RSSMicrosoft Settles Daum IM Bundling Suit
By Ed Oswald | Published November 11, 2005, 10:57 AM
Microsoft has put to rest another legal problem. The company announced on Friday that it had reached a settlement with South Korean Internet portal Daum.
Daum had complained to the South Korean Fair Trade Commission in 2001, accusing Microsoft of breaking the law by tying its instant messaging software to Windows. A lawsuit on the same grounds was filed in 2004.
As part of the settlement, Microsoft will pay Daum $30 million, including $10 million in cash, a $10 million advertising package, and the remaining $10 million within various other agreements. In return, Daum would drop its lawsuit.
Much like Microsoft's RealNetworks settlement, the two companies will form a partnership, with Microsoft giving space for Daum content on its MSN Web site, as well as promoting the company's products elsewhere.
Settling with both RealNetworks and Daum does not mean the Fair Trade Commission investigation will end, however. The Korean watchdog group said shortly after the RealNetworks settlement that it planned to see the inquiry through until the end. A decision in that matter is expected soon.
Sanctions from the Korean government could include the separation of Microsoft's IM software from Windows. Also, fines of up to five percent of sales during the period in which Microsoft broke the law could be applied.
Microsoft has already been forced to separate Windows Media Player from its operating system in Europe as part of a 497 million euro judgment in March 2004. The company released Windows XP 'N' in June of this year, but it is only available in Europe and demand has been minimal.
I for one am glad to see Daum come out ahead on this one. I really like using Daum. They have wonderful e-mail, music videos, and other services that I enjoy.
And no, I do not hate MS.
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*sigh* What good is Windows with NOTHING on it?
WMP gone. Windows Messenger likely to go. Probably IE next....
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An operating system with nothing on it is worthless.
And no, I'm not a M$ fan, but I don't think companies should do this to consumers.
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Exactly, I heard Daum IM is bad enough that no one would want to use it. It's unfair to sue popular IM Clients just because their own IM didn't get popularity~
Same thing applies to RealPlayer. I only download RealPlayer cuz MediaPlayerClassic can't play all RealVideoStream files, cuz RealPlayer is quite bad too.
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All MS has to do to appease the open source/linux fanboys is to make it so you can uninstall non-critical components. I have no problem with IE being tied in since it has shown the improved functionality they can do by having it tied in, but others dont have to be, such as WMP, MSN Messenger, etc.
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It won't be so bad now they've got tens of millions in funding from slaying the beast in court. I agree though this is downright crazy. They might "tie in" their IM client with Windows, but are they forcing you to use it and only it? No, and no... I've been on Windows forever and I've never been forced to log on to that.
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Exactly. I use Gaim (used to use Trillian)... and I often don't use the MSN network.
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