global leader in operating systems, with 2,200 million euros (2,830 million dollars) in the last decade, making it the biggest violator of EU corporate standards.
The Commission determined in 2004 that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position by tying its Windows Media Player to Windows applications package, and the relations between them remain strained.
The company has had a more friendly in recent years, reaching an agreement by another competition investigation in 2009 related to the choice of the browser in its Windows operating system. He has also made his own complaints to the Commission on the business activities of its rival Google.
But on March 6, the Commission fined Microsoft 561 million euros (729 million dollars) for failing to provide the user with the change of web browser.
